Thank you from Vashon Allied Arts to all the community members who came to the three open houses and visited our booth at the Strawberry Festival to view the proposed plans for the Vashon Center for the Arts. 

There were approximately 500 people who gave us their feedback. You all asked very good questions and gave valuable constructive criticism. At least 85 percent of those who gave us feedback verbally or in writing said they liked or loved the project. Comments varied based on your particular interest — whether it be as a performer focusing on the stage and backstage, a visual artist examining the gallery or one who envisioned being in the audience. This gave us a well rounded view of community perspectives.  

I want to take this opportunity to address a couple of issues raised in these conversations. 

With sustainability and energy efficiency in mind, we are committed to building at least a LEED Silver-certified structure and to go beyond that if at all possible. We share your desire to make the new space a community gathering place with warm and welcoming spaces. While most agree that 275 to 300 seats are needed, we are continuing to address the scale of the building. This challenge is something we are working on with the architects. There was quite a variety of input concerning the materials used to clad the building; that decision is yet to be made. Please continue sending us your ideas.

The board and staff of VAA appreciate the enthusiasm and suggestions as we go forth in this exciting project to build a center to support the arts and artists on Vashon. We will be getting back to those of you who asked for a response.  

— Anne O’Leary, President, VAA Board of Trustees