Nearly 3,000 attend annual arts festival

By IVY FARGUHESON

Jun 15

Nearly 3,000 attend annual arts festival

Symphony on the Green celebrates Muncie's arts and culture community.

By IVY FARGUHESON • • June 14, 2009

It has been more than 20 years since Debbie Conders lived in Muncie, but she came back for a visit just in time to be truly impressed for the Symphony on the Green.

Now a resident of Eastern Washington State, Conders and her daughter, Audrey Hannaford, and her husband, Mark Hannaford, joined close to 3,000 people enjoying the afternoon Saturday at the annual arts festival.

"Muncie is kind of growing. It's starting to develop more activities, creating a more positive atmosphere," Conders said. "I really like it. It's very impressive."

Held at the Arts Terrace at Ball State University, Symphony on the Green did more than celebrate the Muncie Symphony Orchestra. It also celebrated the arts and culture community in a city known more for its manufacturing past than its artistic present and future.

During the past three years, the "Green" has changed its focus from a free, public concert to end the orchestra's season to an arts festival that encourages the community to see the arts and culture communities as alive in Muncie.

"For the arts community to be healthy, we all have to work together to make the entire arts community strong and healthy," said Elissa McDonald, executive director of the MSO. "The only way to do that is for everybody to work together, ... let's all be a part of this community."

With eight pre-Symphony performances and 11 artisans selling their trade, as well as dinner prepared for the entire family, the Green appeared to be an event the entire Muncie community could enjoy.

But as is the case with many Muncie community events, there was a lack of black faces among the large crowd, a sign for some that Muncie still has a long way to go to include its entire community in the city's events.

"These events are common, but they're not community-wide," said Pat Mitchell-Fields of Muncie. "If you look around at the audience here, you can tell that it's not truly a community-wide event. I've always been disappointed with that because we're like two different cities."

That might change, however. Terry Whitt Bailey, president and CEO of Cornerstone Center for the Arts, won the symphony's superconductor contest, becoming the first woman as well as the first African-American to win the contest.

Bailey thanked the crowd for their support, not only in the competition, but toward the arts and culture community in Muncie. She also hoped that Muncie's many communities would continue to support the arts and the symphony in the future.

And according to Mark Hannaford, events like Symphony on the Green are just the beginning of things to enjoy in the city.

"It's actually nice to see something cultural in Muncie, instead of going out to eat or going to a movie," he said. "Getting the word out about these events are important."

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