March 30, 2011, Mill Woods artists from various disciplines under the leadership of poet, Jannie Edwards, and rap artist, Rod Loyola, (The Peoples Poet) met in the multi-purpose room of the local library in the town centre.  We called ourselves the Mill Woods Artists Collective (MWAC) and envisioned building our community through art and culture, and bringing awareness that Mill Woods was a vibrant, diverse community—a place where art, living history and culture flourish. Our mission was to “implement activities and programs that engage Mill Woods artists of all ages and artistic states; encourage membership and involvement; work towards short, medium and long-term goals consistent with our vision.” We found a logo, developed a mandate, defined artist and relied on our volunteers to make things happen.

We threw out ideas, sorted them into short, medium and long-term goals: to build a drop-in and a performing arts studio, a dedicated youth…