Correction Oct. 6, 2009 — At 8:45 p.m., a short video by Creative Works of Lancaster will be projected on a building somewhere downtown explaining what the group is and what they want to accomplish. An incorrect time for the showing of the video was given in the article below.
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If you're planning to go downtown tonight for First Friday, you might wonder what that big X hovering up in the sky is.
It's kind of reminiscent of the bat signal, where the people of Gotham City let Batman know he's needed.
The X is letting folks who are interested in expanding the creative arts in Lancaster know that they are needed, too.
At 9:30 p.m., with people congregated around the X, projected up on a downtown building (which building will remain a secret until tonight) a short video introducing and launching the Creative Works of Lancaster will be shown.
The new nonprofit organization's mission is to create a downtown, multi-use space "to nurture and promote opportunities for creative expression and collaboration."
"We want people to become part of it, to volunteer, to get involved," says Ryan Mast, a member of the group who helped put the video together. "The X event will give people a taste and explain what you can do to get involved."
Creative Works of Lancaster was born out of Creative House of Lancaster, a social networking organization that brought artists and creative people together.
While a lot of networking was done through Twitter and Facebook, they began to realize the need for a downtown venue that would not only be a place to socialize, but would offer film, music and theater that might not be seen anywhere else, that sometimes emphasized cutting-edge and experimental work.
And people in need of office or studio space could use this new venue, maybe just for a day, maybe longer.
"Everyone benefits," Mast says. "There will be a space to collaborate."
But getting that venue up and running and paying for it is going to take a lot of work.
So tonight is just the beginning of a fundraising campaign.
"The goal is to be self-sustaining," Mast says. "The people who live here care about making it better. It's a good collection of people."
For more information, go to www.thecwl.org.