A Letter from Leah Cogan: To The PAL Community

To the PAL community,

Many of you may already be aware that I have moved on from my role as chair of PAL Ottawa. I wanted to send a note of appreciation and encouragement, and am glad for the opportunity to write to you here.

These last four years participating in the PAL Ottawa journey have been action packed, brimming with healthy challenges and joy-filled successes. I have relished all alike, recognizing that projects like these (and humans like us) develop stronger bones when forced to navigate seemingly immovable barriers. I have learned so much from you, the community, and from my fellow board members on how to take changes in stride and draw on collective imagination to find new paths forward. Thank you for that.

While my young family life and professional journey are taking me away from being part of the pit crew of PAL Ottawa, I remain engaged, participating in the design of stronger, more integrated programs for arts and culture workers in this country. Momentum continues.

Indulge me in leaving just one word of optimism (mixed with an unsolicited bit of advice). To meet this new world of compounding pandemic-level crises, where priorities are chronically fractured and polarized - it falls to us in arts and culture to project a future of cohesion, cooperation, and unity. PAL Place can be a beacon of the kind of unity we hope to see in the world. But to do that we need to step into an abundance mindset and recognize ourselves as members of a larger ecosystem. I am not suggesting we need to erase our own need, but rather we should strive to be an example of how when integrated and in reciprocal relationship with those around us everyone has what they need to thrive. PAL Place can and will be a place where all who step through its doors feel creatively enlivened and supported…and that medicine is what everyone needs right now.

With deep appreciation,
Leah Cogan