Appendix B: Comparable Community Arts Facilities

Arvada Center for Arts and Humanities, Arvada, CO

§ Population 102,562; outside of Denver

§ Began as community center for Arvada in 1976, now serves broader Denver area

§ 700-seat theater, 2 galleries, 11 studio/classrooms, 3 dance studios, banquet and meeting facilities

§ Produces theater, education classes, gallery exhibits

§ Success of Center evident in plans to expand—wants to add 19,000 sq ft for $6 million

The Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities was founded in 1976, and has grown to be the tenth largest cultural attraction in the Denver area. The 52,000 square foot Center offers a wide variety of concerts, gallery exhibitions, more than 600 classes each year in the arts and humanities, hosts a historical museum, a banquet hall and has a unique playground that is accessible to children with disabilities. As one of the only nonprofit, professional theatres in the state of Colorado, the Arvada Center produces nine theater productions annually for children and adults.

In 1981 the Arvada City Council established a non-profit board to help manage the affairs of the business, the Arvada Council for the Arts and Humanities. The mission of this board is three-fold. First, it advises and consults the Arvada City Council, the Arvada City Manager and the Arvada Center’s Executive Director on issues of the arts, culture, education, history, humanities and science within the City, especially at the Arvada Center. Second, it promotes public awareness, input and philanthropy. Third, it represents the public’s interest as it relates to the arts and the humanities.

The Center won the 2001 VSA arts / MetLife Cultural Access Award for Arvada Center Accessibility Programming.

The Arvada Center has an annual operating budget of over $6 million, annual revenues of $4.5 million, 34% of which comes from ticket sales, and 44% from state, local and private donations and memberships. The expenditure deficit is compensated with transferred funds form the City of Arvada General Fund and other sources. The center listed total assets of $2.85 million at the end of 2000.

There are more than 60 full-time staff in several departments including administration, marketing, development and specialized fields such as visual arts, theatre and education.

The Arvada Center’s facilities are booked up almost constantly throughout the year. Because of the diversity of programming and the sheer volume of events that take place in its facilities, the Center has difficulty in maintaining a distinct, consistent image in the community. It is not a theatre company per se, but it produces equity-level theatre in its spaces. It is not an art gallery, but it presents art exhibits, contemporary and classical. Their marketing staff has come to the conclusion that it is less important for the community to see the Arvada Center as a unified entity as it is to market individual events. People want to know about specific events; hence, marketing efforts focus on individual events as they come, with a consistent logo, etc. to maintain the Center’s identity as much as possible.

Richmond Arts Center, Richmond, CA

§ Population 102,318; outside Bay Area

§ Built as part of City bond initiative in the 1930s

§ 5 galleries, 5 classrooms, children’s studio

§ No theater

§ Creative programming

§ Exhibitions of local artists

§ Adult and youth classes

§ Classes appeal to diverse surrounding community (“music gig posters,” “octopus cape making,” “crochet wire jewelry”)

The Richmond Art Center is approaching its 70^th anniversary of presenting the visual arts to the city of Richmond, along with the greater Bay Area. The 25,000 square foot facility was built as a part of a bond initiative 70 years ago. The building is city owned, and the Richmond Art Center pays no rent to use the building.

Richmond Art Center presents classes and exhibitions of visual art. There is 6,000 square feet of gallery space, including 5 different galleries. The remaining 19,000 square feet are comprised of 5 classrooms, a children’s studio and a courtyard. The five classrooms are dedicated as follows: ceramics, drawing/painting, textiles, screen-printing and jewelry/metal arts. There are no performing arts spaces or rehearsal spaces, nor are there electronic media facilities.

Classes are offered for both children and adults, and make up the bulk of the Center’s programming. Classes range from the traditional (“Basic Drawing”) to the innovative (“Music Gig Posters”). There are classes in business for artists, framing and presenting artwork, octopus cape-making and crochet wire jewelry. Their children’s classes are truly unique, with many that blend academics and art. There is an art and creative writing class, a class called “Imathination,” a class that lets kids create their own superheroes and villains, and a class kids can take with their parents. Fees for children’s classes are $95 with a $10 discount for members. Adult classes cost $165, $150 for members. Classes run for 8 weeks.

The Center’s annual budget is $620,000. About 40% of that is earned income, most of which comes from classes. There is a membership program, which generates about $25,000 of the contributed income. The rest of the contributed income comes mainly from foundation grants and private donors. The center receives barely any money from the government, besides their rent-free facility. The City of Richmond is currently bankrupt, and the State of California has cut its arts funding dramatically. The center has, in the past, received NEA grants.

The Center reaches out to different size markets, depending on the programming. For exhibitions it draws people from the entire Bay Area, as work by Bay Area artists is often shown. For the classes and smaller events, the Center serves mainly the community of Richmond.

The Center has an artist in the schools program, where an artist will be in residence at a public school for 12 weeks. It also has artist-led tours and special artist membership rates, making the art center truly feel like a community of artists.

Sangre de Cristo Arts & Conference Center, Pueblo, CO

§ Population 103,621

§ Built in 1972

§ 500-seat and 50-seat theaters, 6 galleries, classrooms, dance school, conference spaces

§ Presents both local “resident” companies and touring groups

§ Extensive education program

§ Over 100 classes offered per quarter

§ Resident School of Dance

§ Both art classes and lifestyle classes

The mission of the Sangre de Cristo Arts & Conference Center is to make the arts an active part of everyone’s lives by leading in managing, promoting and providing quality facilities, arts programs and services which educate, challenge and meet the needs of the people of Pueblo and southern Colorado.

