Social mixer featuring local artists to be held Monday

98520: Interest in organizing a local music scene gaining momentum

By Dan Hammock • May 19, 2017 10:00 pm
Angie Kim from Los Angeles, Calif. is President and CEO of the Center for Cultural Innovation, a California based organization that builds local artists with financial and knowledge services. She was recently added as a fourth speaker at Greater Grays Harbor Inc.’s monthly business forum May 23 at the D&R Theater Events Center in downtown Aberdeen, which will focus on the social, economic and cultural benefits of organizing Aberdeen’s growing The Alley music scene.
Angie Kim from Los Angeles, Calif. is President and CEO of the Center for Cultural Innovation, a California based organization that builds local artists with financial and knowledge services. She was recently added as a fourth speaker at Greater Grays Harbor Inc.’s monthly business forum May 23 at the D&R Theater Events Center in downtown Aberdeen, which will focus on the social, economic and cultural benefits of organizing Aberdeen’s growing The Alley music scene.

A social mixer featuring “all artists, bands, musicians, songwriters, poets, supporters, believers, anyone in the creative community” is planned for 7 p.m. Monday at the Grays Harbor Coffee Company at the D&R Theater in downtown Aberdeen.

Organizer Wil Russoul, local musician and songwriter who has been spearheading efforts to create an Aberdeen music district said speakers from the following day’s Greater Grays Harbor Inc. business forum have been invited to attend the event.

The Greater Grays Harbor Inc. monthly business forum May 23 is dedicated to presentations by experts on the economic and social benefits of creating an organized music scene. They include:

Dr. Bryce Merrill and Jesse Elliot from the Music District in Fort Collins, Colo. Both were instrumental in building the local music scene there, which has grown into a social and economic hub near Colorado State University. Merrill is an assistant professor at Indiana State University who studies and teaches the sociology of music and has published papers and articles describing the social and economic benefits of an organized music scene. Elliot was a touring musician who landed in Colorado in 2012 and put down roots. He is now the director of the Fort Collins Music Scene.

Rebecca Gates, musician and entrepreneur from Portland, also described as an artist, curator, and activist, is part of Tuesday’s program. She has toured and released albums internationally, and appeared on recordings by a range of artists including Willie Nelson, Akito Katayose and The Decemberists. Her programs and work relating to issues of sound and space, listening, and artist’s roles in their communities have been hosted by numerous museums and universities in the U.S. and Europe. She co-founded The Relay Project audiomagazine, and is chief wrangler at The Agency League of Musicians, a musician centered think tank and action network.

Angie Kim from Los Angeles is president and CEO of the Center for Cultural Innovation, an organization that supports artists with financial and other services. She has more than 15 years of experience in the arts and philanthropy having worked in various roles as a grantmaker, evaluator, and communications specialist at the Getty and Flintridge Foundations and as the Director of Programs at Southern California Grantmakers. In addition to working as a consultant to foundations, she has been a lecturer on philanthropy at Claremont Graduate University and University of Southern California and has served as an adviser of numerous arts initiatives. She is also an independent consultant providing expertise on informing program design with evaluation objectives for funding programs that intersect social justice and the arts.

“Join us at the D&R Event Center to learn how growing our local music industry can drive economic growth, social and cultural development, job creation, and investment,” read the invitation posted by Greater Grays Harbor Inc. on social media.

An RSVP to Greater Grays Harbor Inc. is required to attend the 11:30 a.m. forum at the D&R Event Center Tuesday, and space was limited. The social mixer the night before is open to everyone, and Russoul is hoping to impress the guest speakers with a large crowd that shows the diversity of quality of artistic talent in Grays Harbor County.

Russoul also hosted a songwriter’s forum Friday evening at the coffee shop. There he and several artists were to perform original songs they had written to capture the theme and spirit of The Alley music district which identifies by the city’s zip code, 98520.