My position as manager of Railroad Square Art park has come to an end.  This week the park owners, Lily and Adam Boynton Kaye, put on such a beautiful goodbye party.   It was a love fest and I felt so honored and appreciated.  When I moved to Tallahassee 24 years ago I was stunned that a collage town had no cute downtown arty areas like Athens or Berkeley.  Fifteen years ago I began a wild ride of managing the art park with over 80 spaces to rent.  Along with the normal duties of collecting rent and daily bookkeeping there was a opportunity to grow a vital community of artists and store owners.  I gathered a group of people to help pick out vibrant colors to paint the park.  Over time a place that use to be considered “the other side of the tracks” became the coolest destination in town with a First Friday Gallery Hop hosting over  5,000 patrons.  Poised between two universities the growth of Railroad Square  is guaranteed to continue.

Little did I know my background in mental health would come in so handy…something I didn’t realize when I accepted the position as property manager.  I became a keeper of peoples dreams, a facilitator of clear communication, a liaison with the city, a strong leader with soft shoulder during tragedy and a good friend to all.  What I became to the park was not in my job requirement… it was just who I was…and am.  And what I became grew out of a deep love and passion for the arts and for people and an impassioned belief that creativity is the fuel that ignites a happy life…mine as well as all the tenants of Railroad Square.

My biggest take away is the relationships that I savor…the deep mutual respect and heartfelt connections I have always felt from and towards the owners of the park and team of beautiful people I worked with and also for the relationships I have developed with  so many tenants who will remain life long friends.