It's almost 2021, and the Holiday Season is upon us! Your friends at the Art Center wish you a happy and healthy time of year as we reflect and look forward to what the future brings.

As we prepared for 2020, we thought about what may be trendy in non-profit themes for fundraising. An obvious tie-in to the year 2020 was going to be “vision” or “focus” related. Well! We can say with certainty a beautiful biproduct of this year has been a refocus on the importance of togetherness, on family and friends, and how precious time can be. Little did we know at the beginning of this year how poignantly we would be challenged to think about these concepts, finding new ways to reach out to you, our Art Center supporter.

Our vision, as a community, became about caring for those who most immediately needed help. The Art Center responded early on in to partner with The Kind World Foundation and The Community Action Agency of Siouxland to care for Head Start children who needed continued education materials, helping to close the gap on lost classroom time. The Art Center also partnered with MercyOne and UnityPoint- St. Luke’s to direct our donors to support their frontline workers on Giving Tuesday Now, which took place on May 5^th. We took the “focus” off ourselves in those early days because the needs were so basic, and we needed our community to be healthy and whole.

Now, at the end of this year, we look back at this year and are grateful for the moments where the Fine Arts escape from the gloom of pandemic. We all remember the days where we tuned in to listen to music or to watch a favorite movie or television show, or to join an art museum in a gallery tour. The Arts helped us feel connected worldwide, and our donors contributed to a vision not only for the future of the Art Center, but for the future of a Siouxland that looks to 2021 with purpose, vision, and focus.

The Art Center has been given time to hone this vision, with short-term and long-term goals coming sharply into focus, and outreach changing in dynamic ways none of us dreamed possible. The new levels of connectivity have opened opportunities for us that we can further develop as we return to what has been termed a “new normal.” We look excitedly toward our future, and the ways this challenging time is changing the Art Center for the better.

How can YOU help? A donation in any amount makes a huge difference in our ability to serve the Siouxland community in the coming year. We invite you... Help us build a strong future!

With Warmest Regards,