Arts Council makes push to raise funds
By Becky Barclay
Published in News on January 21, 2015 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/MELISSA KEY
Traycee Williams, Arts Council of Wayne County gallery director, hangs a piece of digital artwork from Wayne Community College's "Process" exhibit.
The Arts Council of Wayne County is halfway to its goal of $45,000 for its annual fund drive, which ends June 30.
Director Sarah Merritt said the nonprofit has an annual operating budget of $290,000, and the fund drive raises part of that money.
A total of 18 percent of the Arts Council's budget comes from the county and the city, along with another 11 percent from the state.
"So we're really responsible for raising the other 70 percent of our operating budget," Mrs. Merritt said. "We're able to do that through our studio artist rentals program that has been really popular, which covers about 8 percent of our budget. We also raise money through earned income from our music and visual arts classes, the Art Market and our gallery sales."
To help raise money for the operating budget, the Arts Council is asking community businesses, organizations and individuals to make donations to its fund drive.
That enables the Arts Council to offer 90 percent of its events and program free of charge to the public.
"We're working in the public schools bringing in artists to do different things," Mrs. Merritt said. "We're partnering with other community organizations to plan things like public art projects. We do First Fridays and our jazz showcases. There are just so many different things we're going besides our exhibits."
Mrs. Merritt said the Arts Council staff gets busy with classes and other events that it sometimes forgets to let people know how important community support is.
"I tell people that every dollar counts," she said. "Whether it's $5 or $500, it all adds up, and it's really important.
"I think sometimes people see how much we're doing and there's automatically this assumption that we have all this money. In reality pretty much like every other nonprofit organization that functions in today's society, we are constantly trying to find ways to save money, ways to get grants and funding for different projects. I want to encourage people to make donations to the Arts Council to help us keep these programs and projects."
Since moving to it current location downtown in 2011, the Arts Council's programs have increased dramatically, Mrs. Merritt said. In 2010, the Arts Council served between 7,000 and 8,000 people. From July to December 2014, it served 20,000 people at its location and through projects at Goldsboro Housing Authority, the local schools, Goldsboro Parks and Recreation, Seymour Johnson Air Force Base Youth Center and others.
"The arts are important because they raise our quality of life and give us a creative outlet," Mrs. Merritt said. "They also give people opportunities to explore their creativity, whether it's just coming in to see an exhibit or taking a music lesson or going to a jazz concert. There are so many ways to explore your creativity. You don't have to actually be making art."
Mrs. Merritt also said that statistics show that students who participate in the arts stay in school and get higher SAT scores.
Then there's the economic development side to the arts.
"An economic impact study was done here in 2011, and it found t hat in this county, the arts were a $2.8 million industry that provided $190,00 in tax revenue," Mrs. Merritt said.
"And it would be difficult to have arts without the Arts Council. We have all these groups in this community filling a specific need like Center Stage Theatre, the Paramount Theatre, StageStruck. What the Arts Council does is we are a conduit for all these different groups. WE bring the visual artists together and give them a place to showcase and sell their work. WE provide grants for local groups for visual arts, performing arts and literary arts.
"We've really entrenched ourselves in this community, and I think we're vital to the community."
To make a donation to the Arts Council's fund drive, call 919-736-3300 or go online at www.artsinwayne.org