Sharon Arts Annual Meeting Celebration Highlights

Peterborough, NH:// Sharon Arts Center’s Annual Meeting Celebration “Home is Where the Art is” on Tuesday, October 26 th , marked the 63 rd successful year in the nonprofit’s history serving the Monadnock Region. The downtown exhibition gallery was filled to capacity with 100+ families, artists, community members, and many volunteers- all present to hear a report of this past year’s accomplishments, plans for next year, as well as news of changes to the Center’s Board of Trustees. Attendees enjoyed hands-on artist demonstrations from the Center’s faculty and participated in a community mosaic mural facilitated by Dublin, NH artist Heather Stockwell.

A brief presentation by Executive Director Bob Pettegrew highlighted recent accomplishments displaying a new level of transparency into Sharon Arts Center’s operations during the 2009-10 fiscal year.

• Findings from focus groups targeting eleven different audiences provided the center with highly valuable feedback about perceptions of the Center from over 120 individuals within and beyond the Community. “This information was critical to our board and staff,” explained Pettegrew , “We needed to hear what folks enjoyed about Sharon Arts, but even more importantly , areas where people felt Sharon Arts needed to change.”
• Information from focus groups was distilled and put into one-year Action Plans for all of the branches of SAC.
• Special emphasis on community outreach featuring partnerships with nearly twenty-five local and regional nonprofits – allowing the Center to extend its reach into the community connecting to new audiences: on-site programs at RiverMead, Youth/Teen mural collaborations with Crotched Mountain and Monadnock Community Hospital, as well as recent exhibition partners The New Hampshire Association for the Blind.
• 125 active volunteers logged over 1,500 hours of service to Sharon Arts in the past year!
• In August 2010 the Center purchased the downtown Depot Square location (previously rented)- securing the Center’s place in the heart of the Monadnock Region.

SAC’s Dir. Of Community Outreach and Communications, Melanie McDonald, presented an overview of the Center’s plans for 2011 .

• Emphasis on local art and artists : teaching, exhibiting, selling work through Sharon Arts.
• Space previously devoted to retailing art supplies at the Craft Shop will be reclaimed as display space for local artists and live artist demos- a stronger connection to our mission
• Approaching the holiday shopping season- more affordable items in our Craft Shop (*more items $35 or less)
• Reaching out to the business community for partnership, in-kind donations, exhibition/program sponsorship, and financial support
• Embarking on a comprehensive campaign to re-brand the organization led by a volunteer marketing committee. The plan will be complete with a new logo, and a tag-line that more accurately reflects the vibrant nature of our arts community.
• “The future to Sharon Arts is bright,” said McDonald at the conclusion of her presentation. “We continue to listen to our constituents. As a small, creative organization we are able to be responsive to the needs of our community.”

A brief business meeting also took place, during which two new board members were elected as well as a new slate of officers indicating a change in board leadership for the organization. The Board officially nominated and elected Laura Redmond and Barbara Pelkey, both of Jaffrey, NH to join the Sharon Arts Board. Long-time Board President George B. Foote, Jr. of Dublin, NH stepped down from his post and announced that he will remain an active board member. The following slate of officers was also elected: Carolyn C. Howard (of Jaffrey, NH)- Chair, Stephen Gehlbach (of Jaffrey, NH)- Vice Chair, Debra Strickland (of Peterborough, NH)-Treasurer, and L. Phillips Runyon, III (of Peterborough, NH)- Secretary. [separate press release to follow highlighting board changes in depth]

Further information is available by calling 603-924-7256 or via email at Melanie@sharonarts.org .

*    *    *

About Sharon Arts

The mission of Sharon Arts Center, a non-profit organization, is to engage the community in the artistic process, to support and serve artists and craftspeople, and to foster the relationship between artists and the community through education, exhibitions, the promotion and sale of art and craft, as well as through special programs and events.

Sharon Arts Center offers a wide variety of art classes and programs in the school facility in Sharon, NH, a Fine Craft Gallery, a Juried Artist Member Gallery, and an Exhibition Gallery in the Depot Square facility.

Sharon Arts is sponsored in part by the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts, the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, The Susan A. and Donald P. Babson Charitable Foundation, and the Grimshaw-Gudewicz Charitable Foundation.