Planning began in earnest for the opening night celebration of the traveling exhibition set for March 27, 1999. From the very beginning, though somewhat timidly at first, the sharing of ideas flowed freely. Maybe because the members did not know a lot about each other, they listened to each other intently. To a person, they were open and accepting of all ideas and suggestions. And these ideas and suggestions were almost exclusively positive; there was not a naysayer in the bunch! But there was some anxiety too. Committee members were not altogether sure about what this opening celebration should look like. What was possible? What were the parameters? Were there rules that should be followed? Susan and Reg were open from the beginning about the budget, which was generous but not unlimited. Susan was quite effective at communicating the notion that the committee was free to define the event and make the decisions with almost total flexibility. While this concept was embraced, it was also somewhat overwhelming. With the exception of Museum staff, the committee members were being asked to plan a series of four events that had not been done before in this area...in a venue they had little or no experience in...showcasing art which they had never seen! It was a formidable task–with not a lot of time to prepare.

Natural leaders within the committee began to emerge and others were nudged along to become leaders as well. It seemed the anxiety the members felt catalyzed the committee to immediate action. Virtually every decision which had to be made would challenge the committee to think...to visualize...in a dimension void of boundaries. No one had gone there before. It quickly became clear that the Museum staff, especially Leisa Rundquist and Bill Tourtillotte would need to nearly become "slaves" to the project! Coordinating the student/youth art, calling for adult art, designing the exhibition space, developing tour materials, and preparing publicity posters and brochures would be very challenging. Bill and Leisa would have to re-prioritize their respective workloads and add many more hours to already long days of work. Later, Bill remarked that the planning process "...affirmed for staff that outside participation is vital–not scary–that we shouldn’t be so afraid of criticism."

At meetings, Susan, Fred, Reg, Rick and others would calmly provide assurance and coach ideas to emerge. As the date of the opening event neared, anxiety gave way to positive urgency–almost a metaphor for creating art...to "do something great before the paint dries".