Council Gives Art a Broad-Brush Approach
Published Nov 20, 2008
The Arts Council of Brazos Valley’s dozens of partners and agencies keep the arts before the public.
With hundreds of programs, 57 affiliated agencies in seven counties and its own gallery and permanent collection, the Arts Council of Brazos Valley is the go-to source for all things arts-related.
Founded in 1970, the council’s influence stretches across Research Valley. At its hub is a 5,000-square-foot complex in College Station, which houses the 1,700-square-foot Texas Gallery. Operated by the council and the Brazos Valley Art League, the gallery hosts up to 16 exhibits each year.
In the community, the council’s dozens of partners and agencies keep the arts before the public with programs such as Community-Gallery-at-Large, a rotation of local and regional art, and the Public Art Collection, 26 sculptures dotted throughout Bryan and College Station.
The Arts Business Consortium Program allows companies to buy into the arts community through annual investment and employee-giving campaigns.
“We provide either programs or support services [to the arts] in basically three areas – funding support, marketing advocacy and outreach, and programs we produce ourselves,” says Padraic L. Fisher, the council’s executive director.
Funding programs encompass public and private dollars, while marketing efforts cover everything from brochures and newsletters to its Web site, and television and radio spots.
“We are good for the quality of life, in that we support education and other economic divers, but we are residents and taxpayers, too,” he says. “In addition to our 57 affiliates in seven counties, there are hundreds of arts and cultural agencies not affiliated with us.”
A major program is Reflections of a Special Olympics Athlete, a community-wide exhibition of works by the athletes of their experiences. Following a two-week run at the gallery, the exhibition went into the community and the council produced a full-color catalog.
Though offering more than 250 programs, the organization is always cycling in new activities and evaluating existing programs so that it stays fresh and relevant. “We have to be fluid, like anything else,” Fisher says.
Council staff conducted a straw poll of local arts-related agencies recently, seeking information on their number of employees, how many patrons they had a year, how many people took part in their programs and how much the average person spent with them.
“Our loose tabulation showed that there are more than 1 million people participating in arts programs in the valley and spending around $20 million,” Fisher notes. “We hope to do a real economic-impact study [in 2009] so we can see what that’s all about.”
Story by Joe Morris
Photo by Staff
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