From: Peter Donnelly
September 29, 2006
Skip Rowley
Chairman, Board of Directors
PACE
PO Box 828
Bellevue, WA 98009-0828
Dear Skip:
Cultural institutions are critical to the evolution of a community. As I witnessed during my tenure as President & CEO of ArtsFund, performing arts centers light up downtown streets and fill them with people. Bellevue, indeed all of the Eastside, is a place that is brimming with vitality and potential. What the Eastside needs to complete its evolution as a community is a cultural facility equal to its residential and retail prominence. I am pleased to add my voice to those other citizens endorsing Performing Arts Center Eastside.
All of the elements needed for PACE'S success are in place: strong professional and volunteer leadership, great optimism about the ability to get things done, and an understanding of the people you are serving and what they need - your audiences, artists, and the broader community. Your planning and fundraising materials make an excellent case about the need for PACE and the many benefits that will come to the Eastside.
Puget Sound arts have grown enormously since I came here over 40 years ago. There's always been interest, plus a live-and-let live attitude. This region isn't threatened by newcomers and is tolerant of the eccentric and unusual. That helps provide the groundwork for a good arts community. Intellectual, financial and creative capital in this area is enormous. PACE provides an opportunity for King County to access this capital effectively, which will generate enormous returns for the entire region.
The arts have proven what they can do for the revitalization of a downtown core. With PACE, we have the opportunity to demonstrate what the arts can do to define a downtown that is already expanding rapidly. Cultural facilities are truly our gathering places—the living rooms of our cities—and PACE will become an integral part of our region's cultural and community landscape.
This is the moment for our community to roll up its sleeves and get behind PACE. I send you my best wishes for much success in your capital campaign.
Sincerely,
Peter Donnelly