PORT ANGELES — The Port Angeles Fine Arts Center has had to do belt-tightening over the past year, but thanks to community support it is staying afloat, its biggest supporters were told.
“The center is alive and well and continues to grow,” Jean Heessels-Petit, outgoing Friends of the Fine Arts Center president, told Friends members at their annual meeting Sunday.
The gathering was held at the Port Angeles Fine Arts Center, with the panoramic hilltop view of Port Angeles as a backdrop.
The fine arts center is the only arts entity on the North Olympic Peninsula that is owned by a city, from which it receives partial funding.
The property and house near Peninsula College were bequeathed to the city for use as an arts center by the owner, former Port Angeles Evening News owner Esther Webster, on her death.
The Evening News is a predecessor of the Peninsula Daily News.
Last year, the fine arts center received $27,500 from Port Angeles city government which was used to partially fund the salary of the director, Jake Seniuk, and support operations.
The total operating budget for 2010 is $182,168.
Cost-cutting efforts allowed the center at 1203 E. Lauridsen Blvd. to end the year in the black.
Port Angeles reduced its general fund contribution by half in 2009, from $55,000 in 2008, and for 2010 an additional 10 percent, to $24,750.
The cost-saving measures for 2010 meant the elimination of the development/marketing director position, which had been reduced to about half time.
Rob and Lex Sorensen had held the job jointly for three years.
The center is now down to a two-person staff — Seniuk and Education Director Barbara Slavik.
The Friends board oversees the operation of the center and hosts fundraising events throughout the year.
Five benefits were held in 2009: a rummage sale in May, the “Pedaling the Muse” bike ride in September, the “Cabinet of Wonders” auction in October, the Annual Gala in December and the “Art is a Gift” show and sale in December.
The benefits brought in a total of $52,000, with the “Cabinet of Wonders” netting $26,100 and the rummage sale earning $14,400.
“Our five major fundraisers all met or surpassed expectations given the shaky economic climate,” Seniuk said.
The center also receives funding from grants, donations, the Webster Trust and the Port Angeles Fine Arts Center Foundation.
“We’ve done better than many arts organizations in staying above the waterline,” Seniuk told the group.
He noted that a $50,000 donation at the end of 2008 from an anonymous “art angel” helped meet the year’s end bottom line.
The center also received a $20,000 two-year “audience development challenge grant” from the Benjamin N. Phillips Memorial Fund, which is to be distributed in two $10,000 installments in 2010 and 2011.
The grant stipulates that the money is only available if the center can match each award by 50 percent with money from entirely new sources.
While the financial situation was rocky in 2009, Seniuk said there were many successes to celebrate as well.
The year saw the completion of “Watershed Notes,” a bronze fountain in the central courtyard, which was a gift from Jane Floyd in memory of her late husband, Ron Floyd.
Jane Floyd also died in 2009, just a few months after her husband.
Other highlights include the “Envision Cascadia” exhibit, which ran from July through November; “Portfolio SSRq09,” with works by local art students; and “Strait Art,” with work by a wide variety of local artists.
The current show at the arts center is “A Marriage of Bronze and Water,” featuring works by Duncan and Peach McKiernan. It runs through March 7.
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Features Editor Marcie Miller can be reached at 360-417-3550 or at marcie.miller@peninsuladailynews.com.
For more information on the Port Angeles Fine Arts Center and the Friends group, visit www.pafac.org.