NCW Arts Alliance making big strides to enhance, support local arts efforts
The North Central Washington Arts Alliance is making a positive impact in the region and building a sustainable foundation for long-term success. In just two years of existence, the alliance has developed creative ways to promote the arts, encourage and support local artists and build meaningful connections between local businesses and artists.
Most fledgling nonprofits struggle to build a strong foundation. While NCW Arts is still a work in progress, the membership program they just launched for individuals and businesses should help their financial sustainability.
Recently, NCW Arts past president Scott Bailey and board member Jamie Howell visited with me and my mother Kathleen, who co-founded the Woods Family Music and Arts Fund, to discuss the organization’s impact and vision. Mom, a life-long arts enthusiast, has been a financial supporter of NCW Arts.
Bailey has built a highly effective program at Wenatchee Valley College’s Music and Arts Center. Together with the rest of the founding NCW Arts board members, Bailey recognized that our region had great artists but lacked an organization that could serve as a central hub of information about arts events, artists and the community.
NCW Arts has built a robust online presence, ncwarts.org, which features a directory of more than 100 local artists and their work, an events calendar to help artists cut down on duplication of events and help the community stay abreast of what’s happening in the local arts scene. There is also an opportunities section where artists can keep track of things like auditions and grant opportunities and an online version of ArtBeat, the monthly print publication produced by Mike Irwin, Susan Lagsdin and Ron Evans.
A monthly electronic newsletter, ArtBytes, keeps community members up-to-date and is available in both Spanish and English.
Here’s a recent example of how NCW Arts Alliance has made an impact. When Zebra Brasserie opened on Wenatchee Avenue recently, the owners wanted to incorporate local art and reached out to the alliance. They contacted Bailey, who showed them the robust alliance artist index on the website. The owners ultimately chose to feature the work of local artist Lindsay Breidenthal for their first exhibition in the space.
Without an effective local arts organization, opportunities like this would likely be missed.
The First Fridays Art Walk is a great example of the collaboration that exists between NCW Arts Alliance and the business community, through the Wenatchee Downtown Association and Visit Wenatchee, an arm of the Wenatchee Valley Chamber of Commerce.
First Fridays Art Walk was developed and managed by some local artists as a volunteer effort but the effort fizzled out during Covid. The arts alliance stepped in and resurrected the event and it is bringing people downtown and into businesses on the first Friday of each month to engage with art, artists and fellow community members.
“This is a very creative area and there are lots of artists,” said Bailey. The niche that NCW Arts is filling is that of a convening and promoting organization.
Bailey and Howell said an essential part of the success of the organization can be attributed to a grant NCW Arts received from the Nonprofit Practices Institute, a collaboration of the Icicle Fund and the Community Foundation of North Central Washington. That grant paid for a consultant to work with the board and come up with a strategic plan and action steps to build a sustainable foundation for NCW Arts.
The board and part-time executive director Megan Kappler have been successfully executing that plan. Their membership drive is the next logical step in building a stronger financial foundation that they hope will ultimately lead to a paid, full-time executive director.
They’ve also got new leadership, with Marissa Collins of Wellness Place taking Bailey’s spot as board president.
You can become a member and sign up for the electronic newsletter at ncwarts.org. The organization is making a positive difference in the valley for artists, businesses and the community as a whole. NCW Arts is worthy of our admiration and support.
