As we enter Season 2, we look at two different models of patron and donor engagement for small community arts organizations: the subscription and the membership. The decline of subscriptions over the decades is not new news to those in the arts administration field, but this old model of ticket engagement isn't without its modern-day merits. Memberships have their patron engagement benefits and are more flexible than subscriptions, but they also push organizations into a more transactional relationship with their patrons.

We welcome back Cyrus Pace from The Jefferson Center in Roanoke, VA (pop. 99,261) to discuss. The Jefferson Center uses the subscription model, while my organization in Lynchburg, VA (pop. 79,285), the Academy Center of the Arts, uses the membership model. Whether you have an existing approach or are looking to engage your patron base, we have some advice to share.

It has been one year since Small Town Big Arts was launched. The genesis of this online resource for small town arts delivery came from a strategic planning process facilitated for Second Stage Amherst, a community arts center in Amherst, Virginia. Geoffrey Kershner, host and founder of Small Town Big Arts discovered in supporting Second Stage in their planning that there were no consolodated resources for those delivering the arts in small town America. Thus, Small Town Big Arts was born.

In looking back on the last year, we visit with Jessy Shipe the Director of Second Stage Amherst (www.secondstageamherst.org). Jessy became the Director of the organization soon after the completion of the 2022 strategic planning process. She shares what the last year has been like, the successes she has found, and the obstacles that still exist. Jessy is a fantastic example of one of the unfortunate but key ingrediants of many successful small town arts organizations, the luck of finding someone who provides a level of dedication and work ethic that moves beyond what an organization can normally afford in the free market American workforce.

Recenlty I opened my local paper in Lynchburg,VA and saw the following headline: "Orange County Board yanks arts center funding over drag design class." This struck a chord for many reasons. For those of us in the arts, there are a number of ways that cultural insitution's programming have fallen into an extreme right wing political playbook and this fit the mold. It also struck me because I serve on the Virginians for the Arts board of directors with the Arts Center in Orange's President, Ed Harvey.

I reached out to Ed and asked if he and his Executive Director, Anna Pillow would be willing to discuss their recent collision with the Orange County Board of Supervisors. They were brave enough to say yes. On this episode we hope their insight will help many of those delivering the arts in small town American at a moment when trying to expand horizons and reach new audiences might collide with a segment of the community that wants to coin such actions as political. When the line between culture and politics is blurred, what is one to do?

This month we tackle the issues around maintaining an arts facility. If you are looking to build or renovate a building for the arts or have a building you deliver the arts through, this episode is worth a listen. Leading an organization that can both deliver its mission effectively and budget for facility depreciation is very difficult. We speak with Cyrus Pace at the Jefferson Center in Roanoke, VA (pop.98,865) to discuss in depth the struggles that many of us face and a recent study one of Cyrus' graduate students from Virginia Tech conducted around the successful business models of comparable historic theaters.

I am particularly excited to share this conversation because during the darkest days of COVID Cyrus and I formed a bond. We began a bi-weekly Zoom call to strategize and to supply each other emotional and psychological support. Even post COVID, we continue these meetings because of their utility to our ongoing work. Bringing one of our conversations to Small Town/Big Arts seems like the perfect way to begin the new subject matter format of the podcast.

To learn more about Cyrus Pace's organization, the Jefferson Center, visit their website at:
https://www.jeffcenter.org/

We are making a pivot in the podcast in the coming months. We will be tackling specific subject matters that are pressing for those delivering the arts in smaller communities. Before we make this pivot, it is time to reflect on the fantastic organizations we have showcased so far. Common with all successful small community arts organizations are some specific qualities. I have identified 5 of them. In today’s episode, I will name them and explain them and hope they will be helpful to our listeners efforts to deliver and support the arts in small town America.

We have spoken with a wide range of organizations. We have looked at smaller community arts delivery in the farmlands of Wisconsin, in the mountains of Kentucky and even on the Alaskan coast. This month's episode we continue to examine the complex beauty of small town arts delivery in America when we speak with the leaders of a unique organization based in Arizona but whose mission operates transnationally. Border Arts Corridor (BAC) was founded in 2015 as an arts organization located in Douglas, Arizona. BAC recognized a need for an arts organization dedicated to telling the narrative of those who create art within their unique border community. Since their founding, they have prioritized serving their dual communities of Douglas, AZ and Agua Prieta, Sonora in Mexico. They do so by creating art installations, workshops, and programming for individuals on both sides of the border. I was honored to speak with Artistic Director Martina Rendon and Founder Jenea Sanchez. They have a unique perspective of how to navigate their transnational work and their deep commitment to their unique communities. To learn more about Border Arts Corridor, visit their website at: https://www.bacaz.org/

