Sitting in a circle of about 14 people, I realized I was one of the only people without an institutional affiliation to arts and culture in the greater Philadelphia region. Some were art or music teachers. Others worked in museums or for the Cultural Alliance. Even though I had worked for and participated in several citizens’ forums as a research assistant for Great Expectations, I knew little about Philadelphia’s art scene. Other than a lone visit to the Art Museum and a few random peeks into Old City art galleries, I know almost nothing about regional treasures and happenings. When it was my turn to introduce myself, all I could muster was that I felt the arts to be an essential piece of my life, and I quickly and shyly looked away. I almost missed the nods of agreement that rippled through the group. Even worse, I nearly missed the point of the forum — that anyone who cared about arts and culture had a right to contribute.

Together, we worked through four approaches, each coming from a different experience and view of arts and culture, and were given a ballot to vote on which option made the most sense and which would most likely be supported by “people we know.” Judging by the tone and momentum of the conversation, I was convinced that one approach would stand out from the others.

However, after seeing the results from this and two other forums, it turned out that we had found more common ground than even the event coordinators could have hoped for! The points (we were given 20 “Ben Bucks” to spend over five choices — the four approaches and the status quo) were distributed relatively evenly, with a fairly clear favorite that was repeated in the second question.

When asked which option would most likely gain support by “people you know”:

What is most exciting to me is that each forum brings a different set of people, with varied concerns and priorities, and yet the results of the voting seem to be consistent: arts and culture should be used to attract and retain intelligent and innovative people. With four events remaining, along with many more conversations, I wonder if this trend will continue. Every vote has an impact.