Recently at the annual meeting of the Georgia Arts Network in Macon, a Random Act of Culture™ surprised the National Endowment for the Arts’ Chairman Rocco Landesman and the 200 people gathered to hear his remarks.

Above,  Chuck Leavell, the musical director and keyboard player for the Rolling Stones (and a tree farmer and environmentalist to those who know him best in Macon), performed “Georgia on my Mind” for the crowd.

Beverly Blake, program director/Macon at Knight Foundation wrote a piece published yesterday in The Telegraph about the day and the chairman’s visit titled “Hidden in Plain Sight.”

Blake focused on the unique history of Macon, its vibrant arts scene and what she hopes the chairman’s visit will inspire the community to accomplish:

“I hope that we will use [Chairman] Landesman’s visit as a call to action to continue to nurture the arts, and that we translate Macon’s talent into a force for community prosperity and economic development. Because the arts not only make a place special, they attract others to live, work and play in your city. I’m grateful to Landesman for visiting Macon, but the next steps are ours.” Read more here: http://www.macon.com/2012/05/13/2023292/hidden-in-plain-sight.html#storylink=cpy

Below: (l to r): Beverly Blake, program director/Macon at Knight Foundation, Chairman Rocco Landesman, NEA chairman and Jim Coleman, executive director Macon Arts Alliance