6
community
january10
2012
Vernonia Community Theater Profiles Part 2:
Mark Brown and Kinnell Steward are Building Community
The Vernonia Community The-
ater (VCT) was formed in 2010 with the
intention of bringing the performing arts
to Vernonia. The group and their pro-
ductions involve both youth and adults
and provide a creative outlet for mem-
bers of the Vernonia community to ex-
press their artistic talents. In this series
of profiles over the next few months lead-
ing up to the VCT’s third production in
the spring of 2012, Vernonia’s Voice will
visit with several key members that make
up the VCT.
The formation of the Vernonia
Community Theater (VCT) was not just
the idea of the two people profiled here.
The idea for a community theater came
from a group of people; Mark Brown
and Kinnell Steward just turned out to
be the two key people with the motiva-
tion and inspiration to bring it to life.
And now the VCT is producing exactly
the kind of results and consequences that
were hoped for when the original idea
was formulated.
Brown and Steward, both mem-
bers of the Vernonia Community Church,
were instrumental in the formation of
the VCT. In April of 2010 the two or-
ganized a meeting, asking members of
the community to come share their tal-
ents and ideas for bringing a Community
Theater/Performing Arts Center to Ver-
nonia. “We all have something we can
contribute to make it happen!,” stated
the email. Stewart and Brown, by invit-
ing the community to come together to
form a theater group, were building on
a plan they helped develop the previous
year.
Both Brown and Steward were
part of an evening program in 2009, held
at their church that featured exercises in
“Asset Mapping” designed to explore
opportunities to build community with-
in Vernonia. That evening eventually
led to the idea for a community theater.
“That’s what Asset Mapping does,” says
Brown. “It gets people excited about
what they already have.”
Asset Mapping is a tool that is
used to identify local resources and ideas
and leverage them so a community can
move forward by widening its circle of
participants. Asset Mapping can encour-
age collaboration by empowering and
motivating citizens to create solutions
that focus on existing strengths.
“As we worked through the ex-
ercises in groups, we came back together
with different ideas,” explains Brown,
“but when we stepped back and looked
at it later, the idea of a community the-
ater sort of came to the surface.”
Steward and Brown took it upon
themselves to move the idea forward and
sent out the email asking for people in-
terested in graphic design, lighting and
stage set construction, drama, music and
singing, directing, sewing, sound, writ-
ing plays, costuming, and teaching. That
first meeting and all the local talent it un-
covered eventually led to the formation
of the VCT and their first production of
“Robin Hood” and then last December’s
“Expose’: Holiday Celebrities Tell All.”
Which is just how the Asset
Mapping exercises were designed to
work.
Brown and Steward wanted to
point out that the upcoming VCT produc-
tion will be one of the final events to take
place on the Washington Grade School
stage. “This will be somewhat historic
for this community,” says Brown.
That production, “Vaudeville’s
My Home” is a semi-musical comedy
set in 1920’s. Auditions for both adult
and youth aged thirteen and up will be
held January 24 and 25 at 7:00 PM in the
Washington Grade School Gym.
Steward, who grew up in a small
town like Vernonia, has additional moti-
vation for creating and working with the
VCT. Steward says she participated in
speech and drama while in high school
and currently has a high school aged son
“I loved it!,” she says. “We have limited
drama opportunities at our school. And
this [the VCT] opens the door for that.”
Brown, who works for the Ver-
nonia School District in the Maintenance
Department and has a daughter who is a
senior this year, has a lot of contact with
students and school programs. “I played
sports when I was in high school but I
see a whole group of kids in our schools,
who, if they aren’t playing sports, are set
aside and left out of the equation,” says
Brown. “With the opportunities for art
and music and drama that the VCT can
provide, it can really grab that group of
kids and says ‘Here’s something for you
if you want to be involved in it, whether
it’s on stage, backstage or side stage—
there is something for everybody to do.
It’s one of those things where everyone
can get involved on some level and feel
like they have contributed.”
In the past, students from the
Graphic Design program at the high
school have created the posters for the
VCT productions. There is always a
need to design, create and build sets.
And Steward who loves to sew, says
there is always a need for help with cos-
tumes. “We don’t always need help cre-
ating costumes from scratch,” she says.
“We might just need some help with mi-
nor alterations.”
Both Brown and Steward see the
VCT as a way of connecting the school
and the community. “They’re already
so closely linked together,” says Brown.
Made in Vernonia Moves to New Location
Made in Vernonia started as an experiment.
Kathy Larsen, an active member of the Vernonia
community, opened a tiny shop on Madison, taking
over the waiting room of New Day Massage to display
and sell the work of local artists and craftspeople.
Heather Lewis donated the space for the trial run and
no one knew that the little business would become so
popular so quickly.
Vernonia’s artists and crafters began delivering
their unique creations to the shop and the residents of
Vernonia and neighboring towns (including Portland)
began stocking up for the holidays with one-of-a-kind
purchases. The interest and support of the Vernonia
community in particular led to a decision to expand
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and move to the corner of Bridge and Jefferson. The
move will enable Larsen to expand her inventory, offer
classes and develop a resource center for residents
interested in exploring their creativity.
Larsen has always been interested in providing
local talent with a means of bringing their products to
market and has been involved in organizing such events
as First Friday and the Vernonia Open Air Market.
Made in Vernonia will enable crafters and artists to
display their work all year and give visitors access to
hand-crafted products beyond the summer months.
An added benefit of accessing local talent is that hard-
earned dollars are spent growing our local economy
and supporting our community.
“It’s been really marvelous to see the
people drawn out from the community
and see them get connected.”
Steward especially enjoys the
idea of seeing people come together
around a common interest to accom-
plish something. “You may not do any-
thing any other time of the year together,
but you have a common theme,” she
says. “And when the curtain opens and
you see the audience and you hear them
laugh when you expect them to laugh,
that makes it all worthwhile.”
Brown also appreciates the way
the VCT brings people together and
builds lasting relationships. “We have a
chance to see both kids and parents gain
skills and build confidence, and then you
see the different relationships that de-
velop between all the people that come
in and out of these productions—those
don’t go away,” says Brown. “This kind
of community interaction is the poster
child, for me, for collaboration.”
Brown notes that the idea of
collaboration on a play production ex-
tends to the school community. “Kids
who might just have known of each
other before have now worked togeth-
er and spent time with each other,” he
says. “Now when they see each other on
campus they know each other better so
they understand and respect each other
more.”
“They may not hang out togeth-
er,” adds Steward, “but it has opened a
door.”
And that is exactly what an
Asset Mapping exercise is supposed
to do—creating opportunities to bring
people within a community together by
identifying their strengths and helping
develop new ideas.
Which is exactly what has hap-
pened with the VCT.
Made in Vernonia will open in Mid-January
in its new location and will offer a wide variety of
practical and fanciful products, from jewelry and knit
socks to fishing flies and fine art. Crafters and artists
are invited to stop by and discuss the marketing of their
wares from single treasures to substantial inventories.
Visitors and shoppers are encouraged to check out the
new location and evolving goods including items for
the whole family. Special requests are happily accepted
and Larsen hopes to connect local crafters and artists
to residents who are looking for something special or
unique.
Thank you, Vernonia, for supporting arts in
your community!
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