Wichita sure has a funny way of showing support…

As I sit here and write this blog, there are many people who are recovering from a night out on the town since last night was First Friday here in Wichita.  Incase you don’t know what this is it is a chance for local artist to perform at local clubs around town and have people move from venue to venue and listen to them play.  Now this also involves people drinking at the bars and talking more than rather actually enjoying the bands that are there playing.  Instead of spending money on the bands merchandise or actually helping them finically the patrons at the bars just rather spend their money at the bars drinking.  So you might be asking yourself where am I going with this, well here it is.

How about instead of spending money on worthless alcohol, how about you show your actual support of the local arts scene?  There are people out there that need the support, not you going out and getting drunk.  People are not asking for hundreds and  hundreds of dollars but a few bucks.  That is what helps supports these local bands and artists.  How about instead of spending money on drinks you actually go and sit and enjoy the band and then buy their merchandise or supporting them finically? 

Also there are other local artists out there that need the support as well.  And again they are not asking for a ton of money but as they say every little bit helps.  Right now there are a group of 12 actors and actresses who are trying to fundraise money to head to NYC to perform on Off-Broadway.  But before they leave Wichita and head to NYC for a week they will be doing 3 performances here in Wichita.  This is a great chance to see and Off-Broadway show performed by local Wichitans as well as it is being written by a gentleman who is from Wichita.  I cannot think of a better way for people to support the local arts than by lending a helping hand to these people and buying a ticket to the show, or instead of buying 40.00 worth of drinks at the bar have one less and support them that way. 

I am not saying that this is the only people you have to support, I am just trying to show you that there are more than one way to support the local arts scene here in Wichita. 

But what tends to happen is that those people who just go and stand by they wayside and just drink or not really help support local arts will be the people that are saying, “I helped them become famous or I helped them succeed,” and they will try to take all the credit when they just stood by and watched.  But let me tell you, those are the people that themselves will get thrown by the way side and forgotten about when the real time comes.

Now there are those people out there that have helped tremendously and know the real way how to help support local artists in Wichita and you know who you are.  I want to personally thank you and want you to know that you will always have a very special place in my heart.

I hope that this really does strike a nerve with you, because if it does then you need to take a long hard look at yourself and see if you are one of the “by standards” or  actually someone who really helps with that support.

~Ryan~

Incase you are interested in helping out a local theatre person who is heading to NYC please check out my site http://ryanschartz.vpweb.com  there you can purchase tickets or donate.  Thanks for your support Wichita.