“Where Are They Now?” documentaries offer entertaining tributes to people: where they have been, and where their journeys have led them today. In similar fashion, we’re embarking on a tour of several organizations that have benefited from Selby Foundation investments over the years.
We first bring you to a stop at Manatee Performing Arts Center (MPAC) in downtown Bradenton. With the support of a $250,000 grant from the Selby Foundation in 2013 and millions from other individuals, foundations, businesses and civic organizations over time, we are proud to know their work is at the center of a thriving community.
We talked with CEO Janene Amick about the Center’s success and evolution over the past decade. It’s always exciting to see–years later–how an investment continues to give dividends.
SF: Since MPAC was built, what are you most proud of?
JA: The relationships, partnerships, collaborations. Not just the ones we are intimately a part of, but the ones that have formed because of just meeting here (marriages, friendships, business partnership). I love how the community is able to gather together from so many different perspectives, areas of interests and walks within their own personal life journeys. I am proud to work with a team for an organization that is on a journey–not just trying to get to some finish line.
SF: Talk about how your programs for children build confidence, openness to new things, public speaking skills, etc.
JA: For us, theater is about learning life skills in a fun and meaningful way. The top 3 most important skills students acquire are:
1. Confidence – Kids/participants get the courage to step out of their comfort zones, perform in front of people they know and their very own peers (sometimes the most critical and scary).
2. Public Speaking – When learning a production, you are also taught improv at the same time. You never know when your lead decides to skip a couple of scenes and it is up to you to roll with it…problem-solving on the spot!
3. Team Building – No matter how good any one person is, the show is more than that one person. Even a one-person show can’t go on without a lighting tech. There are many different people with many different talents and skill sets working together with the ultimate goal in mind. You learn to let go of what you are not good at and rely on others, value those talents.
SF: Manatee Players hosts its theatrical productions in the space, but it also builds relationships with other nonprofit organizations that connect through “Action Through Acting,” exposing audiences to important social issues that the nonprofits address in their mission work. Can you talk about how this has evolved in your space?
JA: Action Through Acting is probably the program nearest and dearest to me. One of the most impactful ways the program has evolved is in how the community at times now has reached out to us to help bring to light a conversation or action that needs to be taken regarding an issue. For instance, we are working on a piece right now that incorporates homelessness, metal well-being, poverty and the struggle of being educated when these aspects of your life exist.
When we started the program, it was about helping us get out the word to new audiences. Now it is about doing what needs to be done. We see our staged presentations as conversation starters for difficult and uncomfortable conversations. I will never forget when I called a patron to find out why she wasn’t coming back to see the final closing performance of The Father. (She always attends each production twice to see the growth of the cast members) “Janene, I decided to donate my tickets back. That one last night hit home. I saw myself through that man’s eyes, and I have made an appointment with the Roskamp Institute.”
We know performance and choose our productions with the hope of changing minds and lives in any way we can from stage.
SF: Others, including service clubs such as Bradenton Kiwanis, use the space for events, conversations, and meetings that engage community members. Share a little about this important aspect of MPAC and what it has meant in Manatee County.
JA: [We are a] cultural community center. Our question zero for why we exist is TO GATHER. But not just [our audience], but those who need space to gather, to rally, to educate. [We are a] neutral ground for hard conversations. Yes, these events help promote the location of the performing arts center, and most of them help with rental income. But it is the work and action from these meetings that are helping our community navigate the next steps so no one is felt left out, unworthy, forgotten or not enough.
SF: Anything else you’d like to share?
JA: I am so thankful to be a part of a team from top to bottom that believes in its community both inside and outside the walls of the facility they manage. We are more than entertainers. We are community advocates, ambassadors, mouth pieces and life-changers our medium just happens to be a stage.