As people and agencies of South Snohomish County we propose a long-range vision for a broad-based and dynamic program of offerings in the arts, culture and civic engagement. We envision a program that assures that all of our community members have a range of compelling opportunities that bring them together through our educational and social offerings. We believe in the inherent power that resides within a citizenry that has become acquainted within its neighborhoods and has created a sense of community through shared activities. Many aspects of our vision already exist in the programs of the various agencies of our area. Collectively we will work to assure success both through affirming and supporting our current efforts and by creating new offerings that support us in realizing our broader vision.

We want our constituents to attend the many outstanding local performances of music, dance and drama, as well as to be able to stay within our community to experience performances presented by regional and national organizations. We want to entice our people not only to view great artistic creations in our galleries and in public spaces, but also to express themselves through their own artistic creations. We envision additional community festivals and public gatherings that entertain and uplift the human spirit, just as they broaden our collective awareness of how diverse we are as a community. We believe that there is a pressing need for our populace to engage wholeheartedly in challenging and educational community forums and civic events that create a deepened sense of shared purpose for all of our citizens.

Such a range of programs encompasses a carefully maintained balance of offerings. Some programs cater to particular populations (children, families, seniors, low-income) while others bring together a mix of interest groups that embrace the differences within our communities. In order to make our offerings inclusive rather than exclusive we will assure a range of offerings that appeal to widely varying tastes and interests. We will embrace a wide range of artistic and cultural expressions and promote freedom of thought and expression providing a full spectrum of viewpoints.

Creative resource management and procurement will be essential throughout this process. To attract the funding that is needed for developing and supporting our programs we will demonstrate the value of artistic, cultural and civic offerings in the creation of a robust economy and healthy communities. We will use our resources not only for the creation of our offerings but also for inviting and welcoming all members of our community to our programs. Based upon specific information gleaned from our needs assessment we will secure more performance spaces, rehearsal rooms, studio spaces, classrooms, and large gathering places for community use.

We will know that our united vision is becoming reality when more of our people choose to seek and attend cultural, artistic and civic activities here in our area. We will measure our collective success by the individual success of our coalition members and the satisfaction expressed by our citizenry. We will have reason to rejoice when our programs complement each other and we are able to offer together what we could not offer separately.