Operating Support
Operating Support
Operating Support FY18/19.
John White: writer, photographer, retired journalist; Georgette Jones: literature teacher, theatre actor, director, teacher; Marilee Strom: musician, former art teacher, business owner; Kathy Fransen: musician, theatre, Rhythm of the River coordinator; Janet Olney: visual artist, Willmar Area Arts Council coordinator; Joyce Meyer: photographer, retired art teacher, Canby Arts Council; Pam Blake: retired art educator, visual artist, Tyler Arts Council, Lincoln County Art Fair, South Dakota Arts Educators Association, Southwest Minnesota Weaver's Guild; Michele Knife Sterner: theatre actor, SMSU Associate director for Access Opportunity Success program; Tom Wirt: artist, owner Clay Coyote Gallery, Hutchinson Center for the Arts, past member Hutchinson Public Arts Commission; Joyce Aakre: visual arts, writing, Discover Dassel committee, Board member for Litchfield Community Education, Exhibit committee for Dassel Area Historical Society; Kelly Muldoon: graphic artist, Prairie Music Association, Prairie Oasis Players; Dan Wahl: writer, visual artist, director, adjunct English instructor SMSU; Anne O'Keefe-Jackson: human resources director, bead and quill work; Cindy Reverts: visual artist, Rock County Fine Arts Association treasurer, Council for Arts in Humanities in Rock County; Brett Lehman: Worthington International Festival, Worthington City Band, Worthington Concert Association; Reggie Gorter: vocalist, theatre, voice, dance teacher; Dana Conroy: producer, filmmaker; Claire Swanson: visual arts, arts teacher, Meander Art Crawl Committee.
Joyce Aakre: Visual Art, Writing, SMAC Board; Pam Blake: Visual Art, SMAC Board; Mark Bosveld: Theatre, Arts Admin; Steve Linstrom: Writing, Museum Admin; Anne O'Keefe-Jackson: Visual Art, SMAC Board; Liz Rackl: Visual Art, Arts Admin; Tom Wirt: Visual Art, SMAC Board.
ACHF Arts Access
1) Increasing the volunteers, production support, and actors. 2) Expanding productions, concerts, and events. 3) Increase winter audience from 35 to 50 and summer audience from 70 to 100 and establish a membership program. 4) Maximizing our advertising dollars by planning ahead and including multiple events. The success of the Little Theatre benefits an underserved rural community, bringing to it a variety of quality entertainment. The theatrical community, seasoned and novice, will benefit from performing opportunities. Local businesses will benefit from the number of potential customers we bring to town. Non-profits will benefit by having a facility to use to educate and enrich the community. New entertainment projects will have a space to showcase their venue. The greatest benefit will be to the general public, they will have a full year of quality entertainment options. Our goals are clearly defined with specific numbers, so it will be easy to determine if we have met our goal. We will be continuing to keep attendance records to clearly chart our progress. Measuring our patron's satisfaction will be evidenced in repeat attendance and if they join our membership once the program is established. Success will also be determined by the number of people served, and by our ability to meet our expenses and continue to make the necessary improvements to the facility.
Goals stated in the grant application: The funds will be used for wages for a part-time employee to carry out the tasks necessary to accomplish these 4 goals: increasing the volunteers, expanding our venue, attracting a loyal patron bases and maximizing our advertising dollars; and we have to reach these goals to stay in existence. INCREASE VOLUNTEERS: Recruit general volunteers: Laurel has secured a small pool of volunteers to sell tickets, concessions, and seat the public. Recruit major and alternate skilled production support: The skill required for these positions makes recruiting harder. Laurel is an actress, so she has contact with a wide range of people possessing these skills. Changes in our lighting technology is making the process more difficult, but this is an ongoing process. Add to our solid actor pool & create an engaging network to keep them informed of upcoming productions: Laurel is utilizing her actor network and media skills updating Facebook regularly. EXPAND THE VENUE: Expand the number of quality productions to 6 per year: We had 6 scheduled but had to drop one when we couldn’t get it cast. We also learned that with the unpredictable Minnesota weather it is financially wiser to limit our productions to summer months and scale it back. Continue to offer at least 6 concerts per year in 2018: We had 8 concerts. Expand educational and enrichment programming to 2 per year: This we did not accomplish. Expand the number of Story Show events and classic movies to 2 each: This was accomplished. Expand business support by featuring at least one style show per year: We had a production planned during the dates that the business owner requested. ATTRACT A LOYAL PATRON BASE: Increase our average audience size in the winter months from 35 to 50: Due to stormy weather our attendance remained at the 30-35 mark for productions: Concerts in the winter months ranged from 75-145. We have decided to omit winter productions. Increase our average summer audience from 70 to 100 by 2019: Summer production attendance was also down, averaging 40-50 per night. Summer concerts averaged 80. Establish a membership program by 2019: We are still working on ideas for this. MAXIMIZE ADVERTISING DOLLARS: Planning our season at least 6 to 9 months in advance so we can capitalize on free advertising in area visitor's guides: The productions were listed in the 2018 and 2019 visitor’s guides. Designing paid advertising so it features more than one event: We tried this and our patrons found it confusing.
Other,local or private