Greetings! I hope you are all enjoying your summer - whether that includes lots of rest and relaxation for yourself or staying busy trying to keep your family rested and relaxed. Summer has always been my favorite time of year as it marks the time where we, here at the Mauldin Cultural Center, get to take a step back and assess our programs and look at how we can change things for the better. I wanted to take some time and talk you about one of these very changes that will take place beginning in July.
In June, the City of Mauldin approved the creation of a new Office of Cultural Affairs. The Office of Cultural Affairs [OCA] will be charged with managing and developing the cultural assets of the City, promoting the arts in Mauldin, and providing leadership, guidance and various resources to the cultural community in Mauldin. The Office of Cultural Affairs will be focused on the entire community - not merely one facility or one program. Wherever the OCA can promote the arts, it will do so. Whether it's working with a school art program, hosting a free concert at the Cultural Center, or working with an artist on a site-specific work - the OCA will be there for the community.
To support this change, I have resigned as the Executive Director of the Mauldin Cultural Center and will assume a new role as the Administrator of the Office of Cultural Affairs. In this capacity, I will continue to manage all day-to-day activity at the Cultural Center and lead the growth of new and current programs. Additionally, I will be focusing my efforts on fulfilling the goals of the Office of Cultural Affairs and ensuring that our entire community benefits from accessible and high quality artistic and cultural opportunities.
Beginning this week, you will see small, progressive changes to not only this weekly newsletter, but also the Cultural Center's website and other items. It is important to note that all currently scheduled events will remain the same - none of our programs will change for the remainder of 2013. All concerts, classes and rentals will continue as scheduled. And as we look forward to 2014, essentially all of our programs will also remain in place at the Mauldin Cultural Center.
We are excited about these changes and look forward to having an even larger impact in our community. We hope to see you soon!
- George Patrick McLeer