|
We have read the
announcement on IBAConline.com that the
producers of IBAC are retiring as producers
of the International Balloon Arts Convention
and there are no current arrangements for
others to take up their role with this
event.
IBAC has been
the inspiration, the leader, the teacher,
and the nurturing parent to thousands of
balloon artists and balloon businesses
around the world for a full generation.
What the producers, the sponsors, the staff,
the teachers, and the students of IBAC have
accomplished is awesome.
It is
gloriously awesome and it is frighteningly
awesome.
There is glory
in taking little more than latex, air and
imagination and with them, creating art and
craft that stir positive emotions and
satisfy esthetic senses. There is glory in
being the world’s leading center of
education in that craft and the world’s
premiere gallery of that art. We stand in
awe of such a glorious institution in our
midst.
Yet, the more we
are in awe of that glorious institution, the
more we are frightened to be without it. It
is as if we have lost our parents.
But the mission
of parents is not to train children to live
in paralyzed awe of their parents. It is to
train children to become independent, to
build upon the base of their parents, to
become parents themselves, and to repeat the
cycle in an upward spiral.
I believe that
we might best honor IBAC and those who made
it great by conceiving a mission from their
inspiration, taking direction from their
leadership, developing knowledge and skill
from their teaching and drawing strength
from their nurturing. We might best express
our thanks by becoming independent, by
building on the base IBAC has provided and
by becoming parents to succeeding
generations in our craft, in our art, in our
industry.
But, let me also
express our thanks with these words:. Thank
you, IBAC producers. Thank you, IBAC
sponsors. Thank you IBAC staff. Thank you,
IBAC teachers. Thank you, IBAC students.
Thank you, IBAC ALL. Your generation of
leadership and service has indelibly marked
all of us in ways that will have a positive
influence for generations to come.
Graham & Mary
Queen Rouse |
