Operating Support
ACHF Arts Access
Continue to present and offer high quality and diverse arts programming and experiences that engage a broad demographic of people and improve the quality of life in our region of Minnesota. We evaluated our programming through quarterly staff meetings in which we asked staff their opinion of past and upcoming programming, discussed what buzz we each had heard about town and from theatre-goers and non-attendees about our offerings. We talked about having the right mix of shows and what that looked like for this year and future years. We reviewed audience reactions and purposely asked community members their opinions of our programming through formal interviews, casual interactions, and surveys. The summary of what we learned was that in general people love our programming. They appreciate the variety, affordability, and professionalism of the acts. We received some requests for more comedy, more familiar acts, and bigger name music stars. People valued that we brought the arts to our region and want even more than we're already programming. We take all this information and weigh it against our mission, values, and financial constraints to help create future programming. Continue to ensure that our audiences at all theatre sponsored activities (public performances, workshops, school/business/nonprofit outreach, artist interactions, etc.) experience the best we can offer. This includes, but is not limited to, physical amenities of the facility space utilized, production/artist performance, and interaction and involvement with Detroit Lakes Community and Cultural Center/Historic Holmes Theatre staff. We evaluated our programming through quarterly staff meetings in which we asked staff their opinion of past and upcoming programming, discussed what buzz we each had heard about town and from theatre-goers and non-attendees about our offerings. We talked about having the right mix of shows and what that looked like for this year and future years. We reviewed audience reactions and purposely asked community members their opinions of our programming through formal interviews, casual interactions, and surveys. The summary of what we learned was that in general people love our programming. They appreciate the variety, affordability, and professionalism of the acts. We received some requests for more comedy, more familiar acts, and bigger name music stars. People valued that we brought the arts to our region and want even more than we're already programming. We take all this information and weigh it against our mission, values, and financial constraints to help create future programming. Continue and grow partnership opportunities and outreach activities while operating in a fiscally responsible manner. We evaluated this through our monthly and quarterly financial reviews as well as board and staff meetings/reviews. We routinely discuss and evaluate how our outreach plans are working, how to maximize and improve our partnerships (both with businesses who are sponsors and with the schools/nursing homes/businesses/civic clubs/etc. that we bring artists into).
Our first goal was to present programming of high artistic quality and a wide range of variety in our programming. Because we are in essence the only gig in town, we want to be sure to not just present one genre but to offer a broad mix of performances (dance, music of all genres, comedy, theater, etc.) that will hopefully appeal to most, if not all, demographics of residents in our region. In 2012-13, we certainly achieved this as we hosted such groups as Mason Jennings, Church Basement Ladies, James Sewell Ballet, Terrance Simien and the Zydeco Experience, Cudamani (from Bali), Patrick Dewane's The Accidental Hero, classical music groups from the Fargo Moorhead Symphony Orchestra, Stuart Pimsler Dance and Theater, Theatreworks USA's Junie B. Jones, China's Tarim, and others as well as local community theatre productions and regional musicians. 2: The second goal we set was to ensure that our audiences experience the best we can offer. This meant not just with what was on stage, but also their experience in our building and with our staff. We want to be sure that people receive the best customer service, enjoy the beauty of our historic building, that the building is clean and well preserved and that we do all we can to make sure that their experience at the Holmes is exceedingly positive. We learned that we do achieve this goal. Our staff was ranked high for friendliness and efficiency. People are also very intrigued with the history of our theatre and many who visit once attended high school in the building so they love to reminisce about their time in school.
Other
local or private