Featured Fundraiser: Boston Center for the Arts
(Photo courtesy of Craig Bailey/Perspective Photo)
The Boston Center for the Arts (BCA) is a non-profit performance and visual arts organization that encourages and supports working artists to create, perform, and even provide space for them to exhibit their works. By connecting these artists and the beautiful work they are creating, they are forging a connection with the community in hopes to bring in new audiences for the arts. For more than 40 years now, the BCA has been a meeting point of the surrounding South End of Boston and the emerging artists that occupy the area.
Fundraise.com spoke with Angela from the BCA over email to find out more about how they got started and what keeps them going.
How did the BCA get its start?
In a time when a building a day was being torn down in the South End, arts supporters had a vision. They took that vision to an auction and acquired the existing Cyclorama, Artist Studios Building (once named the Tremont Estates Building) as well as a privately owned small theatre over Emerson College to create an arts center.
The vision was to create a home for artists and the community. Like the Latin Quarter of the 1890s, they saw a bohemian neighborhood with cultural and artistic diversity among the resident artists and community patrons.
Over 40 years later, the BCA is still a home for working artists to create, perform and exhibit.
What motivates you in your fundraising efforts?
Boston is thriving with innovative artists who need a place to exhibit their works and we strive to make that possible within our community. Being a part of an organization that sees innovation daily encourages us to seek funding to support local artists.
What is your favorite part of working with the BCA?
Our favorite part about working at the BCA is all the excitement that happens on campus. From dance workshops to visual art exhibitions to film competitions, we have it all in one location. Each year, more than 200,000 people visit the BCA. Located in Boston’s South End and occupying an historic city block bordered by Tremont Street, Clarendon Street, Warren Avenue and Berkeley Street, the BCA is a resource to Greater Boston providing a creative “home” for artists, a welcoming arts destination for audiences, and an art connection for individuals of all ages.
Who benefits from your fundraising efforts?
“The dance residency at the BCA allowed us time, space, consistency and support… some of the most important factors needed to create high quality art,” said Courtney Peix, a recent dance resident at the BCA. Her company, Contrapose Dance presented their recent piece groundwork at the BCA in February 2012. Our fundraising efforts support working artists like Courtney to create, perform and exhibit across our campus.
What advice do you have for aspiring fundraisers?
Fundraising is rooted in relationships. For aspiring fundraisers, it is important to build relationships with people within your community and with funders that have a vested interest in your core mission.
What goals are you trying to reach by fundraising?
The BCA’s mission is to support working artists in the creation, performance and exhibition of new works. Through fundraising, we hope to continue this support by providing a platform and community for working artists in Boston.
Do you have any additional notes or stories about your cause you would like to share?
You would be amazed at all that happens on the BCA campus in the South End. Behind many brick buildings emerging, established and seasoned artists are creating new works. From dance residency choreographers leading a troupe of local, regional and national dancers to a curator finding multi-disciplinary artists for an exhibition. The BCA is a campus filled with visual arts, performance and community!
For more about the Boston Center for the Arts please visit: Online Arts Fundraising
(Photo courtesy of Silvia Lopez Chavez, BCA Studio Artist)
