Advancing by Retreating

Every year, more or less, around this time, more or less, your hardworking Hylton Center Executive Board and staff hold a retreat. We’re a frugal bunch, so this activity takes place right at the Hylton, not at some tropical or ski-slopey destination. And we’re pretty busy, so it generally happens on a Saturday between the hours of 9 and 2. But we make every effort to think of it as a real retreat, not just a very long meeting with lunch provided.

This year’s retreat was held on February 8th in our new Education and Rehearsal Wing – and it was among the most successful yet, for a few key reasons that I want to share with you. First, the rooms themselves – the Ballard Postma Studio and the Large Rehearsal Hall (we’re waiting for YOU to decide to put your name on it!) – are great places to work. The natural light, the tall ceilings, the creative vibe all conspire to inspire, and the group responded accordingly. When a strategic planning discussion starts to feel like a rehearsal, you know you’re on to something.

We also made a work of art together in 80 minutes. “What? How?” I hear you asking. The “what” was a sizeable mobile – one of those airborne sculptures that balances precariously around itself and moves with every whim of the wind. The “how” involved a wonderful workshop called “Balance Point,” led by Kevin Reese, in which each of us considered how we might express some aspect of the role the Hylton Center plays in living up to our motto, “The Arts Create Community.”

After learning the rudiments of balancing disparate elements (and there’s a powerful metaphor!), we each constructed a piece for the mobile, and placed it in a 3-dimensional composition along with the others from our group. We then helped Kevin bring it all together in a 24-piece whirligig of seemingly fragile elegance but really a finely-balanced conversation among ideas and images, some quite abstract and others crystal clear, all creating a diverse and harmonious representation of community. Of course the final product, delightful as it turned out, was not the point – it was the way we all worked together, each pursuing a unique vision but destined to contribute to a common outcome, that created lasting value. I know I developed a deeper sense of appreciation for my tablemates (now artistic collaborators!), and we all shared a sense of joy in the work and the result. (If you would like to explore bringing Kevin to your business, school, or institution to do a Balance Point workshop, look him up.)

Finally, our retreat was enhanced immeasurably by the presence of two of our former Executive Board chairs, Mike Vanderpool and Rex Parr. This year we created the Hylton Center Executive Board Emeritus Committee, which includes our past chairs and other distinguished former members, and we were honored to have Mike (our very first chair) and Rex back in harness, and glad their schedules permitted them to join us. Their deep institutional history and fresh insights added wonderfully to the spirit and substance of the day. We look forward to engaging throughout the year with the entire group of Emeriti.

If Polonius, the sage of Hamlet, can instruct us that it is wise to “by indirections find directions out,” perhaps it’s not too much of a stretch to say that we have discovered the secret of advancing by retreating.

-- Rick Davis, Dean and Executive Director.