Drum roll please…. this week the Sky Valley Arts Council received Federal non-profit 501c3 status.  With this designation the board will initiate a strategy to start a supporters campaign and identify a grant application list before the end of the calendar year. More information will follow on the next steps and how you can participate.

Meeting Notes Summary

We have held three Sky Valley Arts Council introductory meetings to gather input and ideas.  Our goal has been to introduce our mission and to learn from the residents what we can offer that would be meaningful and relevant  to the communities of the Sky Valley. We asked the question “What would you define as your top 2 priorities for a Sky Valley Arts Council?”

Much of what we learned can be grouped into a few categories that align with our mission –

COORDINATE & PROMOTE – generally we were asked to help promote existing events, to help coordinate event dates, to promote local artist and heritage sites and to help reach all artists and preservationists throughout the valley.

FACILITATE ACCESS – we heard repeatedly a request to develop some type of “tour”, “scavenger hunt” or “art train type” activity for the valley that include artist studios, artistic inspiration sites,  heritage and historic homes/buildings in an effort to collaborate and create a coordinated valley experience.

SUPPORT EDUCATION – the importance of arts experience and heritage interaction as an element of a healthy community was a priority with requests for more opportunities for children to experience art in school and in the community, to build a reputation for artist retreats/residencies and to bring performance arts to the valley.

A huge thank you to everyone who participated in our meetings.  We are developing our 2015 strategy and with your continued interest we will take what steps we can to support arts and heritage activities in the Sky Valley.  We do not have our next meeting set but we will publish updates and related activities on this site and each month we attend/update the Sky Valley Chamber meeting on the 1st Wednesday of the month.