Southeast Missouri community leaders and art enthusiasts will have the chance to submit ideas to the Missouri Arts Council today during a visit by board members on the MAC Listening Tour.

The organization wants to hear from people with concerns and comments concerning the arts -- where it's lacking, what could improve and what they like. The meeting will be from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri. Cape Girardeau is the second stop on the eight-city listening tour.

Initially, the Missouri Arts Council planned on asking people what they thought the organization did well and what it needed to improve.

"We realized it's not really about us," said Beverly Strohmeyer, executive director of the council.

Instead, the group will ask people what they think will help arts thrive in the community, what will encourage people to participate in the arts and what a state or local arts organization should be doing.

"We're there to listen. We want people to give us their ideas," Strohmeyer said. She called the stop a brainstorming session for a plan for fiscal years 2012 to 2014.

"We're not there to provide a lot of answers," she said.

The listening tour helps the council form a strategic plan with goals and methods to meet them. When the Missouri Arts Council held the tour in 2007, it was dealing with $7.8 million from the state for its Missouri Arts Council Trust Fund, up from $3.3 the previous year. The organization received no state allocation this year and will rely on its trust to fund activities moving forward.

The listening tour in 2007 helped the council plan the goals for 2008 to 2010, including increased funding in Southeast Missouri. The area was a late addition to the tour but drew the most people.

The council marks places of funding with dots on a map. Southeast Missouri native Dr. Joel Ray was a new member of the Missouri Arts Council at the time and called Southeast Missouri a "black hole," Strohmeyer said. "We put a lot more dots on the map because of that."

The council has helped fund guest choreographers at Southeast Missouri State University, symphony performances, traveling art shows at the Crisp Museum and, in small part, public radio.

The Missouri Arts Council receives funding from the National Endowment for the Arts and distributes it to various organizations and programs across the state to help them accomplish their goals. The grants locally have funded the Poetry Out Loud contest held in the winter, the 8th Congressional District Student Art Competition and some general operations for the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri.

Dr. Ann Gifford, chairwoman of the local arts council board, was at the meeting in 2007 and said she hopes the turnout is just as impressive today.

"It shows there's a major interest in the community and that arts are important and viewed as valuable in the community as a whole," Gifford said.

Board members and volunteers contacted mayors and other art organizations in surrounding counties to voice their opinions as well as network. The Arts Council of Southeast Missouri is technically a local arts council but has a regional base. It expands certain programs like congressional art competition and Poetry Out Loud into the region, while other programs like bringing art shows into the gallery and participating in community events locally.

"What direction they're taking in our funding is always a concern," Gifford said.

She said she hopes the arts council will have the funding to "be able to support other activities -- Messy Morning and different things sponsored by organizations."

charris@semissourian.com

388-3641

Pertinent address:

32 N. Main St., Cape Girardeau, MO