Dear Believers in the Arts,

As we have done for the past 33 years, The Arts Council of Southern Indiana is working to maintain our region's commitment to the arts, an investment that consistently displays itself in the national standards of our youth arts education programs.

Now, quite frankly, the brutal economic climate has made new approaches for survival mandatory. Unless we have a steady and dependable source of funding from donors like you The Arts Council of Southern Indiana must close its doors forever. We're calling on you to step forward to keep the organization, and the good that it does for the community, alive.

The Arts Council's board of directors has gone through a period of introspection to reinvent and expand the council's mission. We continue to believe the arts are an essential aspect of a civilized society, with far-reaching cultural implications that apply to business, science, governance, international relations, and quality of life.

And we continue to believe that a well-organized and properly-funded arts council can be a focal point for all arts activities in the area, making the arts more public and visible. The arts council can most equitably transform the community's funding capacity into high-value arts programs and activities that fill the funding gaps in public education and local arts activities.

The individual members of the Arts Council have recommitted themselves to the organization's mission. We hope you will join us to help sustain an organization that has made important contributions to the arts in our community for the past 33 years.

What can you do to support The Arts Council of Southern Indiana?

Become one of The Five-Hundred Sustainers by donating $100-$500 annually to fund administrative operations and programs. The "500" will be recognized on a new installation outside the historic Arts Council building. A newly renovated walkway, Pathway to the Future, will also be designed, coinciding with the 2013 Bicentennial celebration, to further recognize your generous contribution. Sustainers will also have their names inscribed on an Arts Angels plaque which will be displayed wherever the Arts Council is sponsoring an activity.

OR…

Become an Arts Angel by donating $1,000-$10,000 annually to fund specific programs. In addition to a new installation outside the Arts Council building, a new walkway, Pathway to the Future, and an Arts Angels plaque, Arts Angels programs will be named in honor of the donors, signaling to the community that you care about the survival of the arts.

What are the Arts Angels programs you could fund?

There's so much we could do to sustain Southern Indiana as a fountain for young artistic talent, and to elevate the arts to feed each soul that encounters it.

But we need your help.

Just as the board members of the Southern Indiana Arts Council have rededicated themselves to the organization's purposes and the goals, we need you to help sustain your viewpoint of the importance of the arts in the community. In this time of economic stress, we need you to signal to your fellow citizens that the bedrock values exemplified by a society's relationship to the arts cannot be abandoned.

I invite you to complete the enclosed donation card, and join with me in extending the artistic heritage of our region to another generation. Won't you help us to build a Pathway to the Future?

Sincerely yours,

Pat Harrison, President
The Arts Council Southern Indiana