Back in the Candy Story: Re-discovering Performing Arts Possibilities for our Community

A Season of Homecoming

Fall always feels like a homecoming — a time to return to what grounds us and to reconnect with the things that bring us joy. For me, that’s especially true this year. After a brief hiatus from attending booking conferences, I’m back, and it feels a bit like returning to my artistic roots.

While our work with the Public Facilities District continues toward the Mid-Columbia Performing Arts Center, ACTF isn’t standing still. We’re also exploring new ways to bring the benefits of live performance to the community right now — by developing programming that features touring artists and by making better use of the venues we already have.

This week, I’m in Beaverton attending a regional booking conference, surrounded by presenters, performers, and agents from across the Northwest. Over a few full days, we watch “showcases” — short performances that give us a taste of what touring artists have to offer — and start dreaming about what might fit our community. I always say it’s like being a kid in a candy store. There’s more great work out there than any of us could ever present in any one season, and it’s inspiring to see how much creativity continues to drive the performing arts forward.

Back home, we’re beginning to explore how the REACH Amphitheater might serve as another venue for live performance. While this is still an early idea, it would not replace our vision for the Mid-Columbia Performing Arts Center — rather, it could complement it. Think of it as our way of setting the stage for the bigger dream ahead: even small steps like this can make the arts more visible and accessible now, build momentum in the community, and offer a glimpse of the possibilities the future center could provide.

We’re also developing ideas for a family and youth series, recognizing how much impact the arts can have on young people, especially at a time when school programs are stretched thin.

As these ideas take shape, I’d love to hear from you. What kinds of performances or programs would you most like to see? Collaboration has always been at the heart of ACTF’s work — and this, too, feels like a kind of homecoming: returning to the shared vision that started it all.

 Above all, this week’s “homecoming” is a reminder that our work and our journey with the arts is ongoing.    As the writer T.S. Eliot said, “We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.”