Memo - Center for the Arts Update'HOPKINS CENTER FOR THE ARTS
MEMORANDUM
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
FROM: Amanda Birnstengel, Arts Center Director
DATE: April 26, 2011
SUBJECT: Art Center Update April 26th Work Session
After serving as Director of the Arts Center for a little over two months, I am very
pleased to have the opportunity to provide this update:
PROGRAMMING UPDATE — CONCERTS
The 2010 -2011 concert series is wrapping up, with one Tuesday concert and
one Saturday concert remaining. The schedule for next season is set, with
signed contracts back from all the Saturday artists, and either signed or pending
signature on Tuesday artists.
The concerts are well received by those who attend. An ongoing goal for the next
season is to increase the attendance per concert as the concerts are not yet self
supporting. Once the contracts are all signed, and the pricing is set, the team will
be working on seeking sponsors and looking for ways to increase awareness.
The concert line up for next season will be introduced at a season preview
reception on Saturday, May 14th prior to the Brubeck Brothers Quartet concert.
At that time season subscriptions go on sale. In order to leverage this opportunity
to promote the upcoming season, invitations with special concert pricing were
mailed out to previous subscription customers as well as to past guests who
have attended at least one concert but who have not been season subscribers in
the past.
PROGRAMMING UPDATE -VISUAL ARTS
The exhibition selection committee, which met in February, received 62
proposals for shows from artists or artist groups.
Of these, nine individual artists and one artist cooperative were chosen for
exhibition next season. The work to be shown ranges from Pratibha Gupta's
figurative ceramics to Francene Christianson's paintings of "women with attitude"
to an interactive photography show.
In addition, the committee will reprise four popular group shows — the Twin Cities
Undergraduate Showcase (which features talented young artists as chosen by
their professors), The Critic's Show (in which local art critics and writers are
asked to identify1-3 emerging artists that they feel are ones to watch), Velocity.
the Art of Motion (the "car art" show which will be a regional show and include
popular supporting activities such as car shows on Mainstreet), and Salon 300:
Minnesota State Fair Overflow Show.
We will continue to special exhibition opportunities for member artists including
the Off the Wall Member Spotlight, our booth at the Hopkins Farmers' Market,
and our two large group member shows. The committee is also working on a new
initiative — regular social/networking opportunities for artists of all genres (visual,
music, poetry, etc.) out in the community.
FUNDRAISING UPDATE - GRANTS
As of this time, we have secured $29,731 in grant support for 2011 from the
Minnesota State Arts Board Arts Tour program. This will help underwrite concerts
by Roger McGuinn, Joe Lovanos' USS, Lee Ritenour Quartet and The Four
Freshmen.
In addition, we have applied for a 2012 Operating Support grant from the
Minnesota State Arts Board. As part of that granting process, the Arts Board will
do two on-site visits to the Center this spring. The first is an artistic on-site — an
Arts Board representative will attend the Brubeck Brothers Quartet concert and
tour the galleries on May 14. This will be followed by an administrative on-site
visit where representatives of the Arts Board will meet with staff and board
members. If all goes well, this may result in a significant four-year grant. We will
also apply for the 2012 Arts Tour grant.
We were able to obtain these significant grants due to the Executive Arts Director
being able to devote time to grant writing as the Member and Volunteer Manager
focused on the Art Festival and increasing the capacity of the Friends Board.
FRIENDS
Hopkins Arts Festival July 8-10, 2011
The event is moving along well. Plans are in place for a Patron/Artist reception
Friday evening from 8 — 10pm to kick off the festival. Festival artists and patrons
that have donated $250 will be invited to participate. The festival begins at 10am
Saturday, July 9 and will run through Sunday, July 10 at Spm.
Artists applications are still be accepted until April 25. The jurors will review the
work and artists will be invited by the beginning of May — from the applications
we have received we are expecting a larger festival than last year. Music is
planned for outside of the Center; we have an art demonstration by Jimmy
Longoria throughout the festival, and various food vendors from ice cream to
Greek food.
The Friends are in the process of recruiting and selecting new board members.
This should be complete the last week in April, with the new members attending
the May meeting.
2
An electronic survey seeking feedback was sent out via Constant Contact to the
600+ people who are registered to receive our e-mail newsletter. 76 have
responded so far, with the survey remaining available through the end of the
month. We are seeking input related to their awareness of the Friends, and for
those who are already members, which of the existing benefits they value the
most.
