Challenges are transforming the Floyd Center for the Arts. In 2023, for the first time in five years, we finally had Executive Director stability, Keela Dooley Marshall…and it shows! The board of directors has shifted as well, and we’ve welcomed nine new members. As the year began, our leaders identified the challenges before us and sought to take advantage of the opportunities they present.

 

Our image in the community was limiting appeal. We have asked the question, “Why does the Floyd Center for the Arts matter? What community needs are we uniquely positioned to address?” Floyd offers a wealth of opportunities to see and experience artistic excellence. As we look to the future, the Art Center is focusing on our unique strengths: our spacious facility, specialized studios, small but professional staff, and 7-acre outdoor festival site.

 

Our old dairy barn is showing its age. We have sought grant funding for much-needed improvements, including the renovation of Fallon Community Hall (Roanoke Women’s Foundation) and the pending installation of security and alarm systems (Vest Fund). Mitigation and repair of the lower level of the building due to fire in April should, hopefully, be complete by year-end.

 

Financial sustainability was our Board’s #1 goal for the year. Last year, we exhausted the last of government Covid support (PPP). We went into 2023 with a budget that anticipated a deficit by year-end. We tightened our belt, restructured staff, and set ambitious targets to increase revenue from earned income sources (classes, sponsorships, facility rental, gift shop sales, and fundraising events). There is good news: Thanks to hard work, and admittedly some pain, we are on target to wipe out the budget deficit if we reach our goal of $45,000 in donations now through the end of the year.

​

The Floyd Center for the Arts is meeting challenges head-on, using them as opportunities for transformation that will result in a Center that is more inclusive and accessible, more relevant, and more sustainable now and into the future. In spite of significant challenges, we have accomplished much this year. Please take a moment to review the enclosed 2023 Highlights Report and be inspired.

 

Among our accomplishments, we are particularly proud of our first Floyd Living Traditions Festival. The festival was hugely successful in inviting all aspects of the community to come together as neighbors who share a common love for our community and its rich artistic heritage. The festival, sponsored by the Floyd Center for the Arts in partnership with the Handmade Music School and other leading arts organizations (Old Church Gallery, Floyd Historical Society, and the June Bug Center) was the largest event in our history with 1500 people attending. Attendance suggests a 2:1 ratio of people visiting the Art Center for the first time. The fact that the focus was kept very local – our accomplished neighbors were the practitioners, artists, demonstrators, and performers – elicited a sense of community pride and a renewed energy for what the Floyd Center for the Arts brings to our community today and promises for tomorrow.

 

The Floyd Center for the Arts is changing and growing to become even more relevant to our community and “open our barn doors wide” to be a gathering place for Floyd’s creative culture to thrive. But we need your support to do it, stay on solid financial footing, and be ready to step up to meet the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. In many ways, the past year has been daunting, but it has also provided opportunities for transformation. Today, we are asking you to show your support for the Floyd Center for the Arts renewed energy and direction by giving any amount possible to help us meet our $45,000 goal and finish the year “in the black.”

​

Sincerely,

Kerry Ackerson