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05/19/2023 07:50 AMThe Shoreline Arts Alliance (SAA) is a 24-town partnership that has promoted arts advocacy and allowed area artists to hone their craft and find their artistic niche for decades. June Aarsen, a Daniel Hand High School senior, was recently installed as the SAA junior board of directors president, ensuring the organization continues to support the wide spectrum of talent across the region while encouraging fresh voices to join the art community.
June says she has worked for the SAA in several positions and is always ready to help tackle the issues that make operating a nonprofit challenging.
“They reached out to me last summer and said, ‘Hey, we’re starting a new intern program and know you have interests in graphic design and visual arts,’ so we created a brand-new team of interns…and we formed an intern board of three people. We added two other interns, and at that point, [SAA CEO] Eric [Dillner] said, ‘We’re big enough to create a junior board,’” says June. “I became part of that junior board; I was a graphic design intern at Shoreline Arts Alliance for several months.”
As an intern, June says that she and two other interns helped create SAA’s newsletters, produced graphics, and helped with organizational work.
“This means that I represent the junior board’s perspective while meeting with the board of directors to help organize the work that the junior board does,” says June.
June says she fell into the president position because of her desire to be involved with her community and seek out opportunities to enhance its artistic connection.
“I assumed the role of president because I’m into community outreach, and for me, art is all about communication, and I showed some leadership skills... Personally, I am going into graphic design, and I want to use that as a method of communication,” June says. “I have always been into public service, and I believe the best way for the Alliance to be more recognizable in the community is to have more outreach.”
June says a focus of particular importance to both boards is that issue of alerting the region to what the SAA is all about and how artists and residents can take advantage and participate.
“I feel like a lot of people don’t know exactly what Shoreline Arts Alliance is, so I feel we do need that outreach and promote actual involvement in our communities,” June says. “On the front, it just seems like a nonprofit that most of the work we do is behind the scenes, but we support local artists. But we are a 24-town-wide nonprofit that provides scholarships in the arts for teenagers; we do the Shoreline Arts Trail, which features local artists, and the SAA brings awareness to the fact that though it may not seem like it, we have a tremendous amount of talented artists along the shoreline, and that is something special that all of us should be part of. I think we make an impact, and I wanted to be part of that.”
According to June, the SAA board is very receptive to the junior board’s ideas and feedback. June says facilitating connections is one of the most important aspects of what she and her colleagues do.
“Although we each have designated roles, the junior board is a very collaborative group and all contribute equally to what the board does. As president, I am our primary voice for communicating with the board of directors and the public; however, I represent the voices of everyone on the junior board. As a leader of our group, one of the things I would really love to work on is implementing more local events into the framework of Shoreline Arts Alliance,” says June. “I think it would be great for both the nonprofit and the community if we were able to bring people together for artist’s markets or craft events. Hopefully, we will get to work with the board to schedule more events in the near future.”
Providing a platform for younger voices in the arts is also a priority for June.
“We have our scholarships, we have our arts shows, but I feel that sometimes there’s something missing. There’s a large age disparity in the people that we reach out to,” says June. “It’s a lot of either senior citizens or young adults, and I think one of the things the junior board can do is to create events that cater toward everyone. Younger kids, teenagers, adults in a multigenerational way, things that bring more people together.”
According to June, her artistic eye is helpful in navigating her duties as junior board president and allows her to hone her own skills.
“As an artist, I am constantly exploring the local arts scene. I think this helps with my role as junior board president because I look for what the community responds well to in terms of engaging with the arts and what we as an organization could do to further our mission of supporting and establishing these artistic initiatives,” says June.
The experience will undoubtedly be invaluable to her, as June is off to study at California Polytechnic State University in San Louis Obispo, California, near where June and her family originally hail from. June says she is eager to begin this new chapter and focus on developing the skills she has crafted at both Daniel Hand High and at the SAA.
“I’m excited; I’ll be going to Cal Poly Tech SU and studying graphic design there,” she says. “I am really excited. They have a student magazine that I’m interested in helping run as well. So, I am really excited about beginning that journey.”
June says that until her departure for school, there is a whole summer of work and events for the board to concentrate on.
“I’ll be here for a few more months and hopefully get some projects in motion,” she says. “The new Shoreline Arts Alliance location downtown is going to be great for the community. I think people should check it out and get involved however they can. I don’t think we’re recognized, especially here in Madison, so I think that anybody reading this article should take a few minutes and check out the Alliance and see if it’s something you want to do. Look out for our scholarships and events because we like to do a lot to support young artists, it’s competitive, but they are available. Please consider donating as well. We can always use community support.”
For more information about the Shoreline Arts Alliance, visit www.shorelinearts.org.