Louis Richards levels some serious accusations against South East Arts Development, a small but earnest citizens' group that has worked since 1999 to enhance the city-living experience (The Mail, June 6). In its short history, this non-profit organization has successfully undertaken many arts-related projects celebrating the features that make our sector of the city an appealing place in which to live and work, while at the same time contributing directly to improving its quality of life.

Study after study has shown that cities thrive when their arts institutions are strong, when residents have opportunities to participate in the cultural institutions that surround them, and when the urban landscape is respected and preserved.

Toward those ends, SEAD established a neighborhood chorus and organized two photography exhibitions, Front Porch and Second Story, the latter culminating in a published collection of images of Monroe Avenue. These projects were designed to call attention to the unique and attractive features of our neighborhoods, and they helped both the many contributing photographers and the viewing public to look anew at their urban environment. Our annual Front Yard project encourages residents to beautify their front yards. Additionally, SEAD has sponsored community workshops on urban gardening and urban safety and publishes a neighborhood newsletter, AveNews.

Since its inception, SEAD has served as the fiduciary sponsor for the Sector 7 Neighbors Building Neighborhoods program, and now additionally serves as the fiduciary for the Monroe Village Task Force, which is dedicated to positive planning for this very important area of Rochester. SEAD also has actively participated in citywide programs such as Clean Sweep. In all of our public projects, SEAD has striven to encourage participation, pride, and caring in our part of the city.

Mr. Richards' comment that SEAD does "nothing except whine and complain" tells us that we have more to do to educate the public about our programs, and about our many volunteers who have worked tirelessly and actively to improve the quality of life in the city. We invite Mr. Richards, and all others who care deeply about the future of our city neighborhoods, to join us. SEAD can be contacted at seadrochester@hotmail.com.

Grace Seiberling, Boardman Street, Rochester