39 Small City Social & Cultural • Feature • William George The story, in part, of the creation of Steelbound. the learning process, in the chamber of commerce, on main street? Once the fire of play and creative collaboration catches, the learning process takes off. The conversations that come with it, the ideas for action that follow, the proposed initiatives, and of course, eventually, the realization of new money sources and stimulating strategies will be revealed. But it’s important to make something clear: artists (and remember, we are all to one degree or another, artists) must grow and expand the perhaps limited, self-protecting shell we’ve erected around our sphere of work. Our culture is changing, and our culture-creating processes are changing. Artists must recognize the importance of “audience” as a fully collaborative partner in those processes to advance this more socially rooted and less marketplace driven endeavor. In it for the Long Haul Take a breath. This can’t be done in a hurry. Fifty years ago, as the grass and glass rained down on our little street theatre finale, we had no idea where 3.
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