Beth: Neltje, of course, was a painter and she talked a lot about her painting process. She was also the kind of person who maybe once the painting was finished, she was like done with it and she'd move on to something else. And because the act of creating was what she was really interested [in], not necessarily the finished work.

And I think about the Neltje Center in that way. Overall, I think a lot about how we carry on Neltje's legacy and how important it is when you have a space like this that has a personality of a person, how important it is to think about aspects of that person, their life, their kind of, um...philosophy toward life, right? And like, how can we keep her spirit going here and why that's so important to us. She was a creator, and she was an art supporter. 

And so I always envisioned this space as being a place of artistic development more than final presentation. I think there are a lot of places where you can, you can go, and you can see a play. You can see a dance performance, whatever it might be, you can see an art exhibition, right? All these finished pieces, but to me it's, I think it's often more meaningful to people when they can be involved in the creative process, when they can understand how all these folks, like a director and a producer and a cast members, actors that are coming from their own different perspectives and how they come together and make something together. It's extraordinary when you think about it, right? 

And that's what I, I think is the best way we can honor Neltje, and her legacy is bringing people together because she has this grand space that she often brought lots of people into this space. And so I think about those things, and I think how meaningful it is for us to bring people into the space to create together.

Note: The transcript above has been condensed from its original audio recording to improve the flow and readability of the story.