Arts Center Association, Inc.

Our goal is our mission, which is to connect people with art. We ensure our mission is accomplished by creating programs that are accessible to visitors of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities. While many of our programs are free or low cost, we have an educational and exhibition philosophy that encourages exploration of ideas and as such helps develop critical thinking.

Without attention to improving earned revenue, we cannot meet our mission as we wish. We also seek to address needs in our community that we are uniquely qualified to address. We balance what we can do with what we need to do to remain relevant to our visitors and community. Action, attention and advocacy from our board, staff, teachers, students and volunteers ensure that our strategies develop proactively and responsively.

In the last several years we shifted our earned/unearned revenue ratio from 28% to 92%. The addition of the Chihuly Collection to our group of venues was key to this shift, and expanded both our admissions/ticket revenue and retail sales revenue. This strategic redirection allows us more flexibility and ability to provide a range of programs that remain accessible to our public.

Our next chapter is our next century and in 2017 we celebrated a centennial of service to the arts, artists and community. As we continue to execute our strategic plan, in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic, our mission to connect people with art remains our foremost guide. We understand that we cannot do everything we want to do, but, as the area's oldest and one of its most significant arts organizations, we seek to respond to our community's most evident and emerging needs for access to the arts. Our continued emphasis on that path will inform our next century of service to art, artists and our community.