Alice Parman, Ph.D.
Grant-Writing
Client: Downtown Initiative for the Visual Arts, Eugene, Oregon
Proposal to Oregon Community Foundation for matching grant to hire DIVA’s first manager. Funded at $12,500.
Review grant proposal:
Read below or download proposal in pdf format (3 pages).
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
DIVA: a catalyst for visual arts activities in downtown Eugene
Maude Kerns Art Center requests $12,500 from the Oregon Community Foundation to facilitate securing a professional administrator for the Downtown Initiative for the Visual Arts (DIVA). This important first hire (on a 1-year renewable contract) will enable DIVA to marshal volunteer energies and forge strategic partnerships that will help this groundbreaking program fulfill its mission: to be a catalyst for the visual arts in downtown Eugene. DIVA’s all-volunteer steering committee, made up of arts advocates, artists, and opinion leaders from diverse community sectors, is committed to raising matching funds from new donors to equal or exceed the OCF grant.
A contribution to build DIVA’s organizational capacity is an investment in the visual arts as a catalyst for energizing a once-vital downtown. Abandoned by retailers and other key stakeholders in the 1960s, downtown Eugene is still viewed by many citizens as the city’s heart and soul. Downtown belongs to everyone—a spirit that’s in evidence annually during the Eugene Celebration, and daily at the hugely successful new public library. Located just a block from the Eugene Public Library, DIVA has the potential to attract a similarly diverse, multi-generational and multi-ethnic audience that could easily number in the thousands. DIVA’s long-term vision is to create a permanent multi-use arts facility in a strategically selected downtown location; an important feature would be a permanent collection of regional art.
DIVA’s mission and goals advance three of Oregon Community Foundation’s funding objectives:
- DIVA’s lively exhibitions--many of them based on collaborations with partner organizations--contribute to the critical mass of cultural opportunities offered to area residents and visitors, and showcase the talents of our region’s emerging and established artists.
- DIVA’s programs enhance the educational experience of Oregonians through a dual focus: lectures, classes, film showings and the like foster understanding and appreciation of art among all citizens; targeted workshops strengthen emerging artists’ business and marketing skills.
- DIVA also aims to improve Oregon’s livability through multifaceted efforts to revitalize downtown Eugene as a center for memorable and rewarding cultural experiences.
DIVA is a grassroots organization created and run by people who care about culture and the arts, including business owners, independent professionals, collectors, artists, and community volunteers. DIVA continues to be nurtured and supported by one of Eugene’s most venerable and beloved arts institutions, Maude Kerns Art Center, whose board and staff see an opportunity and a need to have a presence downtown.
In an unprecedented concentration of energy and generosity, DIVA took shape in less than a year. The organization grew from an idea to a beautiful, centrally located facility that opened to universal acclaim and excitement in November 2003. This remarkable startup was planned and implemented by volunteers, ably assisted by a part-time consultant who manages exhibitions and artist liaison.
Volunteer fundraising capacity remains strong; but now that the doors are open, the organization’s capacity needs to be developed to keep pace with volunteer enthusiasm. Recognizing this need, DIVA’s steering committee sought and obtained support from local philanthropists to retain organizational consultant Alice Parman in early 2004. She is helping DIVA clarify its mission and goals, create a short-term action plan, and develop a formal business plan.
Strategic planning, clear definition of staff and volunteer roles, and a sustainable balance of private fundraising and earned revenue are among the tasks at hand when an Administrative Coordinator comes on board. These vitally important organizational milestones will enable DIVA to establish lasting partnerships and strategic alliances with like-minded institutions. Together, we will develop a revitalized downtown experience for Lane County residents and guests, to which our region’s visual artists will make a significant and highly visible contribution.
QUALIFICATIONS: Why DIVA?
DIVA grew out of concerns expressed by Eugene Mayor Jim Torrey to arts advocates Alex Brokaw, Laurel Fisher, Carolyn Kranzler, and Randy Stender. Their visionary leadership, along with the participation of noted visual artists from the region, and the enthusiasm and foresight of other citizens, took DIVA from concept to reality in an amazingly short time. DIVA’s first organizational partner was the Maude Kerns Art Center, whose staff and board were searching for a downtown venue to take the place of their recently closed Temporarily Maude location.
The promise of DIVA matches the goals of ArtsPlan, issued in 1994, and the Eugene Downtown Plan, drafted in December 2003. Among the implementation strategies proposed in the new city plan: “Encourage and support a stable arts community downtown…. Research market potential and available incentives for major new cultural or recreational venues, such as a new art museum downtown.” Recognizing DIVA’s key role in cultural visioning, the plan describes this possible project: “Work with Downtown Initiative for the Visual Arts to find a suitable location for an art museum downtown.” DIVA’s congruence with downtown goals resulted in a significant startup donation from Downtown Eugene Inc.
