Arts Calendar
Welcome from our President, Paula Durst:
Welcome to Fund for the Arts’ new website. I hope you find its content informative and helpful. We are thrilled to be able to use this website to inform the community of the wonderful things Fund for the Arts and its fourteen member arts groups are doing each and every day.
Since 1981, Fund for the Arts mission has been to ensure secure and reliable funding for arts groups in the Kanawha Valley. Founded as a result of the joint efforts of the Kanawha Arts Alliance and the Charleston Chamber of Commerce, Fund for the Arts raises funds from business, foundations, and government, as well as individuals, to provide operating expenses for our fourteen member arts groups that grace the community with many diverse forms of arts performances and exhibits. In addition to raising funds from donors, we also raise funds by presenting our Wine & all that Jazz and Blues, Brews & BBQ Festivals at the University of Charleston in June and our Golf Classic in September. All in all we generally raise more than $500,000 annually to benefit our member groups.
Fund for the Arts contribution to the vitality of the arts goes beyond raising money. We have taken a leadership role to foster the future of our arts’ community. Fund for the Arts has in place a finely-tuned allocation process administered by leaders on our Board who provide careful overview and stewardship of our donor’s funds. We provide informed and empathic support for our 14 member arts groups to help and advise them during difficult times. Fund for the Arts is very proud that since its inception in 1981, no member art group has disbanded or had to close operations. With Fund for the Arts’ guidance, we have been able to ensure the success of vitality of arts in our community.
In addition to benefiting the community at large, more than 60,000 children in our community annually reap the rewards of exposure to the arts. In addition to providing low cost performances for school groups, the arts community also furnishes performing opportunity in different fields for young people. Artists who have gone on to have scintillating national careers, like Jennifer Garner and Kathy Mattea, got their start in local community productions.
Fund for the Arts does not create art. Rather, Fund for the Arts supports and promotes art as an integral part of our community. Your support is vital to our arts community, both financially and by attending arts presentations and we thank you for your support.
Thank you for visiting our website – we hope have found it interesting and that you will visit it frequently to discover all of the wonderful work being done by Fund for the Arts and our member arts groups. Please use the “Contact Us” button if you have any questions about our organization or need any further information.
Paula L. Durst
Fund for the Arts President