IMA President's Letter

TEN DECISIVE YEARS!

More art, artists, openings, exhibits, lectures, book signings, sculptures, and cultural excursions than you can shake a stick at! Art education in the schools and at the Sculpture Park during the summers. Lot's of hard work by dedicated and intensely passionate unpaid volunteers – and ONE employee. We've lasted 10 years which shows we can do it. We have brought art exhibits, lectures, education and a general buzz to the community and we all have benefited in some way. I think of visual arts as a reflection of who we are. Visual arts cause us to look inward - comparing ourselves to the art through trends in color, shapes and textures, which in turn, reflects and inspires how our community looks. Through the visual arts, we look at ourselves in light of the art. And we care more about how we look, and we all know that when we look good, we feel good, and when we feel good, we do good.

“IT STARTS WITH THE ARTS”

LAST YEAR Last year we upsized by expanding the MUSEUM into a prominent space. We held four distinct exhibits and secondary ones featuring rather fabulous artwork by local kids.

The SCULPTURE PARK added some 50+ new sculptures and held three fabulous well-attended community events. There was even a Mardi-Gras style parade from Roche Harbor to the Park. It was hilarious!

We downsized by cutting operating costs. We implemented two major cost reductions by consolidating our book keeper position and reduced the cost of new installations at the SCULPTURE PARK.

The combined efforts of all this, and by all that participated, made for a successful year. We have much to be thankful for!

THIS YEAR

This new year may be more decisive than all of the last ten. Like the rest of the economy, our operating revenues have all but dried up. We have been largely supported by the guy-on-the-street who is having his/her own struggle right now.

We are expanding our fundraising efforts to solicit larger potential donors. We are working diligently to expand our ART AS A VOICE program, with more lectures and adding SAM bus tours.

THE NEXT TEN YEARS

We would love to see the MUSEUM re-locate to a permanent location. We are applying for grant funding to assist with this. What a magnificent facility this would be and a feather in the cultural cap of the community. Of course, we plan to continue with interesting ART excursions and exhibits including lectures and art education for the schools.

Our goals for the SCULPTURE PARK include landscaping enhancements, storage facilities and more ART – bigger and better and from distant parts as well as local sources.

So, thanks for your interest and your support, I hope to see you soon at an IMA event.

IT STARTS WITH THE ARTS,......
--Rikki Swin
--IMA President