Operating Support

Our top goal is to make a regional arts center in the Barn Theatre building a reality. The first phase of this, probably taking the better part of the first year, perhaps longer to realize will be to get our educational outreach arranged. We would like to have our Kids’ Art Club attended by at least ten students at each session. We would like to hold an average of one adult class or workshop per month and have a minimum of six students enrolled in each one. Another goal is to have our new, themed exhibits at the Barn Theatre continue to grow. We had twenty-five entries by fourteen artists for our first one and we would like to keep the level of participation at least that high, preferably higher, for all future exhibits. It is our hope that because of our work people of all ages, ethnicities, and abilities will participate in the arts in the greater Willmar area. By offering arts activities for children we will expose these students to a variety of art forms at an early age. The Barn has an active children’s theatre program so adding a visual art component is the logical next step. By offering adult art instruction, we will make it possible for more people to experiment with art forms or improve skills they are interested in. We plan to offer different levels of instructions so more people will participate. And finally, it is our hope that because of the location of the art center, in downtown Willmar, we will eventually be able to reach out to the immigrant community. Many of the artists we send into the classrooms for the Artist in the Schools program report that the minority children are often the most enthusiastic about art. Hopefully we can get some of them to attend the Kids’ Art Clubs and perhaps eventually reach out to other family members.We have always had artists, food vendors, performers, and demonstrators at Celebrate Art! Celebrate Coffee! fill out an evaluation at the end of the festival. We compile the information we receive on those and review it at the follow-up meeting. Visitors to Studio Hop can pick up a prize card to be stamped at all the studios they visit to qualify them for one of two gift certificates. We have a brief survey on the back that they fill out. We ask how they heard about the Hop and similar questions. We use this information to help us evaluate if our promotional materials are effective. We also have a follow-up meeting with all the artists and make notes on their experience. We have a guest book at the exhibits and Board members attend the receptions and pick up comments from attendees. We will have the instructors record the kids’ responses to the Art Club after each session. We will periodically ask the parents to fill out a survey recording how their child benefited and suggestions for future sessions. All participants in the adult art classes will be asked to fill out a survey. We will ask how they heard about the class, their rating of the instruction, and suggestions for future classes.