Operating Support
ACHF Arts Access
1) Increase annual audience for combined Hutchinson Center for the Arts programs, events and exhibits to 5,000 annually by December 2017 by expanding class offerings for children and adults, developing a Mobile Community Outreach program, continuing to develop the visual exhibits program, and building on existing community events/programs. 2) Diversify and increase earned income to maintain consistent income source by December 2017 through increasing facility rentals, increasing sales of consignment and gift items, bringing in performances, and increasing youth class sessions. 3) Prepare and develop a viable action plan by December 2017 for a potential venue change in 3 – 5 years. Goal 1 Evaluation: Record keeping to monitor attendance numbers. When appropriate, participant evaluations will be solicited feedback to determine constituent interest/need on future programs (for example: youth and adult classes, performances). Goal 2 Evaluation: Record keeping of sales and facility rentals to ensure progress is occurring. Monitoring of gift shop inventory and sales – to establish and identify items with strong sales. New marketing attempts (ads, newsletters) will be monitored to ensure outcomes yield higher sales in facility rentals and retails sales. Goal 3 Evaluation: The Board will be developing short and long term bench marks and timelines in early 2016 to establish a viable and effective timeline to meet facility goals.
We counted attendance at events and daily visitors to the center - our annual visitor number is approximately 2,000 (does not included private facility rentals or meetings hosted by our partner groups). Students and exhibiting artists were given surveys - these surveys have allowed us to adjust and fine tune our youth programs and exhibition process. Gift Shop - sales of art items remain low, but the addition of beer sales to our events has allowed us to add income via concession sales - in 2016 we earned nearly $800 in beer sales. Facility Rentals - We averaged one private rental per month for a total of 13. With a shared community venue it is sometimes difficult to accept all inquiries due to the facility being occupied by a partner group's activity and Hutchinson Center for the Arts programs. As we and our partners continue to grow we strive to maximize our facility rentals - knowing the space has its limitations. New Marketing Attempts - we began using sponsored Facebook posts - with mixed results - we have determined for some events this is an effective tool. We will continue to refine and monitor when it is most effective to use this tool. Our newsletter continues to reach a solid base of constituents. Our social media continues to grow we increased our Facebook followers by 18% in 2016 and had nearly 7,000 interactions. Two 2016 exhibits were featured on MPR Arthounds as we continue to grow our regional visibility.
Other, local or private