Dear Friends,
There is a definite feel of fall in the air and a sure sign of the season is the flurry of activity we experience leading up to the Sedona Plein Air Festival at the end of the month.
There is so much going on in Sedona right now – every weekend is filled with activity. We are hoping the events and festivals will draw more tourists in to town as we are definitely feeling the effects of fewer people around. For instance, traffic to our Gallery was down by half over last year during September. This directly impacts our bottom line. Since about 80% of our earned revenue comes from tourists, we are watching this closely.
We continue to collect surveys for the Arts & Economic Prosperity 6 study assessing the economic impact of the nonprofit arts and culture industry in Sedona. Please fill out a survey if you are attending ANY arts group’s events over the course of the next several months. This information is critical for obtaining increased funding and overall advocacy for the arts in our city, state and nationally.
Coming up soon is the Sedona Plein Air Festival. This year, we are featuring 26 artists from across the country. We’ve added an Artist Meet + Greet on October 21 and we are wrapping up with Artist Games on October 29. There will be three paint outs in between and the SEG will be open all week long to view and purchase work. This is always an exciting week for us and for the artists. So please come and support us both!
We are in the final stages of developing a Campus Master Plan that re-envisions what the Art Barn, and the rest of our campus, can be. This is a very exciting process and we hope to have firm plans by the end of this fiscal year (June 2023). Our receipt of a large $100,000 grant from the USDA last year was the impetus to do this – so we’ve taken the time to make sure whatever we plan serves us well in to our future. In advance of the Master Plan, we will be moving our offices to the Gallery building. So you may see some construction activity ramping up in the next few months.
I hope to see you at Plein Air or around the campus at a workshop or class. Thanks, as always, for your ongoing support of the arts in Sedona and please reach out if you have any questions.
Best,
Julie A. Richard
CEO, Sedona Arts Center
