Burnside to fill newly created position
The Cultural Council of Luzerne County welcomes a new face to fill a brand new position to its organization. Mike Burnside will serve as the Council's very new executive director. Burnside is a native of the area and received his master's degree in creative writing from Wilkes.
Burnside is a published writer, photographer and was most recently the managing editor at Wilkes-Barre based Etruscan Press. He is also an active member of the community belonging to a number of regional organizations, including the Luzerne County Historical Society, the Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor and the Great Valley Technology Alliance.
"The need for a full-time, paid executive director was essential," said Shelley Pearce, Chairperson of the Cultural Council.
"I, and the board, are all volunteers and it's very difficult to run an operation without paid employees. When we received funding last year from the county, I then went out and got matching funding, corporate funding, and we had enough to hire an executive director," said Pearce.
One of the most important aspects of the executive director position is a sense of advocacy, explained Pearce. "Mike has a lot of published articles under his belt. He has been writing all his life and will be writing to our legislators and newspapers about the importance of the arts and the economic impact of the arts," said Pearce.
Burnside will also be responsible for implementing the "cultural plan" which included a study of the county by the Joint Urban Studies Center. This study gave recommendations as to how to move forward and elevate the level of arts and culture in the area.
Burnside recognized the need for a high quality, readily-available exhibit space in the valley. "We'd like to find a place where there would be public access to the offices of the council and exhibit space where it can be used for exhibits the council sponsors, but also for organizations like the Wyoming Valley Art League," said Burnside.
The council is a non-profit arts advocacy program which began in 1999 as an extension of the Greater Chamber of Wilkes-Barre Business and Industry.
The organization has existed through corporate donations, fundraising and several foundation grants.
The "Miles of Mules Project" is one of the council's most high profile endeavors. The council worked with three other arts organizations to place 300 life sized mules from the Wilkes-Barre area to New Hope, Pennsylvania.
"This project was probably the most significant... we raised a lot of funds and we put 150 artists to work. And, we benefitted, I believe, 26 non-profit agencies through this fundraiser," said Pearce.
The council's focus this year is the environment. "We want to highlight the environment through the arts," said Pearce.
The council will be providing kayak tours to islands on the Susquehanna River for artists to paint, sketch, and take photographs of the surroundings. There will be artist activities taking place at the river during the festival as well. Pearce adds the council will be looking for volunteers during these events and is hoping to add a student committee for the arts council in the future.
"We are collaborating with about eight environmental and wellness groups on the River Fest celebration on the weekend of June 21," said Pearce. The council will also be providing a trip to the Roberson Museum in Binghamton, New York on May 30.
"This trip will tour the exhibition called "Visions of the Susquehanna" which is a national exhibition of 200 years of paintings of the Susquehanna River. There is also a local arts exhibition in Binghamton at the Museum of Contemporary Works of the River, which we will be touring as well," said Pearce.
In the fall, the council will be having a juried exhibition entitled "Inspired by the Susquehanna."
"I believe if we're able to succeed in expanding art opportunities and making them more accessible and visible, it will be like, 'If you build it, they will come.' I think the challenges are to facilitate the development of artists and not just visual arts, but all the cultural segments, and then making it very visible to the public," said Burnside.