This month we continue the story of my organization's 30 million dollar historic theatre restoration project. Over two podcasts I interview some key board members that were part of an organizational transformation that lead the Academy Center of the Arts out of a period of austerity, negativity, and debt and into an era that would see a completed theatre restoration project, a quadrupling of our operating budget, and ultimately emerge debt free. In Part 2 (February 2023), we will speak with three former Academy board members. George Zippel ( former CEO of Genworth Financial and former board member), Rob Tayler (retired owner of Taylor Brothers Inc. and former Chair of the Construction Committee), and John Fees (retired Executive Chairman of BWXT and former board member/fundraiser/construction committee member). These former board member discuss how it was possible for a small non-profit organization in a small city to punch above its weight and execute a complex 30 million dollar construction project.

This month and next month, I am excited to share a part of my own story. From 2012 to 2015 I was straddling a tenure track position at a liberal arts college while also running a small theatre company here in Lynchburg, VA (pop. 79,697). I was plugged into the arts locally (I grew up in a nearby county) and I was very aware of the Academy of Fine Arts (later renamed the Academy Center of the Arts) and its efforts to restore a historic theatre that had laid dormant for nearly 60 years. The project all in all would cost a total of 30 million dollars and the efforts to build belief around its viability had stalled. The narrative in Lynchburg was that this project was just not possible. I too believed this narrative until some important community leaders that I speak with over the next two episodes changed my mind. In 2015 I would take a leap of faith and leave my teaching position and my theatre company to become the Executive Director of the organization. I was lucky enough to become a part of a team that changed the organization's narrative and made the impossible possible. Over two podcasts I interview some key board members that were part of an organizational transformation that lead the Academy Center of the Arts out of a period of austerity, negativity, and debt and into an era that would see a completed 30 million dollar restoration project, the quadrupling of its operating budget, and emerge debt free. How did this happen? Hear from a group of leaders who through volunteerism provided expertise and credibility to a struggling but important community project and changed the culture of the institution and perhaps even the wider community. In Part 1 (January 2023), we will speak with three former Academy board members. Sackett Wood (CEO of Moore and Giles, former board president), George Dawson (retired CEO of Centra Health and former chairmen of the capital campaign for the theatre), and John Fees (retired Executive Chairman of BWXT and former board member/fundraiser/construction committee member). These former board member discuss how credibility was brought to both the capital project and the organization and how organizational change in a small town arts organization can happen.

In Episode 5 we switch things up and speak not with an organization delivering the arts in a smaller community but with someone here to support those organizations. This month we speak with the Program Director of the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation, Heather Pontonio. Heather runs a program through her foundation called Artists Thrive. Artists Thrive (artiststhrive.org) helps artists and organizations find where they are in their work, where they want to go, what is important to measure, and how they can improve in ways that benefit everyone involved. Artists Thrive is meant to be customized, adapted, and applied to many situations to support artistic work and can be a great resource for small community artists and arts leaders. Their tools can also be used again and again as a reference point for measuring how you, your organization, agency, department, community collaboration, partnership, or artist collective is advancing toward your goals over time. Each year, Artist Thrive host a summit. This summer they will meet in Winston-Salem, NC. You can attend the summit in person or virtually. We strongly encourage you to do so. The summit is affordable and accessible.

This month's guest is Kristen Williams the Executive Director Riverzedge Arts in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. Riverzedge was formed in 2002 by artists, youth development professionals and community leaders concerned about patterns of violence among disaffected youth in the wake of the Columbine shootings. Riverzedge is built on the philosophy that art is a powerful force for social change, and that creative entrepreneurship through the arts is a productive and life-changing opportunity for teens. Riverzedge has garnered national attention and awards for the academic success and artistic achievements of their youth, and for their consistent performance and innovative approaches to youth development. In November 2013, The Wallace Foundation cited Riverzedge as one of 8 exemplary organizations nationwide in their research on out-of-school time arts programs for low-income urban teens. Riverzedge also was awarded a President’s Council on the Arts and the Humanities National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award in 2010. MetLife/Afterschool Alliance Afterschool Innovator Award in 2009.  For more information about Riverzedge Arts, visit their website at : http://riverzedgearts.org/