Maxine Herbert - she dares to dream big

I think I’m feeling just a tad overwhelmed about now. When you have a vision for what you believe could be, but think people would look at you like you’re a little (or a lot!) nuts to believe that could be possible, it’s a pretty amazing experience to get into a conversation with someone and have them tell you their dream – and find that it is very similar to your own.

I have a feeling there is a reason for that. I think the time has come for things to start happening for the arts community here in Cochrane. And my visit with Maxine Herbert yesterday afternoon just confirmed what I have been sensing.

Maxine works at Tremar Computers where she has started Corner Stone Artists Gallery. I didn’t even get into what she is doing with that – which is also an exciting opportunity for our local artists – we’ll talk about that some other time.

Maxine has worked as an artists rep in the past, so that was what we talked about first. Personally, I think far too many artists miss out on what art could be in their lives because they shy away from learning the business end of things. After hearing what Maxine knows about this, I think we will be offering a workshop on that this winter sometime. This is stuff artists need to know.

We talked about our vision for what the arts could be here in Cochrane. Maxine has a vision that sees Cochrane as a world-class arts place – and I agree. It won’t happen overnight, it will take time, but we believe it is definitely possible. She had some good ideas for ways that could happen.

We talked about the need for our youth to experience the arts and get good instruction, to see the possibilities that are out there.

We also talked about the problems that face artists – chief among them often our own negative attitudes (oh, I’m no good, etc), sometimes getting burned because of not feeling accepted, and so on. I think in the process of building the arts here, we will need to deal with those things and find a way to create a vision that is powerfully positive and encouraging. That may not always be easy, but I believe we can come together and do something amazing here.

Maxine, thank you. I know you and I will have more conversations. This is just too good not to!