Art league expansion bodes well for Sussex
Patti Grimes directs the Joshua M. Freeman Foundation, sponsor of a full slate of concerts each summer at the Freeman Stage at Bayside near Fenwick Island. She spoke at Del Tech’s Today and Tomorrow Conference this week and noted that in four years, concert attendance has grown from 13,000 to 52,000. “Arts are a major component of the Sussex County culture,” said Grimes.
We see their importance weekly in stories and photographs showing art exhibits, Dewey and Rehoboth Beach’s vibrant live music and theater scene, the coast’s many classical concerts, Milton’s theatre renaissance, Jazz Festival, imaginative costumes at the Sea Witch Festival, Rehoboth Beach Film Festival, photography exhibits and, of course, the appealing creativity of the many culinary artists thriving here.
That’s why it was such good news to learn about Rehoboth Art League’s plans to extend its cultural reach into Sussex County by leasing a large space on the ground floor of one of The Vineyards at Nassau Valley buildings on Route 9.
The five-year commitment will allow the league to expand its offerings of exhibits, classes, lectures and other cultural events without wearing out its welcome with its neighbors around its main campus in the heart of Henlopen Acres.
The expansion satisfies the important outreach efforts of the league as it seeks to engage more and more people from all walks of life in the arts. It also sends a strong signal to Henlopen Acres that it understands the limitations of its expansion opportunities at its primary location.
That ought to smooth over some of the tensions that have existed and encourage Acres officials to look more accommodatingly at Rehoboth Art League efforts to upgrade its historic buildings for greater sustainability and to provide proper stewardship for the first-class collection of original art the league has acquired through the decades.
The arts bring us together in so many ways. Any significant expansion of those efforts should be heralded with clanging bells.
