Sun Valley Center for the Arts ANNUAL IMPACT REPORT To enrich our community through transformative arts and educational experiences. sunvalleycenter.org LEADING THE CULTURAL CONVERSATION At Sun Valley Center for the Arts we want you to think, we want you to wonder, we want you to create, to find inspiration, to expand your view and push your boundaries. In short, we want you to learn no matter what your age. We want you to start a conversation. That’s why we are here. HOW DO YOU MEASURE THE IMPACT OF THE ARTS? The value and impact of arts and arts education through the joy and learning The Center brings are challenging to measure. It’s almost impossible this community. I am proud of the fact that we’re to quantify the magical moment when you connect able to achieve that mission while maintaining with a work of art, or an actor or singer on stage. our fiscal integrity. I’m also proud that our How do you translate that flutter in your heart into programs have a positive economic impact on statistics? Yet we know that the arts are essential to our valley. The Center has an important role to our lives. The arts make you feel and reflect; they play in building and enriching our community can be fun and thought provoking. And research by providing engaging arts and educational has proven that arts education is necessary for experiences. We are committed to strengthening shaping the creative mind. Arts education inspires our community through arts education for all. critical thinking and problem-solving skills that build intellectual muscle. The arts nurture learners Thank you for your participation and of all ages. for valuing art and culture. We would not be here today without your support In this report we share how the arts impact our and generosity. lives. We also demonstrate their impact on our economy. As the leader of the Sun Valley Center for the Arts, I’m responsible for the organization’s fiscal health. But as a leader committed to a Christine Davis-Jeffers mission, I look beyond the balance sheet. I first Executive Director measure our programs’ impact and success 2017–2018 ANNUAL IMPACT REPORT TRANSFORMING PERSPECTIVES The Sun Valley Center for the Arts is a non-collecting, nationally accredited museum. This means professional staff develop changing exhibitions that explore ideas of importance to the community, the region and the nation. Curated exhibitions are focused on high quality contemporary and historic artwork with relevance to the issues of our time. ART MAKES YOU FEEL, THINK AND QUESTION. It invites you to pause and reflect. A museum experience is a learning experience. 4,741 Visitors to The Center museum annually 1,229 Student visitors on school tours 55 Student Exhibition Tours 2017–2018 ANNUAL IMPACT REPORT BUILDING & ENRICHING COMMUNITIES Understanding and acknowledging the incredible economic impact of the nonprofit ARTS & CULTURE, we must always remember their fundamental value. They foster BEAUTY, CREATIVITY, ORIGINALITY, and VITALITY. The arts inspire us, soothe us, provoke us, involve us, and connect us. But they also CREATE JOBS & CONTRIBUTE TO THE ECONOMY. —Robert L. Lynch President and CEO, Americans for the Arts Arts organizations are pillars of economic growth. In a single year, arts and culture brought $29 million in spending to the Wood River Valley. The Center’s programming is a reason for people to visit the Wood River Valley and make it their permanent home. From large summer concerts and a nationally recognized Wine Auction to year-round educational experiences, The Center has a reputation for quality and commitment to the valley that MAKES THIS COMMUNITY VIBRANT. 24,419 Participants in Center programs 177 Sun Valley Center for the Arts’ programs offered 16 Collaborating organizations through BIG IDEA Projects 2017–2018 ANNUAL IMPACT REPORT INSPIRING CREATIVITY For many of the students, placing themselves in the ‘shoes’ of the people in the images allowed them to use their KINESTHETIC LEARNING STYLE. I’m a believer in movement in the classroom to enhance learning, but this project took that idea to a new level. EXTREMELY POWERFUL TECHNIQUES, such as this, are WONDERFUL TOOLS. I feel very fortunate to have had The Center come to my classroom and take us all on this adventure. —Tim Rierden, Teacher, Wood River Middle School (Theatre Enrichment Project) Investment in our youth is at the core of Center programs. We spend a quarter of our annual budget on K–12 arts education programming in the valley. National research supports the finding that children involved in arts education show significant INCREASES IN GRADUA- TION RATES, EMPLOYABILITY and CREATIVE COMPETENCE. A student involved in the arts is four times more likely to be recognized for ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT. Every student in the Wood River Valley participates in a Center or Company of Fools program at least once throughout the year. Exposing youth to arts education is an investment in a collective future generation of engaged and thoughtful decisions makers and leaders. 