ArtsinStark is seeing a turnaround in annual fundraising after a drop of 28% over the past four years. Maureen “Mo” Ater, who took the helm in February, expects the arts advocacy organization will meet this year's goal of $1.4 million by next Friday. That's a 17% increase over 2023.
“We weren't really sure how it would go,” she said. “We have new leadership. Fundraising is a struggle, but we have a lot of great need in the arts community. We hoped we could wrap it up by May. We found that we needed a little bit more time to get a few more donations in. So now we're down to one week.”
As of Thursday afternoon, Ater estimated ArtsinStark is 94% to goal. The organization raises money to provide funding to major arts organizations, like the Bluecoats and Canton Symphony Orchestra, as well as area artists and nonprofits.
Ater is a lifelong Stark County resident and a familiar face in the area's development and marketing world. In February, just before this year's campaign launched, she predicted that familiarity would help with fundraising despite post-COVID challenges.
“We've seen a lot of transition in our donor base," she said. "We raise funds for the arts. A good chunk of that relies on local businesses and corporations letting us come in and connect with their employees. When you have workplaces that have some hybrid work schedules, that becomes a lot more of a challenge."
Since ArtsinStark prefers to make the case for the arts in person, it has organized collaborative team building exercises at several businesses. One is the Have a Heart for Art program, which brings canvasses and supplies into workplaces and asks people to create anything - so long as it includes a heart.
"You saw 20 different people, some hesitant, some eager, and they would start to create," she said. "You saw a lot of laughs. You saw a lot of people kind of rolling their eyes, but in the end it was all about just experiencing art and knowing that anyone can be creative. And that the creative process is really important no matter what you're doing."
Ater said momentum for arts support also seems to be building based on national data. Canton-Massillon ranked 8th among mid-sized cities for supply, demand and public support for the arts in the latest Arts Vibrancy Index by Southern Methodist University. It's the first time the city has placed on the list. Other Ohio cities noted in the report were Cincinnati and Cleveland, which ranked 11th and 12th respectively among large cities.
