Four sure weeks after Sonoma Trash Fashion 15 (the Bohemian’s April 15 cover story, “Trash into Treasure”; see link at end), I returned to Sonoma Community Center with a question on my mind.
I have long held the Sonoma Community Center to be an example-exemplar of a community venue fully realized in its potential. There aren’t enough venues—that’s damnably true.
But the equally challenging problem is that most of the venues that are, are only half and quarter realized in their community-building potential (read it in their calendars; read it in their vibes).
The community at The Center is not only capable of mounting high spectacle like the trashion runway (organizing many hundreds of people and many thousands of volunteer hours), but they manage to pull it off within a homey atmosphere.
On my first visit to the center, I saw children running in hand-stitched felt dance costumes, heard the muffled sounds of musical scales through woodwork and smelt Italian cooking (from a class) pouring forth its fragrance.
From the first, I wanted to make The Center a home. Because it is a home. Returning to The Center now, I had come to ask executive director Vanessa Rognlien how they do it. So we all can know. Community is what we need right now.
Passing a lively class printing paper with dead fish (and shrimp) pressed in Japanese ink, I found the office. To my surprise, I found Rognlien working in a windowless cubicle, cornered within an open plan office shared by all the senior staff.
She is a handsome woman of middle years. While having the cornerstone solidity of a leader, her manner is open, gracious and familiar. I liked her from the start. Her nonprofit background is in youth arts, and interestingly in jail deferment programs in the arts for juvenile offenders.
Cincinnatus Hibbard: Vanessa, in addition to its event calendar, The Center hosts a great many classes. Within those classes, what expressions of community do you see?
Vanessa Rognlien: To take just one example, a program that we are very proud of is the fiber arts happy hour that meets every Wednesday. People come, they can make a donation, they can bring food to share. They bring something to work on or Jill [Valavanis] can help find them something to work on.
And they are in community, crafting—making things together, talking and sharing, helping and supporting each other—building relationships. And if someone doesn’t show up, you can bet someone is on the phone calling: Where are you today; are you OK? It’s a cross-generational, diverse group of people in that room, younger people learning technique from older people, younger people sharing energy and new ideas.
Events, institutions like that used to hold community together. And we don’t have that as much anymore. It’s what we need.
I think the ideal community is modeled on the ideal family, which is multi-generational. Many local events are in effect age-segregated into young or old. I hear you have a great team running your programs. Tell me about your team.
We have an incredible team of people right now. And that allows us to have the strength in programs that we have. As director, I want people to pursue the things that they love, so I let them run with their passions. It means that they will put in the time and effort needed to make a program grow to fruition. If they say, “The community needs this,” I trust them. We are flexible enough and nimble enough to make that happen.
Learn more: linktr.ee/sonomacommunitycenterLINKS.
