2010 – 2011Year-in-Review Published 12.10.2011

Fulfilling our Mission to nurture creative discovery, learning and sharing through arts education and artistic development.

The Sedona Arts Center in 2010 – 11 has been a pivotal year of success. Our mission has been well served with the presentation of 178 workshops, field expeditions and community classes this year. More than 65,000 came through our doors during the year to learn the arts, to share their love of art, and enjoy the view of our world as expressed through the eyes of artists. It is this shared bond and the understanding of the importance of education in the arts that continues to fuel our passion.

The School of Arts has continued to bring the brightest and most highly respected visiting faculty to the Sedona community. Opportunities to learn from leading artists in their field who are great teachers continue to increase our reputation as a top quality arts educational institution nationally and internationally. Our field expeditions in Death Valley and Big Sur, CA; Grand Canyon, AZ; New York City, Hilton Head Island, SC; and Tuscany, Italy continue to further our reputation for outstanding education.

The stewardship of the Arts Center starts with prudent fiscal practices. Of significance has been the achievement of a balanced budget and the subse-quent result of weathering the summer months without the need to use our reserves. In spite of a faltering economy, we ended this fiscal year with a positive

variance to budget of $37,000 after repayment of $46,000 borrowed from reserves.

With our membership numbers remaining between 700 and 800 for the past three years, we introduced a new “Friend” level for just $25 as an entry level for supporters wanting to con-tribute or looking to stay connected. Membership benefits and services have been a focus this year. Members continue to take advantage of their 10% discount in the gallery particularly shopping for gifts as well as fine art. Artist members continue to have three opportunities each year to showcase their artwork at the September Open Members Exhibition, the November Small Works Show and our March Juried Members Exhibition. In addition, Sedona PhotoFest volunteers, who came from many community organizations, were given the opportunity to present their artwork in a special exhibition during the Fall. The independent jurying process by award-winning artists held twice a year continues to insure a fair and equitable review for entry into our Fine Art Gallery. Plans are underway to offer a series of educational talks for Members this coming January.

2012 saw new events opening with the 2010 Sedona PhotoFest, the “Save the Art Barn” campaign, the Sedona Plein Air Festival with more opportunities

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for art collectors, the 2nd community

7TH ANNUAL PLEIN AIR FESTIVAL ARTISTS

building Loving Bowls, the first Master Sculptor Bronze Casting Party with Susan Kliewer’s “Sedona’s Bounty” and last but not least, the first annual Sedona Fine Art Auction. All of these events served our Mission bringing more awareness and learning opportunities to the community and our visitors.

Each of these events along with a backdrop of a highly involved Board analysis of fiscal trends and management practices has tight-ened Operations for increased efficiency and productivity. Based on this year’s audit, contributors to the Sedona Arts Center can be assured of their dollars spent wisely with a low administrative cost of 6% and 88% of every dollar going toward mission-based programming. The remaining 6% allocated to fund development reaped a healthy 40% return on our investment.

The Arts Center was proud to host a special retrospect exhibi-tion of Emilio Lobato’s contemporary work made possible by a grant from WESTAF. Both curator, Tariana Navas-Nieves and artist were present for the opening and an effort was made to reach out to the Hispanic community with a Spanish translation of the Exhibition flyer. The exhibition received high praise as the “best exhibition he’s seen in Sedona” from former Heard Museum direc-tor, Dr. Patrick Houlihan. The June 2011 exhibition was a fine ending to our fiscal year of excellent exhibitions showcasing member artists, community art organizations and student shows.

These offerings and new events this coming year will continue to express our mission to nurture creative dis-covery, learning and sharing through arts edu-cation and artistic development. I want to thank the Board of Directors and our Volunteers for their tireless energy and devotion to making arts education Sedona’s best

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cultural edutainment.

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Mei Wei Wong Executive Director