The ArtsCenter of Carrboro, Chapel Hill and Orange County is celebrating its 30th anniversary of pursuing its mission to "nourish the arts, creativity and community through education, performance and exhibition."

What began as a single painting class and the vision of Jacques Menache 30 years ago now serves more than 60,000 people a year through various programs. During this anniversary year, there are many exciting activities and festivities planned.

The first quarter of the year featured performances by Rickie Lee Jones, the Count Basie Orchestra (with a free swing-dance class) and the Bellydance Superstars (with a belly-dance workshop), as well as local favorites, the Red Clay Ramblers and Chatham County Line.

The famed Lula Washington Dance Theatre and the African American Dance Ensemble conducted children's dance residencies. In March, the merchants of Carr Mill Mall held a fashion show at Panzanella restaurant to benefit the ArtsCenter. Future events include a theater production in collaboration with Lynden Harris and Theatre Orange on Sept. 11.

A weekend "Block Party" Sept. 17, 18 and 19 will consist of two nights of music by various artists who have performed at the ArtsCenter, a barbecue to honor all the artists who have taught, performed or exhibited there, an ArtSchool open house and a special performance by Paperhand Puppet Intervention on the lawn of Weaver Street Market.

On Oct. 2, the ArtsCenter, Cat's Cradle and Weaver Street Market will host the first annual Indie Music Awards, sponsored by The Independent.

This is a very exciting time, but it begs the question: Why does the community come together to support an arts center? To me, the answer is quite simple: Because the ArtsCenter makes every effort to support the community through its ArtSchool, children and family programs, concerts, theater and gallery exhibits. It is a nurturing, symbiotic relationship.

The ArtsCenter exists because the community, through its representatives, acknowledges that it has a service to provide. With this comes a moral responsibility to serve the community. In the best of worlds, it is a win-win situation. The community receives necessary services, artists are employed, ArtsCenter staff reap the benefits of their passion, local businesses create a better lifestyle to attract new residents (and resources), which in-turn spend money at local business, etc.

All the resources necessary for the positive implementation of services exist in our community. I will take it a step further and suggest that all the necessary resources for the positive implementation of ArtsCenter programs and services already exist at the ArtsCenter. I reject the notion that resources are "scarce."

Community organizations must learn to operate from the position of "resource" rather than from the position of "scarcity." When we learn to use our available resources in constant service of our mission, all other necessary resources will follow. In this way, it becomes easy (along with a plan of action, of course) to realize that the future of the ArtsCenter is very bright indeed.

It becomes incumbent upon any nonprofit organization to recognize what its available resources are in order to best utilize them and to generate new resources. The ArtsCenter's resources are vast, starting with an incredible staff and a group of artists without parallel in a community of this size.

Our constituents are another resource. People want to enrich their lives through arts encounters, whether through arts appreciation or through personal creation. Professional artists are on a lifelong quest to learn and to improve upon their individual capabilities of expression. Children must be given the opportunity to express themselves creatively as well as to develop critical thinking and creative problem solving.

These are all resources at the ArtsCenter's disposal. It also creates the symbiotic relationship alluded to earlier, as the ArtsCenter is simultaneously a resource for all of these groups. It is through a mutual exploration of what is available that an organization like the ArtsCenter finds new resources, thus eradicating the notion of "scarcity."

Over the next decade, the ArtsCenter will rededicate itself to creating resources through collaboration in order to achieve the super-objective of "nourishing the arts, creativity, and community, through education, performance and exhibition." Please join us in our exciting journey.

The Carrboro ArtsCenter web site is at http://artscenterlive.org.