WS Chronicle

The Arts Council of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County completed its 2018 Community Fund for the Arts campaign on September 30, topping its $2.5 million goal. “This is wonderful news,” said Randy Eaddy, Arts Council President and CEO, “and a testimony to the generosity of this community’s residents and our collective strong belief that the arts and culture are vital parts of life in our community.”

Eaddy said that meeting its goal means that The Arts Council can sustain its present level of grantmaking for organizational support and focus intensely on some immediate capital needs.

“Our celebration is short-lived, however, because we cannot be complacent going forward,” he added.  “We must continue building the infrastructure of support that our diverse arts organizations require to fulfill their respective missions, as we seek to touch every corner of the community.”

“Each campaign is a challenge. That’s the nature of things,” said Arts Council Board Chair, Rick Moss, “so enthusiastic, effective leadership from long-time arts advocates, like our 2018 campaign co-chairs Cheryl Lindsay and Bill Benton, makes all the difference.  We thank them along with the hundreds of individual contributors who made this success, some of whom stepped up quietly to make exceptionally impactful contributions in the final days of the campaign.”

In recent years, The Arts Council has pursued ways, in addition to its traditional grantmaking, to provide financial and other important support to individual artists as well as emerging organizations.  Eaddy said The Arts Council will continue to explore collaborative arrangements among arts organizations to obtain certain administrative and other back-office support more efficiently and cost-effectively. It already sponsors an annual award that recognizes collaborations between arts organizations.

Eaddy took the reins of The Arts Council on Aug. 1, just two months before the end of the 2018 Community Fund for the Arts campaign. “I came in at the most stressful time of The Arts Council year, when it was making its final, concerted efforts to meet the 2018 campaign goal. While I had been a board member for almost eight years, it was an entirely different experience being on the front line with the development staff for the final stage of a campaign.  I will be looking for ways to ‘front-load’ future campaigns, such as earlier pledge drives and approaches to corporate and institutional givers.” 

Winston-Salem, known as a City of Arts and Innovation, and Forsyth County have a robust arts community that enriches the lives of area residents every day and accounts in large part for the recognition they continue to receive as a great place to live, learn, work and play.  Most recent studies available showed that Forsyth County’s non-profit arts industry supports 5,559 full time equivalent jobs; accounts for more than $129 million in resident household income, and generates more than $14.8 million in local and state tax revenues.