Moments & Memories (4 of 8): Taking the time

As graduates this month of CMW's Fellowship Program, Rachel and Arlyn were asked to provide several memorable
moments or anecdotes that would shed light on their favorite experiences over
the past two years spent at Community MusicWorks. Their responses are
posted as a series on this blog throughout the month of June.

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"Seminar" refers to the three hours each month when the entire CMW staff, along with board members, and community members gather together to discuss a topic of interest to the field of the arts and social change. It’s three hours more than most organizations take to reflect on why we do what we do and how we can make it even better.

I’ve valued this time even more after speaking with artists at other similarly-minded organizations and realizing how incredibly rare it is for the whole staff to gather together to talk about Excellence in our Students’ Work or about what it means to align values with collaborators in the community. These are topics that are so central to our work that it now seems unthinkable not to talk about them. I hope to bring this mindset into the future; continuing to take the time to reflect on and renew my understanding of my work on a regular basis.

-Rachel Panitch, Fellow (07-09)