Pueblo is a town of 103,621 about 45 miles south of Colorado Springs. The Sangre de Cristo Arts & Conference Center opened in 1972, born out of a matching grant between the federal Economic Development Agency and Pueblo County.

The Center is home to a 500-seat theater, a 50-seat black box theater, 6 galleries ranging in size from 300-600 square feet, a 6800 square foot conference facility, 12,000 square foot children’s museum, a dance studio, sculpture garden and classroom spaces.

Over $1 million of the Center’s $1,889,000 budget is earned revenue. Performing arts programs and facility rentals make up a substantial portion of this earned revenue. The Center has an endowment of $2.5 million, which was started in 1997.

The Center presents 4 different performance series each year. The Center Stage Performing Arts Series presents 5 different touring groups of varying genres (this year’s season included a production of Macbeth, Ailey II and and Irish Dance group). The Children’s Playhouse Series presents 5 different shows for children. The Sangre de Cristo Ballet Theater presents at least one performance annually, and the Broadway Theatre League presents 3 touring Broadway Musicals.

The outdoor Jackson Sculpture Garden sits adjacent to the Buell Children’s Museum. Both were part of the Center’s most recent expansion. The garden is home to Festival Fridays, an outdoor summer concert series. The Children’s Museum has been acknowledged by Child Magazine as the #2 ranked children’s museum in the nation. It includes hands-on theater, visual art and craft activities focusing on the areas of art, science and history.

The Center was recently (August 2005) awarded accreditation by the American Association of Museums. Its six galleries house both a permanent collection and rotating exhibits. The focus is on both American and International art, with much attention given to artists from southern Colorado, northern New Mexico, and the West in general.

The Center’s education program offers over 100 classes per quarter. The visual art program includes drawing, painting, sculpture, ceramics, jewelry, and woodworking. There is a dance school with classes in ballet, tap and jazz (this also includes the pre-professional companies of the Sangre de Cristo Ballet Theater and the Sangre de Cristo Dancerz). There are theater classes, language arts classes, cooking classes, parenting classes, and classes on how to play mah jong. Of course, there are children’s classes in every area. Members receive discounts on classes.

Roseville Arts! Roseville, CA

§ Population 103,609

§ In the process of building a new 5500 square foot facility (former facility 2000 sq ft)

§ Gallery space with moveable walls, flexible classroom/ studio/exhibit space

§ Adjacent to local theater

§ Given ground floor of new parking facility adjacent to theater as part of $6 million development deal—cost to Roseville Arts! is $500,000 in tenant improvement fees

§ Hopes to have touring exhibits in new space

§ Free after-school programs for area students

Roseville Arts Center, established in 1966, serves the community of Roseville in the visual arts. Its mission is to encourage and support the enjoyment, appreciation and growth of the arts in our communities. The population of Roseville is 103,609, but RAC’s market size is around 120,000 including surrounding areas.

Until last year, Roseville Arts Center was located in a city-owned building for almost 40 years. The Center rented building from city for $1 per year. The building was 2,000 square feet, and the Center was outgrowing the space. It was decided that RAC would be a part of a new commercial development in Roseville’s downtown area. As part of a deal made with the city, developers would give them the bottom floor of a new parking lot complex. The new building will be 5,500 square feet, and will be done within the year. The new building is adjacent to the Tower Theater, one of two theaters on the street, both of which are owned by the Magic Circle Theater Company in Roseville.

The plan for the new building is to have 2,000 square feet of gallery space with moveable walls to allow for flexibility for different exhibits. The new arts center is next door to a local theater (run by a different organization), so there is no need for a performance space. The rest of the space is a flexible workshop/classroom/gallery space. This second gallery space will be used for an emerging artists’ gallery and a children’s gallery. The Center has not had any electronic media yet, but would like to eventually. It does plan on having computer with local artists’ portfolios on CD.

When RAC moves into its new building, the goal is to have one prominent touring exhibition every month, in addition to the exhibition of local work. This would entail different specifications as far as climate control and security for the building, so it is something they are working on.

Instead of having in-house classes, the Center focuses on workshops and lecture-demonstrations. There used to be classes held at the Center, but eventually it got too expensive to hire the teachers and pay their workers compensation. RAC now leaves the classes to the Community Center that is not far away. That center is run by the city, and they are able to pay the teachers a better wage. Once in the new building, the Center wants to focus on after school programs. RAC currently works with local schools, a different school each month. RAC is located in revitalization district on the edge of an underserved neighborhood in Roseville, and this is one of the ways they reach out to the surrounding community. The Center does have a large base of volunteer artists to teach classes, so classes taught to local students are usually taught by these volunteer artists.

At present, RAC has very little “earned” income—only about 12 percent from gallery sales. The remaining 88 percent consists of memberships, donations, grants, fundraising events, and investment income. Once the building opens their budget will be about $200,000 per year. At present, since they are operating in other spaces, the budget is about $120,000. When the new facility opens, RAC needs to increase its “earned” income percentage in order to meet the high costs of operations...plans are to incorporate a gift shop, rental of space for events, hold lectures and demonstrations and small art classes. Thus far RAC hopes to avoid charging admission.

RAC is currently in the “quiet phase” of a capital campaign to raise at minimum $500,000 to meet tenant improvement costs. Any funds raised over and above will be applied to the endowment funds expected to be in the neighborhood of $1 million by FY 2007/2008. Interest from the endowment will be applied to operations in the new building as well.