The Montgomery County Arts and Cultural District has reached a 35-year milestone in the preservation and growth of the arts in the region. Diane Farrell serves as board chair for the district, and we spoke to her about that mission and how they plan to carry it forward.
This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Jerry Kenney: OK, can you tell me a little bit about your history with the organization?
Diane Farrell: Sure. So I've been with the board about five years now. I was appointed to the board by the Montgomery County commissioners, as all board members are. We serve three-year terms and at this point there is no term limit. So we're very fortunate that we have a lot of institutional history with some of our board members. In particular, one board member is serving her sixth term. So she's been with us 18 years, and that's been fantastic to carry continuity through what we're doing. That's been especially significant in the last two years as we've undergone a new strategic plan. Having her voice as a former director of arts organizations in town but also being able to bring in the voice of new board members. We are a 15-person board. Everybody's all volunteers, and so we've just had this nice balance of folks with new ideas and new perspectives to be able to carry on sort of that institutional longevity and understanding of the greater community at large.
Kenney: Speaking of that longevity, it has been 35 years officially at the end of May, around the 22nd, I think you marked that anniversary. Can you tell us a little bit about the organization's history and has its mission changed much over the years?
Farrell: Actually our mission has stayed steady over the last 35 years, and I think that means that we're withstanding the test of time. Our mission is to make sure that we preserve and celebrate the arts and cultural heritage of our county, for not only the residents who live in this community but also for the arts and culture organizations that help bring their missions and visions to life for the community to enjoy. So we take our work very seriously, we're fortunate that the Board of County Commissioners each year gives us a pot of money to work with, and then we make sure that we are good stewards of those funds that are given to us. So you may ask next, what are those funds used for? The largest percentage of the funds are used to support arts organizations in Montgomery County that serve Montgomery County audiences. And we provide a very significant type of funding, and that is general operating support. Anyone who has ever worked for a nonprofit knows that's kind of the gold standard of funding, is to get what we call GOS — general operating support. And the reason that's important is because it helps us make sure that the arts organizations, quite frankly, can keep the lights on. It pays for their leases, their rehearsal space.
It pays the high quality individuals who they need to hire to work for these organizations. And we know because arts and culture is so important to the residents of Montgomery County, that in order for our arts and cultural institutions to remain competitive, we have to be able to pay their employees competitive salaries. So this GOS support is really important. Each year we fund somewhere between 12 and 15 organizations with general operating support and that can range anywhere from about $20,000 a year up to over $100,000 a year. We base that funding amount on a formulary that we that we obsess over reviewing every year to make sure that the formulary is equitable and fair and accurately represents what the board's goals are for the year. So that formula currently is based on your operating expenses. So the higher of operating expenses than the higher amount of funding we provide through that general operating support to offset those expenses.
But we also provide funding in several other ways that are very exciting in this community. Working in partnership with Culture Works we have special project grants, and those are grants that can go for special opportunities for organizations that don't get our general operating supports and that can be up to $10,000. So that's more project based. We have something exciting going on this year, or something special, to commemorate an organizational anniversary or a collaboration that we're doing with another arts organization. So Culture Works helps us not only run the panel to review the applications for those, but also to help prepare those organizations to put forth the best application to make them the most competitive. And in addition to those special opportunity grants, we also have artist opportunity grants. And these are some of my favorites because these go directly to the artists who are doing that end work. So this can be the painter or the sculptor or the arts educator that wants to run a special program. And this awards up to $5,000 directly to an artist to be able to help them hone their craft. And we fully believe as board members that the stronger our individual artists are, the stronger our special projects will be, and the stronger our larger arts institutions will be in this community.
Also, happily, about two years ago, we added a fourth grant opportunity. And these are our mini grants, and these are grants that just go out directly to the community. If you're hosting a block party or a festival or an event just within your community, and it may just be a small group of folks that are getting together because they want to celebrate the unique heritage of the area that they live in or highlight a unique up and coming artist that's just coming out of the neighborhoods. And so these grants are up to $1,000. They have a very quick turnaround. The requirements to be able to apply for it are really basically minimal. And we can award up to 15 of those little mini grants each year, which is really exciting. So that's what we do.
Kenney: For the special grants, I imagine that could be a challenge when you've got so many creative people trying to create art and support other artists in the community. What do you look for in those special grant requests and also for the organizations where you support general operating expenses? I imagine you're looking for organizations that have their I's dotted, their T's crossed, like you're looking for stable organizations that that can provide a little bit of their own even though you're willing to help with that?
