Small Capital Arts Grant for NonProfits
ACHF Arts Access
(1) LED lights have an estimated life span of 7,500 hours. They are also a safety factor in that our gallery manager will only have to climb on a ladder and change lights every 6 years! (2) LED Lights are less expensive to operate. The Alliance will save 5% on electrical costs once they are installed. (3) LED lights provide the best natural light for viewing exhibits. Our Artists are looking forward to this museum quality light, and the Alliance expects that the number of exhibitors will increase by 5%. (4) The quality of light will also be an inducement for attracting quality traveling exhibits. The Alliance expects to schedule one traveling show each year. (5) The Alliance expects that an increase in both exhibitors and traveling exhibits will increase the number of people who visit the gallery. Daily attendance is tracked by the gallery manager.While the board of directors and the gallery committee meet monthly and may make adjustments to the programs and events, they, along with staff, evaluate all aspects of the operation in the spring prior to approving the programs, goals, and budget for the forthcoming year. During the year and before submitting a grant application to Central Minnesota Arts Board, the grant writer reviews prior applicable grant requests to ascertain if stated outcomes were achieved.
Energy and financial savings for the Gallery and Gift Shop: LED lights statistically use 75% less electricity, last 7500 hours which is approximately 25 times longer than traditional incandescent light bulbs. Because these lights were installed in a new building/gallery, we are unable to do a cost comparison from previous year's electrical costs, but we haven't had to change any light bulbs yet. We have heard many compliments from artists and visitors on the nice lighting especially on cloudy days and in the shorter days of winter when we rely on the lights to see gallery and gift shop art pieces. An anticipated outcome that was stated in the original grant request was that we would increase our artists/exhibitors over the previous year due to the museum quality lighting. Our artist numbers this year over last are: Fiscal Year 2014: 227 adults, 90 youth; Fiscal Year 2013: 198. Also, we have seen an increase in visitors to the Gallery and Gift Shop: Fiscal Year 2014: 5453 adults, 455 youth; Fiscal Year 2013: 2660 adults, 259 Youth. Unfortunately, we cannot attribute this increase strictly to the new lighting. But we are confident that the lights give a professional setting that is attractive to both artists and guests.
Other, local or private