"Democracy is not something that you believe in, or something that you hang your hat on. It's something that you do, you participate. Without participation, democracy crumbles and fails. If you participate, you win, and the future is yours."
    Abbie Hoffman
     US Radical Activist (1936-1989)

No one ever said participating in democracy is easy.  Television and newspaper coverage of political rallies make the experience look accessible, easier than it is.  The cameras record when the crowd and the candidates are already in place.  The candidate makes a statement.  The crowd stands, cheers, chants, and applauds.  The sound bites and images are digitally edited together into a polished and refined 45 second segment, and they play it on the nightly news to keep you entertained between the commercials.

"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed"
-- The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution

"To empower, educate and provide recognition to artists through scholarship and the propagation of an accessible and interactive multi-media community."

This is the mission statement of SPLAT, a start-up arts organization headquartered right here in Southwest Florida.  Anchored by an educational channel television show and interactive website (SPLATweb.org), SPLAT is determined to help deserving local artists achieve their higher education goals through the disbursement of scholarships.  The television show and website will also serve as forums for viewers to learn more about art personalities, techniques, and happenings.

SPLAT is the creation of two local personalities.  Tim Smith, the Visual Arts Department Head at Cypress Lake Center for the Arts in Fort Myers, is the founder of SPLAT and heads up the Television Division.  Eric Taubert, the publisher of The Cape Coral Barometer, is the co-founder of SPLAT and holds the reigns on the Internet Division.  Together they intend to develop SPLAT into a viable and vibrant arts community providing benefits and an organizing voice to artists of all disciplines.

As the host of the new television show, SPLAT – Adventures in the Arts, Smith's vibrant personality grabs center stage. But it’s his impressive credentials and lifelong dedication to art education that form the foundation of his newly-formed organization.  Smith is a graduate of the Art Institute of Chicago.  He has over thirty years experience as a production potter, teacher and fine artist. He has won many awards, including a Robert Rauschenberg Grant, first place in the fine art gallery at Seminole College and a Siggraph Grant for technology.  His work has been exhibited in various galleries in Florida, Minnesota, St. Louis and Chicago…including the Morton Wing of the Art Institute of Chicago.  And he served as co-chairman for the Robert Rauschenberg Scholarship Committee on Sanibel Island.

Recently, I sat down with Tim Smith to talk with him about the journey that lead him to SPLAT.  Here's what he had to say: