Recently, I had a sudden idea about Renaissance Square, that took shape after I heard about a series of seemingly unrelated events: 1) New York State has warned BOCES teachers of preschool special-needs children that funding for those programs will be cut within two years; 2) a cousin's attention-challenged and behaviorly troubled teenage son has cut his first CD, a musical journey that reflects the emotions and thoughts that he otherwise has been unable to express; and that has given him and his parents the confidence and hope that he will have a fulfilling and giving life; and 3) funding is under way for a Renaissance Square performing arts center, despite continued community disagreement about the best use of the space, especially in light of debilitating economic times. So: I propose that the space be reframed as a creative and performing arts school for special-needs children, including those of preschool age; in effect, it would be a school driven by special education and therapeutic arts, such as dance-movement; painting and drawing; writing; and musical composition and performance. By its nature, the school would include a substantial performance and exhibit center, where local and visiting professional performance groups and visual artists could not only hold public concerts and exhibitions, but could provide special workshops for the students.
Who would benefit from this use of Renaissance Square? Families with special-needs children; the children who have much to offer, yet quickly are being relegated to and assured of lives of hopelessness and hardship; a Rochester community in need of a communal cause; teachers whose talents and motivation are underused and under-respected; and professional artists, who themselves understand struggle and the need for a community of support.
Those in favor of the Renaissance Square theater would not lose out at all; their vision ultimately could be re-envisioned as one that includes a wider population, a marginalized population... a population that they could be proud to support with the same funds they seek now. With a name like "Renaissance," would not a rebirth--a re-creation, a re-imagining--of the proposed theater space be apt? And most significantly, the threatened rights and dreams of children and groups most in need of economic, community and educational would be reborn.