|
The Mission of Podkowa Leśna’s Culture and Civic Initiative Center |
Dynamic since the day its work began, our Culture and Civic Initiative Center has already had a very real impact on the local community in Horseshoe Grove – as well as on our Garden-City’s neighboring communities. For we have initiated and supported a range of local projects, and have thereby contributed to strengthening community spirit and raising awareness of how all of us in Horseshoe Grove may pro-actively participate in jointly creating our own “local homeland”.
Our vision
The basis for the broad scope of our Center’s activity over the upcoming years rests with 1) the City of Podkowa Leśna’s ‘Strategy for Sustainable Development’, passed in 2005; and 2) the statute regarding the merger with the former City Culture Center (effective as of January 1, 2009).
The character of our Culture and Civic Initiative Center’s many programs directly stems from the unique nature of the community in Horseshoe Grove – from both its history and traditions, and its aspirations for the future. Far from being a place only for artists, our Center strives to attract a wide public with its original architecture, unique programs, and the vibrancy of our community itself. Indeed, our Center endeavors to be an open forum for societal discourse in the aim of furthering our social, cultural, educational, and promotional aims.
Our program is largely focused on taking a fresh and questioning look at established esthetic hierarchies, on confronting tradition with the contemporary world, and on creating new contexts for well-known settings (i.e., projects for such public areas as the City Park) and extracting new meanings from them.
The Culture and Civic Initiative Center is a place where residents of Horseshoe Grove can meet. Moreover, it is an incubator for cultural initiatives, as well as a prestigious arena for cultivating so-called high-brow culture through concerts and artistic presentations. Our carefully devised and altogether unique program – our exhibitions, concerts, meetings, lectures and educational debates, conferences, and artistic happenings – is addressed to many social milieux and all age-groups. The Center offers its guests quality events from the visual arts, film, theater, and music – all the while supporting and promoting local artists.
One fixed element of our program is that of educational projects connected with contemporary artistic culture, carried out in the form of workshops, meetings, discussions, and awareness initiatives. Our offering for children and young people is built around modern forms of education that make avail of state-of-the-art technologies.
A further part of our program is that of practical education directed foremost to young people and seniors. This is pursued in reliance on cutting-edge equipment and close cooperation with specialists from various fields. For instance, the Park Palace is host to the regular lectures and meetings of the Open University “Pokolenia” – a joint initiative of the Federation of Podkovians and the Friends of Podkowa Leśna Society.
Our Center’s program of gatherings and artistic events is created in cooperation with cultural and educational institutions, and with a range of social organizations. Indeed, our very premise is the continuation of time-tested and valued initiatives that strengthen knowledge and awareness of our Garden-City’s history and traditions. This notably includes the “Open Gardens Festival”. Moreover, our Center is working to elaborate an international program as a promoter of the garden-city concept.
Podkowa Leśna’s Culture and Civic Initiative Center is committed to serving the residents of Horseshoe Grove and its neighboring cities and towns – as well as people from throughout Poland and abroad, as well.
We extend to you our warmest invitation to come make the Culture and Civic Initiative Center in Horseshoe Grove a favorite place for your cultural and artistic life.
Alina Witkowska – Director
|
