The story of 4c begins in January of 2009 when about 20 creative people met for dinner to share some artwork and talk about putting together a Zine (a low-cost, minimal production arts publication), the purpose of which was to provide a forum for anyone, including non-professional artists, to express their creativity to the community. Upon seeing everyone’s work we realized that within this small group of people in Durango we had some amazing talent, and a black and white photocopied Zine would not do justice to the work we shared with each other. So having no funds to produce a high-quality magazine, and have no experience in the publication business we shifted gears towards creating live events/opportunities for people to come together and share their creativity and inspiration with one another.
We then spent a couple of weeks doing or best to harness the frenzied energy we created in everyone and come up with our name and mission. 4c- Conscious Creative Cultural Connection who’s mission was to unite community by embracing nature, sharing inspiration, and celebrating creativity. This mission would eventually change as we developed more clarity within the group as to who we were and what exactly our role was in the community.
Our first creation as 4c was the Imagination Masquerade & Trade held Mar. 18th 2009. We invited all the creative people we knew as well as the general public to come together for a night to share, celebrate, trade, and collaborate. One of the truly beautiful and unique aspects of this all our other events has been that all of this talent (musicians, visual and performing artists, technical assistance, local businesses, etc….) has come together for these events at little or no cost, just to celebrate one another and to create something inspirational. Many previously unknown artists have been boosted into the arts scene in Durango through our events as well.
Our second event was the Summer Solstice Celebration held at Buckley Part on June 21st of 2009. This was an all-day event comprised of workshops on sustainable/holistic living and creative performances by poets, artists, dancers, and musicians.
Our third event we did at the La Boca Center for Sustainability in Ignacio and was called the Fall Harvest Festival. It was a three day extended version of the Summer Solstice Celebration that also included La Boca Farm tours and camping. We made $2,000 for La Boca and brought about 1000 new faces to their place. Food not Bombs cooked community meals for everyone each night and it was again an amazing opportunity for members of the arts and sustainability community to meet, spend time, and collaborate with one another.
We spent the winter of 2009 resting, recuperating, and developing ideas for new 4c endeavors. In the the spring of 2010 Wayne Shoefter donated $10,000 to 4c to help us create local media. He had become a close friend to some of us and it has been a dream of his for many years to see the arts and local media flourish in the 4-corners area. With the money we bought a computer and the needed software to design/edit our own magazine and movies. So we came back around again to wanting to put together our arts magazine only this time we had the funding to do it.
Our first issue of SEEN magazine was released July 4th of 2010. We distributed the magazines at various local businesses in Durango, Cortez, Mancos, Dolores, Silverton, and Telluride. The magazine was well received and appreciated by the community and we learned a great deal about the magazine business along the way. We made a little over $2,000 back by selling the magazines leaving us about $2,000 short of printing our next issue.
So far in 2011 we have applied for a marketing intern from Fort Lewis to help us with magazine advertising and creating a profitable marketing plan. We had another spring event at the Abbey call the 1st Annual Bacchanalia: a Dark Carnival where oddities are commodities. It was a phenomenal success where many artists and performers from Durango came together again to celebrate each other and collaborate to make an inspiring and unforgettable night for all of those who attended. We made enough money to print our next issue of SEEN magazine which is planned to be released July 15th in collaboration with our next event, The Celebration of Interdependence.
During the winter of 2010 and spring of 2011 we also took the time to look back at all we had done and to look ahead at where we are going. We changed and refined our mission statement, created a current and committed board of directors, developed a group decision making process, and a method for conflict resolution if ever needed within the group. We also created a list of values we wish to follow as a group and as individuals. We recently had a Fort Lewis graduate apply to be our marketing intern for SEEN and are working with Carol Clark to collaborate with her, bringing and arts and cultural element to her non-profit events.
New 4c mission statement: to offer forums for the development of interdependent culture.
Board of Directors:
Cy Rauworth, Kamaljit Punia, Sam Redman, Isaac Murphey, Kim Wiggins
Future Projects:
-To continue SEEN magazine
-To continue with collaborative events that promote the arts, sustainability and the interdependent relationship between the two
-Create and independent film night that provides the opportunity for people to meet, talk, and develop relationships around the arts and sustainability.
