DEFINING "CULTURE"
Ask ten people to define "culture" and you'll likely get ten different answers. Most people will agree that "shared" is a common descriptor, implying proximity and a sense of place — the shared land and waterways that provide food and shelter, workspaces and materials, room to build and play, and the sensory inspiration of nature that so often fires the Creative Arts.
The Creative Arts are culturally dynamic in the sense that they communicate, and can challenge or inform, a community's shared precepts and beliefs. That is the crux of our democracy: freedom of speech. The Declaration of Independence enshrines it, enabling and even encouraging disagreement in pursuit of "a more perfect union." You'll find that dynamic profoundly, eloquently and creatively explored this Wednesday 10/11, as three of Connecticut's top poets give voice to the document crafted 250 years ago that still shapes our views of the American ideal.
SEE MORE AT LA GRUA CENTER
WEBSITE MEMBERS
In the meantime, our website at StoningtonCulture.com is still growing and evolving. The SCDC concluded early on that a primary goal for the site was to be a resource for ALL cultural entities in the Stonington/Mystic area, so it was designed around an online graphical directory that offers each of those entities (Members) their own page. Each page gives the visitor direct links to the Member's chosen online resources and content, a gallery for photos and more as new functions are created. Members create their own listings. So who and where are these Members?
We presently have 92 Members enrolled and room for 500. The criteria for acceptance are broadly informed by this definition of our culture:
"Culture in Stonington is best defined as everything the community does, makes, and remembers that expresses its identity — the working waterfront and fishing fleet, farming and food production, galleries and artists, writers and poets, musicians and performers, historic places, libraries and museums, festivals, faith and civic life, and the everyday ways people live together throughout the year."
Geographically, Members of the website directory are accepted from Stonington, Pawcatuck, Mystic, Old Mystic, Groton/Noank, North Stonington, Ledyard and Westerly/Watch Hill. We also accept members from farther afield if they regularly show, perform or sell their work in Stonington or Mystic, where our two physical Cultural Districts reside.
MEMBER RESOURCES
Member Events are promoted in the NOW section through three graphical calendars: Upcoming Events, Ongoing Events and Calendars, the last of which provides permanent links to our major cultural organizations’ event schedules.
Public Education offerings from Members are posted in the LEARN section, which also includes Publications and State Resources for the Arts.
FUTURE PLANS
As SCDC Chair Doug Rice reports, a Wayfinding Plan for our two Cultural Districts is a 2027 priority. In the meantime you can see them on the WALK page.
Lastly, we’ll be sitting down with our Media Partners to talk about the different ways we can work together on behalf of our Cultural Community.
Thanks for reading! Comments and questions: editor@stoningtonculture.com