Volunteerism. What's it all about?

Let's say you have a vision for a wonderful arts complex in your community - a place where children of every age, race and economic level can come to celebrate life through music and art; a place where all citizens can gather for meetings, art exhibits, recitals and readings, films and live musical productions; a place from which volunteer arts projects in the area schools can be planned and coordinated.

And then you discover that the perfect place is available, the old Ellis movie theater on Court Street where folks have been entertained for generations. Why not raise funds to refurbish the deteriorating theater to create just such an arts center? And, wow, what an enhancement for the smack dab center of the downtown area of your town, right?

So, via word of mouth, you assemble a group of people who are interested in the project. You discuss the possibilities; you debate and fret over the stumbling blocks; you agonize about the projected cost of such an undertaking; you split hairs, beg the question, beat around the inevitable bushes . . . and attempt to balance dreams with reality.

After all the discussion, you see the opportunities in the difficulties. You move beyond the thinking and discussing to the actual doing. Maybe author Ray Bradbury said it best when he wrote: "You can't TRY to do things. You simply must DO things."

And so your committee of the willing steps out in faith. You name yourselves the Delta Arts Alliance and you begin to seek help from engineers and architects, generous contributors and knowledgeable advisers. You put your funds-sniffing nose to the grindstone, welcoming the difficulties because that means you're actually doing more than just dreaming.

Thankfully, several visionaries step forward to fund the gutting of the building, the removal of the asbestos, the debris clean-up. Finally, the place is clean and tidy and ready for its conversion into a downtown jewel.

"Oh," the volunteers are asked, "what's so important about the arts? Why donate money and time to an arts center and arts education when there are so many other needs?"

Why? Art educator Jamie Powell speaks of art as a "universal language that has stretched over many generations and cultures."

"Often," she says, "the best record we have of the past is the art that has been left behind. The visual arts, drama, literature and music enhance the awareness as well as the understanding of other cultures, both of the past and present."

The importance of art in the past, we've been taught; but how crucial is it for us to be able to understand and communicate with each other across our man-made boundaries here and now? We know the answer to that.

We're also told that students with a background in the arts perform better academically. The Sakura Company, sponsor of Cray-Pas art contests for children, conducted a study which showed that the SAT scores of students who studied the arts for more than 4 years were "59 points higher on the verbal portion and 44 points higher on the math portion than scores of students with no course work or experience in the arts."

Beverly Sills, magnificent American singer, said, "Art is the signature of civilization." As our world seems to get crazier and crazier, we could do with more civilizing opportunities, not to mention the laughter and comfort and entertainment arts afford us.

I'm involved with Delta Arts Alliance now, but I was not in on the "ground floor." I salute those who first had a vision and then tackled the difficulties of birthing a superlative arts center in the sturdy old Ellis Theater building.

The outside of the building and the front interior, upstairs and down, are completed. The flashing marquee is spectacular. Watch for DAA to begin work on Phase II, hopefully soon, expanding the Ellis to include a small kitchen, two all-purpose rooms, and two larger bathrooms.

Editor of usadeepsouth.com, Beth Jacks is a weekly columnist for a number of deep south newspapers. She's also the author of three books, Grit, Guts, and Baseball, and SNIPPETS I and II, collections of her newspaper columns.

Contact: Beth Jacks

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Read about Beth's SNIPPETS books -- two collections of her columns.