Jaclyn Smith-Esters: Galesburg needs bandshell so music, arts can bring people together
Galesburg has a rich history of musicians and artists which can be attributed to the culture of music and art in our community due largely in part to the progressive colleges, theatre groups and organizations (ie., Prairie Players Theatre League, The Orpheum Theatre, Galesburg-Knox Symphony, Galesburg Community Chorus and so on) and churches. We live in a vibrant and thriving city that is and always has been committed to the arts. This begs the question of “Why hasn’t the city of Galesburg or our community leaders chosen to invest in the creation of a bandshell (or stage, Ampitheater, etc.) that could be built in various locations throughout our city?”
We have read about the hundreds of summer concert venues being held in parks on hometown stages throughout our neighboring counties, programs that bring thousands of visitors to their communities and create a strong sense of cultural, historical heritage and friendships. For example, within the past few years the smaller towns of Cambridge and Galva have built stages in their parks to meet the needs of the performers who needed a better place to perform from. Building stages has helped show their commitment to the arts and created an inviting and welcoming environment to their well-known summer concert series.
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These events have brought thousands of visitors once a week throughout the summer months! These aren’t just the locals but include people from all over their county, and state of Illinois. They have discovered the secret of bringing people together is largely because “mMusic” and the arts moves people and fosters relationships and friendships. By offering their venues from a well-equipped stage, bandshell, ampitheater, (and so on) they are attracting talent from all over the country to present their music to an ever growing and loyal audience.
It is obvious that Galesburg has hundreds of musical and theatrically talented members of our great city. We need to take advantage of our local talent while also bringing in well-known nationally recognized talent by offering opportunities for them to show their gifts in our town. If our community would invest in a community ampitheater or bandshell, we could begin to reap the benefits of music and the arts.
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We have so many areas here in Galesburg where we could locate such a structure. For example, we have open green space where the old O.T. Johnson building was located that would be a perfect for community concerts and theater. Can you imagine that space filled with large crowds cheering on the talented artists on the stage while they enjoy food items offered by area vendors. Think of the visitors such a regular event might draw to our great city and the economic impact we would experience. Keep in mind that Galesburg has many other locations that can provide the same opportunities.
The only caveat would be that we also need to establish a core group of like-minded members of our own community who want to see this happen and help coordinate yearly summer events that could utilize a community space and stage dedicated to such events.
I have lived in Galesburg much of my adult life and I have come to know so many great individuals who love our city and want to see it thrive and grow. I am convinced that we can find a group of such people to make such a musical and theatrical series become a reality we can experience musical art events that will bring more people to experience our community. We only need to see the big picture and envision the location, bandshell and talent we want to bring to Galesburg and make that dream become a reality for our community.
Jaclyn Smith-Esters is a Galesburg City Council member representing Ward 5. This piece is part of the Many Paths column series.
This article originally appeared on Galesburg Register-Mail: Galesburg IL needs bandshell to host music and arts events
