MAC Campus Buzzing with Community Sweetness

by Mesa Arts Center | January 26, 2015

Well, hellooooooo from Mesa Arts Center on a typically excellent Arizona winter day. It’s10 a.m. and while other cities shut down due to inclement weather, Downtown MAC Campus is buzzing with activity. I bring greetings from ASU’s Public Administration Department and am lucky enough to be MAC’s newest Marketing and Public Relations Intern. This means I have the opportunity to see pleasant bee-hive style action on a first hand basis. One of my duties at Mesa’s desert jewel is to walk the rounds of campus and restock brochure kiosks. Those brochures we all so casually pull by the handful from the racks have to be restocked by the likes of me on a regular basis. As I descend the outdoor staircase from my third floor cubicle I immediately sense the hum of activity. The outdoor Shadow Walk is packed with chairs, waiting for the season’s first “Spring Out to Lunch” concert while techs weave sound system wiring about the stage.

I had thought I would have a quiet morning with my kiosk replenishing duties but as I walk through the sparkling glass wall doors to approach my first kiosk I am pleasantly surprised by additional busy buzzing. Performances are in progress in at least two of the four MAC theaters. The disarray of the brochures racks testify to the busy life at the center. As I straighten and organize important packets of performance information, I can hear and see from the wall monitor that the Educational Outreach programs are providing research approved arts engagement. I notice red-vested volunteer ushers preparing to help patrons find their way. Intermission begins and the hallway floods with happy students from area schools who have come to see performances by Southwest Shakespeare.

I put the finishing touches on my multiple kiosks and exit to see bee-hive action gaining momentum. “Life of the Party” has set up shop to offer lunch options to Spring Out to Lunch concert patrons. The band is starting sound checks. The listeners are starting to gather. As lunch hour approaches I step out on the balcony for my own lunch break to see a view like this: The MAC bee hive full of about 1,000 out-to-lunchers on the Shadow Walk according to usher counts. I sit back on the balcony chair and break out my sack lunch, enjoy the Arizona sunshine while the music floats up to me and with the other bee hive members, I taste the honey sweetness of the day, downtown at the MAC.

FREE SpringOut to Lunch afternoon concerts in the Wells Fargo Garden performance area on the Shadow Walk at the Mesa Arts Center begin at 12:30 p.m. Seating is limited so bring your favorite comfortable folding chairs, cushions and/or blankets and don’t forget your lunch!

By LaDawn Lingard