DIVA’s steering committee is headed by two longtime arts advocates and “super volunteers”. Chair Randy Stender, first vice president of investments with Merrill Lynch, has a long track record of arts support, as past board president of Lane Arts Council and Eugene Arts Foundation, and current board member of the Arts Foundation of Western Oregon. Vice Chair Carolyn Kranzler AIA, an architect in private practice, is president of Eugene City Club, and a tireless advocate for both downtown renewal and community access to culture and the arts.
Their joint experience and network of contacts have enabled DIVA to build a dedicated and multi-talented steering committee that includes Alex Brokaw, business owner, and founder and longtime steering committee member of the Jacobs Gallery; Mary Unruh, management consultant and community activist; Tenold Peterson and Jerry Ross, leading visual artists; Hallis, certified public accountant, business owner, and arts advocate; Karen Pavelec, Executive Director, Maude Kerns Art Center; and Colleen Thomas, community volunteer and board member, Maude Kerns Art Center. Dena E. Brown, Director of Eugene’s Gallery at the Airport, is DIVA’s consultant for exhibits and artistic liaison. Carolezoom Patterson, artist and community organizer, consults with DIVA on programmatic and access issues.
The missing piece is a professional administrator who will manage DIVA’s organizational affairs, coordinating the work of the Steering Committee and other volunteers, facilitating the development and implementation of a strategic plan, publicizing DIVA’s exhibits and programs, and representing DIVA to potential partner organizations. The administrative coordinator will ensure that DIVA’s efforts are unified, efficient, and effective. S/he will relate peer-to-peer with other professionals, paving the way for board-to-board dialogue that will build lasting partnerships based on a shared commitment to the visual arts as a catalyst for downtown renewal.
DIVA cannot succeed without partners. Collaboration is built into our mission. In order to forge successful alliances, DIVA will proceed deliberately and methodically to develop mutually beneficial programs and initiatives that include a variety of nonprofit organizations, for-profit businesses, governmental agencies, and interested individuals. A single thread will run through all of these initiatives and alliances: each will help to foster a wide variety of visual arts activities that contribute to a tangible, visible, revitalization (or as Steering Committee member Jerry Ross has termed it, a Renaissance) in downtown Eugene.
OUTCOMES AND ACCOUNTABILITY
Hiring an Administrative Coordinator will enable DIVA to operate more effectively and efficiently. Anticipated outcomes within one year after this hire include:
- Completion and adoption of a strategic plan for the next 3 to 5 years
- Fiscal stabilization, including diversified revenue streams, an enlarged base of individual donors, increased support from foundations, and more business sponsors for exhibits and programs
- Stabilization of DIVA’s volunteer program through improved coordination and supervision
- An increase in the number of days and hours when DIVA is open to the public
- Development of several mutually beneficial and lasting partnerships with like-minded organizations
- Successful fundraising efforts to match the OCF startup grant, and to support renewal of the Administrative Coordinator’s contract for the coming year.
Each of these outcomes is measurable. DIVA’s progress in meeting these objectives will be reported to the Oregon Community Foundation on an informal basis throughout the grant period, and formally at the end of the year.
In addition, DIVA steering committee members will assist the Administrative Coordinator in monitoring DIVA’s progress toward becoming a catalyst for visual arts activities in downtown Eugene. Posters and news releases, press and media clips, pages from a comment book, letters and e-mails from stakeholders and strangers, photographs of exhibits and programs, and documentation of partnerships will be systematically compiled into a scrapbook. This scrapbook will be on view at DIVA throughout the grant period, and will be presented to the Oregon Community Foundation as part of DIVA’s, and Maude Kerns Art Center’s, final report.
DIVA intends to keep monthly expenditures to the present modest level for at least the next 3 years. Through efficient use of volunteers and a lively, rewarding program that helps us retain both volunteers and steering committee members, we plan to operate with a minimum of paid staff. To support paid staff and operating expenses, fundraising efforts will focus on:
- Membership development through services to artists,
- Business and corporate support based on DIVA’s increasing value to downtown businesses, working professionals, and residents
- Contributions from individuals who recognize DIVA’s unique role in revitalizing downtown through collaborative visual arts activities
- Foundation support for capacity building and special initiatives.
A grant from the Oregon Community Foundation will not only be significant in itself, but will have additional meaning and value to potential donors, as a vote of confidence in DIVA’s mission, vision, and determination to bring them to fruition.