What's up with WindhamARTS?

Good question!

There will be much more to share after Wednesday's meeting (February 17th, 6pm, upstairs at WindhamARTS), but in the meantime, a couple of updates gathered by me, Amy Kalisher, your friendly neighborhood communications volunteer...

About our space on Main Street: Kim Radda (board Chair) and Nat Brown (most recent board Treasurer) met with representatives of WAIM and Horizon, another local nonprofit, this past Thursday, February 11th. Nat sent me a brief update from the road (he's been traveling this week), with promises to elaborate ASAP. Here is the nuts and bolts of our communication thus far:

NAT: The REALLY short version is that Horizons is interested in the space but needs to decide if it can make it work. WAIM has had the market rental assessed and would like to receive more rent because it needs to make repairs - such as fixing the heat in the downstairs galleries. Current artists should expect that they could stay, even if Horizon comes in. But there are nuances that my poor thumbs on my [Blackberry] can't sustain. Probably more questions raised than answers.

AMY: When you have time, the burning question for me is: how much is WAIM hoping to get for the entire space (or how much is Horizons offering, and for what parts?)

NAT: WAIM is starting at 800 for the first floor. The bigger issue is that Horizon - if it decides it likes the space - is able to rent the whole thing and make improvements too.

Programs and daily operations: As we transition to an organization run entirely by volunteers, we need to be very clear about obligations we have to fulfill regarding grants we've received and our intentions and abilities regarding sustaining our status as a state-designated Local Arts Agency. As things stand, this is important both in terms of fulfilling our mission as an organization and because the state helps supports us financially in doing so. On that front, here's a tidbit from an email from Kim Radda:

KIM: We are an LAA and have been funded as such through this year and, hopefully next as the grant we submitted was for 2-year funding. I am in touch with John Cusano, the LAA director at the Commission on Culture and Tourism, and someone who knows WAC well and is very supportive of us as an organization, and of the transitions/changes we are going through. I'll be meeting with him next week and will talk with him about expectations and responsibilities re: WAC, as we work through these next several months of planning, restructuring, reorganizing. He continues to offer to come to Willimantic and meet with our group. He has a tremendous amount of experience and a lot that he can offer.

As I see it, there's a lot of exciting work ahead of us. What happens next — priorities, vision, strategic planning — is entirely up to us. All of us. Come to the meetings, it would be great to see you there, and, speaking personally, I'd love to meet more people who are passionate, or even simply curious, about this process! Share your ideas, hopes, questions by clicking on "comments" below this post.