Director's Note: A Vision for the Future

July marks the beginning of a new fiscal year, as well as a new program year for Piedmont Arts. It is a time for reflection on the past 12 months, but more importantly, a time to look ahead to the future. Over the past year, Piedmont Arts Board of Directors and staff have been engaged in strategic planning and will continue this process in 2015-2016.

French writer and poet Antoine de Saint-Exupery wrote, “If you want to build a boat, do not instruct the men to saw wood, stitch the sails, prepare the tools and organize the work, but make them long for setting sail and travel to distant lands.”

To me, this means we must have a clear vision of where we want to be and who we are to the Martinsville-Henry County community. As the community changes, so must Piedmont Arts change. To that end, the Board and staff have a new vision and mission statement, and will be focusing on creating strategies to achieve three major goals for the long-term viability of the organization.

Our vision is to ignite a passion for the arts. How do we do this? Through our mission which is to inspire and engage the diverse Martinsville-Henry County community and surrounding areas through visual arts, performing arts and arts education.

The Board of Directors and staff feel that to achieve our mission, we must focus on: 

• increasing community engagement and ownership through targeted outreach efforts and programming;
• achieving and maintaining financial stability and ensuring sustainability of quality programming;
• and expanding and aligning educational outreach through collaboration with key partners in our community.

Over the coming months, the Board and staff will be developing strategies around these three main goals. We will be looking for the community’s input as well. We know that to be a vibrant and relevant arts museum, we must find ways to bring programs and exhibits that inspire and engage our diverse community, while dealing with limited resources.

Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn.” In the coming weeks and months, we hope to plant the seeds that will lead to a brighter future for Piedmont Arts as we hone in on the strategies that will lead to greater success for the organization. We look forward to working with you, the community, on this process.

Director's Note is a monthly blog by Piedmont Arts Executive Director Kathy Rogers, examining the impact of the arts in our community. 

Contact Kathy at kathyrogers@piedmontarts.org.