The Observation Deck

Hi Mel,

Our meeting had been moved to Thursday to accommodate the band that will be performing at the ArtSwap fundraiser on July 11th. If you would like to meet, I would be more than happy to set some time aside to discuss current events and how we can make things work.

In my opinion, marketing a general Madison Walk will create the same competing force that cause much of the confusion on the June 13th ArtWalk. I respect MAMA's decision not to participate in the summer long ArtWalks, but please allow us to continue our efforts without creating more confusion. The idea behind these events was to not only support the arts, but also allow businesses to create an atmosphere where the public could come in and check out what they have to offer.

While I understand frustration from some businesses, we are a small organization and need others to step up to the plate to help with communicating those needs to us that may not have been expressed. As well, we have an ongoing effort to find new artists to be involved. This is a growing grass roots campaign and can only get better with age and understanding. There is always room for improvement.

chris richards wrote:While I understand frustration from some businesses, we are a small organization and need others to step up to the plate to help with communicating those needs to us that may not have been expressed. As well, we have an ongoing effort to find new artists to be involved. This is a growing grass roots campaign and can only get better with age and understanding. There is always room for improvement.

You claim to be a small group, which is easy to understand. Why would anyone work with a group that takes personal emails and publishes them? I hope the board of Lakewood Is Art explains to the president she is quickly destroying the organization's ability to attract the help you seem desperate for.

Pat

Pat Murphy wrote:You claim to be a small group, which is easy to understand. Why would anyone work with a group that takes personal emails and publishes them? I hope the board of Lakewood Is Art explains to the president she is quickly destroying the organization's ability to attract the help you seem desperate for.

Pat

I would like to point out that this email was written as a business email. Mel wrote this as the president of MAMA, not as a personal letter. The idea with the ArtWalk was to be as inclusive as possible. Our outreach to MAMA was to get their input directly from them, not in the form of demands. I would also like to point out that she sent an email to Madison Businesses without first discussing this with LIA stating that "Madison Ave. has limited time and resources," that MAMA would not be able to continue hosting Artwalks, and concerning her concept for the Madison Walk event during the duration of what had already been planned and advertised as ArtWalks. She has put forth the idea that communication with LIA on any and all event changes prior to distributing information about her initiatives is not important and shows MAMA's lack of ability to work collaboratively with other organizations.

My question is, if Madison Ave., as a whole does not have the resources and time to put into building an ArtWalk, where is the time and resources going to come from to build a generalized Madison Walk going to come from?

It appears her whole beef is with LIA's focus on art being a motivating force in the walk, essentially stating that art is not important to the businesses and community of Lakewood. She even went as far as to say that she would start adjusting the marketing of the ArtWalk to the Madison Walk event in the Obesever for the July 11th walk.

IMAGINE… “MADISON WALK” POLE BANNERS WITH A COLORFUL EYE CATCHING DESIGN ALL ALONG MADISON AVE.

Please give me your feedback immediately by phone or email. I feel tremendously certain about this and want to begin adjusting marketing and promotion of July 11th in next week’s Lakewood Observer and at the HUGE Lakewood 4th of July day at Lakewood park.

In a further email to the LIA board, Mel, acting as president of MAMA made an offer to LIA concerning her support and ability to cooperate with LIA on our event. This brought what is actually a demand.

* Event name change - The name of it will need to drop the “Art” and should also have the name of Madison in it. This would be something in the lines of what Justine Cooper spearheaded in June 2007 with “Madison Ave. Summer Walk” or my suggestion of “Madison Walk”.

I am terribly sorry, but this is pretty much a cease and desist order to LIA.

She also states that MAMA has no interest in running their own monthly events, that their efforts are better spent on more urgent non-event business needs. Perhaps that is exactly what MAMA should do. LIA is willing to put in the effort and work to make the ArtWalks a success for everyone.

At this time, we are moving forward with the planned Lakewood ArtWalks. We are still recruiting businesses, artists, and volunteers to participate and are evaluating struggling areas and businesses that need further support and assistance from LIA board members. If MAMA does not wish to support or assist in LIA's efforts to highlight local artists and businesses, then we respect that. But when a well publicized and planned event is threatened to be taken over by another organization, we will defend it.

At this time, we ask for cooperation and support from Madison Businesses to assist in making the ArtWalk a success. There should not be this conflict. It is uncalled for, but it should be properly vetted to those that need or want to understand what is going on instead of being continually confused with conflicting reports on events planned by groups that apparently don't see eye to eye.

I will leave this by saying, communication goes a long way. If MAMA had come to us with their concerns and ideas prior to sending out emails to businesses and after to LIA, this situation would not have escalated to the extent in which it has.

I think that with two dedicated volunteer groups who really care about Madison Avenue and Lakewood as a whole, in addition to individual business owners and artists, that there will be a way to work it all out. The famous author Richard Carlson Ph.d writes passionately about how conflict is actually a good thing and how we can always learn from it (and no I did not live this while I worked with you Jim );
If there are businesses who do not appreciate or want to do art and are willing to open up their shops to showcase what they have, I think that can be done on walks even in conjunction with the businesses who display art. I think the times when efforts take away from each other are when they are done in different areas (like Detroit and Madison on the same day). But I bet there is a way for the two groups to still find success in their missions while helping Madison Avenue to thrive. The heart of both organizations and their dedicated volunteers is Lakewood and working together and I believe that underlying passion can triumph over conflicts that arise.

I don't know why IHOP closed but it was my daughter's favorite breakfast place simply for the smily face pancake. We were just there Saturday for her birthday breakfast and the waitresses were so warm and friendly they even sang to her. They are now out of a job and I am deeply saddened every time I hear of a local closing. We must each individually do what we can to support the local businesses and each other, even and especially during conflict.