The GAC at-a-glance

Unlike many arts centers that only use audience counts to demonstrate their success, the Gunnison Arts Center also emphasizes participation. With the slogan of Imagine!, the vision for the GAC is that every member of the community should visit the Center to experience hands-on-art-making, as well as to enjoy performances and exhibits. The following 2009 accomplishments indicate that participation is very strong, especially given that the population for the community is only 7,500 people:

The Galleries
• Impacted over 5000 visitors
• Provided exhibition space for over 50 artists contributing to their livelihood

Arts Education
• Provided 39 clay/ceramic classes filled with people ages 5-65
• Added 4 new after-school programs that included theater, art exploration, and life drawing
• Provide a “safe haven” for students
• Added new music classes in the Winter 2009/Spring 2010 schedule

Benefits to the Community
• Partnered with downtown businesses for Gallery Crawls
• Partnered with other non-profits and K-16 schools for a variety of events and community outreach projects
• Provided jobs for over 80 people to include salaried staff, contract labor teachers, artists, construction laborers and professional service contracts
• Sold more tickets to the Annual Gala event than ever before which is indicative of the interests of this community to have an Arts Center in their community

Financial Accomplishments
• Secured $10,000 from the CCA ARRA funds for staff wages
• Secured $21,268 from the City of Gunnison to support success in 2010
• Secured $2500 from Gunnison County to use for capital expenditures on the historic building