FACILITIES and RENTAL
New carpet was installed in portions of the building in February. The carpet in
the Redepenning gallery is being replaced with a wood floor in May, and the
lights are being reconfigured to better highlight the art.
We are currently researching rental rates for other theaters in the west metro
area to see if there is any room for increasing the rates for the main stage or JC
Studio
Our preliminary research on the conference room, community room, and
classroom indicate that we are competitively priced in those rooms and do not
have the opportunity to raise rates.
CURRENTLY TARGETED AUDIENCES—Communication Overview
VISUAL ARTISTS
Visual artists were one of the original audiences at the Center and made up the
vast majority of our members in the early years. Currently, there are 1,155 visual
artists on our mailing list (20% list); 263 are members of the Friends of the
Hopkins Center for the Arts (58% members).
Primary messages: From past member artist surveys we have learned that the
primary motivator for an artist to be involved at the Center or to become a
member is exhibition opportunity. For this reason, this is probably our most
frequent message — we provide exhibition opportunity: special' exhibitions,
member exhibitions, Off the Wall, Farmer's Market booth, ArtStreet and Art
Festival. Secondary message is that we provide educational opportunities such
as Dillmans' Winter Workshop.
This audience has its own planning body, the Visual Arts Advisory Committee,
which has identified 4 priorities for the next two years and will be working on
specific strategies to address these: (1) increase community involvement,
access; (2) take art out into the community; (3) strengthen resources provided to
artists; (4) continue to strengthen exhibitions. The Committee's April project is to
develop an ongoing calendar of informal artist get-togethers at off-site locations
to facilitate peer networking and socializing. Other projects are to develop a
calendar of educational opportunities and to develop recommendations on using
technology to involve artists. This work will be done in partnership with the
Friends, as there is overlap with member benefits and recruitment efforts.
3
Communication tools: Most communication to visual artists is done through
mailings, the e -newsletter or the website. There are 5 targeted mailings just to
visual artists each year: fall member show; call for exhibition proposals; spring
member show; Farmer's Market; Arts Festival. We also post opportunities on
mnartist.org and Springboard for the Arts. We also have information on
membership and artist opportunities at our Salon 300 check-in – this has been a
successful recruiting tool.
BABYBOOMER MUSIC LOVERS
This is the audience we seek to serve and grow with the Saturday Subscription
Series. We began with this age demographic when setting out to build a music
audience as it is the easiest one to attract and retain -- probably the last of the
traditional concert -goers. 91 % people who attend Saturday concerts live in the
western half of the metro. About 55-60% of the audience is age 50 or older.
Primary messages: affordable (subscription rates; member discounts; senior
discounts; family discounts); accessible and convenient (free parking; close to
home; pretty traditional content); varied but high quality events; friendly (free
food; staff on hand --personal service)
Communication tools: season brochure; subscription mailing; e -newsletter;
website; paid advertising—mostly print but also radio and online; press releases
prompting stories and calendar listings; sponsorship program; promotions
including partnerships with organizations such as the Twin Cities Jazz Society,
Greater Twin Cities Blues Music Society, KBEM Radio, Hopkins School District,
etc. (We have experimented with other ideas such as partnering with area
nonprofits that keep a percentage of ticket sales as a mini -fundraiser or offering
group discounts to neighborhood associations or social groups.)
YOUNG PROFESSIONAL MUSIC LOVERS
It has been a goal of the past year to expand the age demographics of people
who attend music events at the Center for many reasons -- the two most
pressing are (1) young adults are the most underserved age demographic at the
Center, and (2) we need to adapt and build an audience for the future as the
baby boomers age. A year ago we piloted the Take Five Tuesday series, an after
work series in the main theater that includes a "happy hour' before each show to
provide that social interaction so important to attracting younger adults. After
much experimentation, we are going into next season with a consistent and
appealing line up for this age group.
Primary messages: have fun with your peers; hear popular, interesting artists at
affordable prices
Communication tools: similar to those used for the baby boomer concert goers.
However, the radio stations, print and online vendors used differ as they are
skewed towards a younger audience. We also use more radio promotions for the
Tuesday series as well as Facebook promotions via the Sue McLean and
Associates Facebook page.
In addition to our regular print and radio advertising outlets, we are creating a
cable television commercial through Comcast that will air next season to promote
this series. We have to be strategic with air slots due to our tiny budget so have
targeted them very tightly—Monday Night Football (ESPN; FOX), Conan (TBS),
and a rotation on TLC. This will be in tandem with zoned comcast.net online
banners. This is our first experiment with televised advertising.
5