Common Threads Builds Community
The concept is simple: bringing people from different backgrounds together to create something that is meaningful to the group. Regardless of the project, the process of creation is what is important.
"Art is a universal language," said Elizabeth Holdeman, director of The Lion and Lamb Peace Arts Center. "And in some way, the process of creating sparks feelings that normally wouldn't come to the surface. People learn more about themselves and each other."
In the Fall of 2001, Bluffton College brought the concept of "Common Threads" to the BC campus and to Allen County. The Allen County Common Threads initiative is modeled after the European Common Threads program, which began in England and Scotland.
"In Common Threads projects, people work together to address issues of mutual concern, promote understanding and build a sense of community." Holdeman explained. "The arts are incorported into the projects to help demonstrate and document experiences and outcomes."
The first phase of the Allen County initiative was multifaceted encompassing special class assignments for BC students, an exhibit of projects from Europe and Allen County and a one-day conference for county educators, elected officials, civic and community leaders.
The Council for the Arts of Greater Lima (CFA) assumed leadership of Allen County Area Common Threads at the completion of the Common Threads 2001 conference. The CFA will build upon the Common Threads methodology by presenting the Allen County Animating Democracy Initiative: Common Threads 2002 - Building our capacity for civic dialogue. The goal of this new program is to continue the Allen County Common Threads process by building community capacity for civic dialogue stimulated by a new theater work on the local issues of "trust among leaders" and "respecting differences."
