Seminar unifies vision by artists, community

April 14, the Pend Oreille Arts Council and the Festival at Sandpoint hosted an art seminar in Sandpoint called MERGE.

It was outstanding and well worth the effort they put forth to bring representatives from the Idaho Arts Commission to Sandpoint for the day-long seminar.

The guest speaker, Rebecca Anderson, did a great job of explaining how every region in the country has its unique gifts and challenges and how its up to the community and its residents to develop its future.

Rebecca founded a non-profit organization called Handmade in America that highlights the invisible industry of craftspeople and how they can offer fresh approaches to economic development in rural areas.

Sandpoint and the surrounding areas are alive with creative unique indiviudals and we need to support them as best we can because our heritage and our future are to important to lose.

Thank you to both the Pend Oreille Arts Council and the Festival at Sandpoint, for hosting this great event.

JIM QUINN

Sandpoint