Farrell: So Jerry, maybe let's go back and start with our general operating support and what we're looking for there. 100%, there is a grant application that is required to be filled out. And there is a panel that reviews those applications. And while we don't drill down on financial statements or 990s, we do want to make sure that those organizations are financially stable and fiscally responsible because obviously we are ultimately charged with being good stewards of the taxpayers' funding. So we want to make sure as we redistribute this funding that, in fact, the arts organizations are stable and are going to be around, and that is why we do have a requirement that these arts have to have been around for several years before they're even allowed to apply for these grants. They have to demonstrate that they have a committed and engaged board of trustees. They have to show that those trustees are reviewing financials regularly at their regular scheduled meetings.
And we also really look at the resume and the qualifications of the paid staff. We want to know that the executive director has the training and the expertise necessary to run the organization. And that the staff that is there, not just the artistic staff, but the administrative staff — who's managing the fundraising efforts, who's managing the finances, who is overseeing all the marketing and public relations efforts. So those are all questions that are asked in the application process and are reviewed through this independent panel. From there, each arts organization is given a score. And they must meet a minimum threshold of a score before they qualify for funding.
I will tell you that fortunately, in the last couple of years, every arts organization has met the minimum threshold for funding. But in years past, there have been times when the panel that was reviewing those applications may have thought, 'Hey, we're not sure they quite have their finances in order,' or 'Hey, we're not sure that they've got quite the right board leadership in place to sustain them through some twists and turns or bumps along the way.' So their minimum score may fall below the threshold, and they may not be able to apply for funding. Now, in terms of our special project grants and our artist opportunity grants, kind of the same thresholds are placed. We have questions that must be asked, the independent panel for each of those reviews, not just on the artistic merit of the project. But in fact, do they have the right team in place to be able to execute the project? And do they had the right funding in place? Because as you can imagine, with a maximum of $10,000 coming as a grant award for a special projects grant, most often that's not going to cover the full cost to complete that special project. And so we want to make sure that the funding is in place for them to complete that project with or without our funding. We're happy to be the organization that takes them over the tipping point to get it done, but we don't fund in full.
Kenney: Final question. I know you're if your funding comes through the county, are you worried about funding going forward, and whether you are worried about that or not, are there any other challenges you see for your organization in five to 10 years?
Farrell: I'm sure this sounds like a broken record to every arts organization that you ever talked to. But of course, we're always worried about our funding. We are, however, very fortunate that our three county commissioners now and the county commissions in the past, have always valued arts and culture and valued our work to preserve that arts, culture and heritage within Montgomery County. So we obviously always want to demonstrate to the Board of County Commissioners that we are being good stewards of the funds that they're giving us to re-grant for these four purposes. We want to make sure that we're fully integrating with the county in what their larger strategic goals are for the broader community. But we also know that the Board of County Commissioners recognizes that arts and culture contribute to the vibrancy of a community, and a vibrant and thriving community is ultimately what our county commissioners are striving to achieve. What we will see in the coming years is that the Montgomery County Arts and Culture District will be working directly with our local arts and cultural organizations in town. Because we do know that if we want to continue to grow as an arts and cultural community that we are going to have to seek additional sustainable sources of funding. And so we'll be working collaboratively over the next three to five years to maybe look at a new long range cultural plan to guide the broader community through some of these new funding challenges that everybody's facing.
Kenney: I guess here's the final question, then. It's not really a question, a statement that you can elaborate on. That support for the arts not only comes from the top down, but you've got a lot of residents in Montgomery County and the Miami Valley in general, who are very enthusiastic about the arts and cultural scene here in Dayton. Any comments about the patrons?
Farrell: Well, we know that Montgomery County and the local and regional arts scene is really an economic driver and an economic catalyst for this community. And you're absolutely right, Jerry. It's not just top-down funding, but it really is folks sitting right where they're at supporting and valuing arts and culture. And that shows in everything that folks do, from not just donating to the arts and cultural organizations as individual donors, but because they purchase tickets and they go and they attend and they support the events. We are so fortunate as a community to have the quality and variety and diversity of arts and culture, not just artists, but arts organizations. And so that is why it is important that we keep arts and culture wrapped around everything that we want to do as a community — not just from getting folks to relocate here, but making sure that we retain the talent that lives in this community. And that we also recognize what our residents want from arts and culture — that does change over time and that is very important to us at the Arts and Culture District, that as things change and as the way our community wants to consume arts and culture changes, that we're making sure that we are evolving with them to provide that in a way that feels good and comfortable for the residents of this region.
