The other day, someone asked what my vision is for Life Is Art. After thinking about it and putting it down in writing, I thought that I would share it with you all.
My vision is the same as always, though it has coalesced somewhat in the past year when I realized how much opportunity and need there really is, much more than I suspected when we first started. I plan to build a world-class organization focused on helping the arts and the community of south Florida, but without losing our street-level touch.
The goal is to assist in elevating Miami arts to be on a par with places like New York and Paris in the international arts community. In doing so, we create a lot of opportunity for local artists and others in the arts field to prosper and succeed. We also support the community through education and providing opportunities for the less fortunate. In addition, by producing arts events at local businesses, we give them a promotional boost, supporting the local economy, as well. I would also like to assist other organizations in their fundraising, as part of our community support.
I think once we grow to full-scale, we are looking at employing around two dozen people full-time to provide services and organize the events. That estimate may be low, depending on how much we want to do, though. The goal is to be doing several large-scale events, be they fairs or performances, or whatever, each year, while having ongoing education and community development programs running, as well as doing smaller events for up-and-coming artists.
And always keep a focus on innovation. To me, “the way it has always been done” is good enough reason to not do it that way. Admittedly, as I have gotten older, I have gotten a little less rebellious, but only a little. The most important goal of all is to help others and have fun doing it.
James Echols
Co-founder
Life Is Art, Inc.
lifeisartfest.org