6 Sun Valley Center for the Arts K–12 Arts Education programs (Student Exhibition Tours, Professional Artist Residencies, Classroom Enrichment Projects, Stages of Wonder, Student Matinees & Scholarship Program) 123 Individual K–12 Arts Education events 5,724 K–12 students served 30,179 Total student hours in Arts Education programming 2017–2018 ANNUAL IMPACT REPORT CULTIVATING CURIOSITY There are no words to express how much The Center and Company of Fools have brought to my life, or how much I appreciate it! The older I am, the more I understand that THE ARTS are the foundation of my life, and they SUSTAIN LOVE, COMPASSION and CREATIVITY. I simply cannot thank all of you enough! —Jackie Cole Center member and Wood River Valley resident At the Sun Valley Center for the Arts, we are firm believers in the IMPORTANCE OF LIFELONG LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES FOR CURIOUS THINKERS OF ALL AGES. The Center offers multiple programs for adult learners, from lectures and panel discussions presented as part of our BIG IDEA projects to documentary films and evening exhibition tours. A range of adult classes, including masterclasses in painting and photography, one night workshops in a variety of craft techniques, life drawing open studios and evening writing workshops, offer adult participants with varying levels of expertise, from beginner to professional, the chance to develop their creative skills. The Center’s educational programs provides something for every adult learner seeking to ENGAGE MORE DEEPLY WITH ART AND IDEAS. 24 Adult classes offered 9 of 9 SOLD OUT Winter Performing Arts events 1,431 Film screening attendees 5,814 Summer and winter concert attendees 2017–2018 ANNUAL IMPACT REPORT FOSTERING EMPATHY We are STORYTELLERS. Sometimes bringing NEW IDEAS into the space and often holding up a mirror to help each other see ourselves more clearly. At this moment it is more important than ever. The BEAUTY OF THEATRE—the being in the room with other human beings and breathing the same air—is its ability to close the emotional distance we all have between each other. The emotional proximity we have to things can CHANGE HEARTS AND MINDS. Company of Fools—this is what they do. It’s in their DNA. And IT’S SPECIAL. Thank you. —Cleo Gray, Ella in Company of Fools’ production of Life Sucks CULTURAL CONVERSATIONS are the way we change the world we live in. And the language of cultural conversation is art. Understanding and acceptance are currently some of our biggest national challenges. The arts have value because they make us better people by fostering empathy and compassion. The arts teach us history, they help us have conversations about challenging topics, they make us appreciate beauty and, ultimately, the arts connect us to one another. They help us appreciate our differences and challenge our own beliefs. 2,051 Student Matinee participants 55 Performances of live theatre (4 mainstage productions, 2 staged readings & 1 commissioned piece) 94% Of 2018 Community Survey respondents believe arts education is important in developing the five core skills our arts education programs seek to develop 2017–2018 ANNUAL IMPACT REPORT ENGAGING EXPERIENCES Sun Valley Center for the Arts is a MULTIFACETED RESOURCE and GIFT FOR OUR COMMUNITY. I am frequently amazed at the WIDTH and BREADTH of the programs they develop and share. This one took me completely by surprise and left an INDELIBLE IMPRESSION on me and my group of learners. —Teacher, Classroom Enrichment Project participant ARTS AND COMMUNITY GO HAND IN HAND. Museum exhibitions and concerts are places to gather and share experiences with neighbors. Lectures, Company of Fools theatre and performing arts events invite us to come together to dance, cry, laugh and experience joy. The arts give us permission to try something new alongside others who might also be first time audience members, art students or volunteers. Together, we allow the arts to transport us out of our daily lives and into NEW WORLDS FULL OF IDEAS AND INSPIRATION. 784 Sun Valley Center for the Arts volunteers 1,503 Active Center members 2,497 Total Volunteer hours 98% Of 2018 Community Survey respondents said Sun Valley Center for the Arts’ programs are for “Everyone” and “The Center is a value to our community” 2017–2018 ANNUAL IMPACT REPORT 17 YEAR IN REVIEW 18 BIG IDEAS & MUSEUM EXHIBITIONS FILM Bees Under the Sun April 13–June 22, 2018 part of the BIG IDEA The Unreliable Narrator This Land Is Whose Land? Nuts! January 26–March 31, 2018 part of the BIG IDEA The Unreliable Narrator The Unreliable Narrator Carole King—Tapestry: Live from Hyde Park September 1–November 24, 2017 Ingrid Berman in Her Own Words Contemplative Practice Big Sonia March 31–June 23, 2017 part of the BIG IDEA This Land is Whose Land? Jeremiah Tower—The Last Magnificent FEATURED SPEAKERS / 2017–2018 LECTURE SERIES Oscar Shorts Live Action as part of BIG IDEA projects Oscar Shorts Animated Ruth Reichl Oscar Shorts Documentary Program A Bees Oscar Shorts Documentary Program B Viet Thanh Nguyen Queen of the Sun This Land Is Whose Land? part of the BIG IDEA Bees James B.