Message from the President’s Office
At Fund for the Arts, we often use stories to demonstrate the impact the arts can make in our community. One of our most favorite stories is the story of Hunter, an elementary school student in Henryville, IN who drew us a photo to show his gratitude for being able to see a play about Abraham Lincoln at school. Hunter touched us with his sincere appreciation and fascination with the play, and we passed around his drawing with pride. On March 3rd, Hunter’s school and a large part of Henry County were damaged by the tornados. At Fund for the Arts, we are keeping Hunter and Henryville in our thoughts as we continue to raise money to provide arts experiences for children like Hunter every day. We look forward to a day when we will be able to celebrate Henryville’s resilience with Hunter once more.
Tales from the Trail
Midway through our EXTREME campaign, the Fund for the Arts is well on our way to raise a lot more money than we did last year. How much more? A whole lot more! Campaign Chair, Joe Pusateri of Elite Homes has set the date for Art-a-Thon 2.0 on May 22nd and 23rd which will make us one step closer. In addition to Art-a-Thon 2.0, workplace campaigns are occurring throughout our community. During a recent visit to TARC, a bus driver raised her gift from $500 to $1,000 this year, and designated it to school programming. She was a single mother, and is grateful to all of the donors that made it possible for her children to attend arts events when they were younger.
Other successful campaigns include a brand-new workplace campaign at Drexler Plumbing which generated more than $4,000! Passport Health Plan, a campaign bringing in $1,000 in 2011, generated more than $6,000! Brown-Forman’s campaign has also kicked off for the year and is already ahead of last year.
power2give Update
From Left to Right: Lori Meadows, Kentucky Arts Council; Steve Trager, Republic Bank; Cheryl VanStockum, Shelby County Community Theatre; Laura Douglas, LG&E and KU Energy LLC.
power2give.org has already exceeded all of our expectations. We wanted to generate $250,000 by June 30th, but as of today, power2give.org/Kentucky has generated more than $353,000 with more money coming in each day. With more than 61 projects funded to date, this web based platform for crowd-funding has attracted 780 donors making 991 gifts. More projects are being posted each day, and will be matched dollar for dollar as long as matching funds are available. On March 19th, we celebrated our first successful 90 days with check presentations at the Brown Theatre. What a wonderful time it was! If you have any questions about power2give, please contact Amber Sexton at 582.0128 or asexton@fundforthearts.com.
NeXt! Applications Live!
NeXt! is a prestigious leadership development program sponsored by the Fund for the Arts for young professionals from some of Louisville’s most prominent businesses. Our goal is to prepare the next generation for volunteer leadership roles in the area of arts and cultural interests with a strategic focus on strong corporate citizenship. The NeXt! generation of Arts champions will be fully prepared to infuse new energy and life into the strong foundation currently supporting our vibrant Arts scene. If you are between the ages of 25-35 and would like to apply, click here for the application.
Upcoming Events
- Mayor’s Week of Service – April 15th – 22nd
Mayor Greg Fischer has instituted a Week of Service April 15-22. Fund for the Arts staff will be volunteering with Neighborhood House on April 17th teaching art classes to children. If you would like to participate in a volunteer opportunity with the Mayor’s Week of Service, please visit www.mygiveaday.com.
- Art-a-Thon 2.0 – May 22nd and 23rd
Mark your calendars for Art-a-Thon 2.0! Board members and volunteers will be asked to participate in the Art-A-Thon on May 22nd and 23rd from 2:00 – 8:00 at Fund for the Arts.
