OCAC INVITES YOU TO COME TO THE GALA!
A BICENTENIAL CELEBRATION COMES BUT EVERY 200 YEARS!
The Gala Committee has been hard at work planning our biggest f
undraising event of the year Fine Art, Fine Food and Fine Living.
This incredible evening begins with a social hour and silent auction held in the Grand Ballroom. Wines by the glass will be available for purchase. “Dinner by the Bite” features foods from around the world. Attendees stroll to a variety of food stations with entertainment by Doug Hamilton and the Wildwater Band. Masters of ceremony for the program and live auction are entertainers Gary Scott and Dahlia Garcia. Oxford auctioneer, Doug Ross, will conduct the live auction. A sampling of auction items are: A week at a Silver Lake, Michigan cottage;
a week at a Florida condominium; two hotel packages, and much more. Visit http://oxarts.org for details.
The Raffle Drawing will top off the celebration with cheers for the lucky winners!
If you haven’t received your invitation with the easy ticket purchase form, you can pick one up at the Community Arts Center office or call 524-8606 to request one by mail.
The kick-off of the public segment of the Oxford Community Arts Center Phase II Renovation Campaign will be Friday, September 11th from 5:00 to 6:30 PM at the OCAC. Please plan to attend and learn about the success of the campaign thus far.
The public portion hopes to raise a minimum of $75,000 to help meet the goal of $550,000 by the end of 2009. Thanks to early lead gifts, Phase II renovations have already started.
Planning for Phase II Renovations follows priorities set by the Board’s Facilities and Restoration Committee, under the professional leadership of Norman Butt, and addresses the most critical building needs. These renovations consist of three groups of projects:
Weatherization items, east entry door improvements and sealing the elevator room floor - $10,000.
Storm drainage repair, a theatre egress addition, down spout & gutter repairs/replacements, northwest façade restoration test area, porch repair & improvements; kitchen improvements; first floor area development & corridor improvements and soffit, fascia, frieze, entablature & molding repair - $295,000.
First floor window replacement/reconstruction and first floor air conditioning - $245,000.
Improvements to the Art Center facility through 2008 included the addition of an elevator, handicapped accessible restrooms, a fire-suppressant sprinkler system and improvements to the heating, electrical and plumbing systems. There were also other substantial improvements especially in the grounds. The cost for these initial improvements was approximately $1,400,000.
The Board of Directors and Campaign Committee have unanimously supported the Phase II Campaign with gifts and pledges totaling $100,000 toward the $550,000 goal. Furthermore, a group of lead donors has already given or pledged approximately $125,000. A grant of $40,000 from The Greater Cincinnati Foundation and an appropriation of $15,000 by the City of Oxford have already been received. Other foundations and grants are being sought for additional funding with a goal of $75,000 to be raised during the public portion of the campaign.
Finally, we have a one-for-two matching grant of $174,000, allocated by a House appropriation in the State Legislature and administered through the Ohio Cultural Facilities Commission. To qualify to receive these funds, the Campaign must first reach a goal of $348,000. The Board clearly expects the Phase II campaign to meet this goal.
Please come to the Campaign Kick-off. Learn more about these exciting plans. Then attend the regular Second Fridays Open House. Visit artists’ open studios, the gallery opening and enjoy the company of friends.
Phase II Renovations Campaign Committee
A quiet, quirky, Quaker who quilts. That’s Bonita Porter — at first glance. But just as with the quilts she creates, Bonita is multilayered. Not one for gossip, she prefers to talk about projects and ideas. She’s comfortable with occupying “the middle places” and believes her
role is to bring opposite sides together. “I move into empty places and fill them as best as
I can.”
Growing up outside Cincinnati, she started playing with fabrics once she could see over
the family’s treadle sewing machine cabinet. Her mom, a math teacher, introduced her to
quilting. “I learned a lot of geometry learning how to quilt,” Bonita says.
Her dad, a physics major, taught her how to wire electricity, measure building materials,
and use a power drill. Every summer she worked with him renovating farmhouses her
mom had inherited.
“My parents were really into letting us make mistakes, and they’d make sure that we didn’t
cut anything off.”
With her knowledge of historic buildings, Bonita could see beyond the peeling paint and
buckling floor the first time she stood in the ballroom at the Oxford Community Arts Center
(OCAC). She eagerly volunteered.
Bonita doesn’t consider herself a fundraiser or an artist, but she can write, so she joined
OCAC’s board and took on OCAC’s grant writing and newsletter.
“Bonita’s grant-writing efforts have been a godsend to the Arts Center,” says Executive
Director Caroline Croswell. “She — sometimes single-handedly and other times with the
help of fellow fundraising committee chair Sarah Michael — has managed to parley her
skill into many thousands of dollars for the Center.”
Read more........
The Oxford Community Arts Center will host its second annual fund raiser, the Mad Hatter Gala on October 4, 2008 from 6:30 - 100 pm at the Center. Mark your calendars and plan to attend this event!. Tickets are $75 per person and may be purchased at the Center by calling 513-5248506, or by calling 523-3129, or by calling the Miami University Box Office at 513-529-3200 for credit card purchases. Hearty hors d’oeuvres, dessert, entertainment, and live and silent auctions are being coordinated by the Gala Committee for this fun-filled evening for our guests. Doug Ross will be the auctioneer and Silver Spoon Catering will cater the event.
Three spectacular raffle prizes will be awarded that evening during three drawings: a bright-red Honda scooter , Model Elite 80 with a $100 gift coupon toward a helmet from Ike’s Bikes in Richmond, IN; a framed artists proof signed by John Ruthven of Miami Indian I, and a unique bamboo fly rod made by local art professor Jim Killy along with an assortment of lessons, guided trips and other accessories. Raffle tickets sell for $100 each. They can be purchased from OCAC Board Members, Gala Committee Members, or by calling one of the numbers listed above. Watch for further information in the Press, on our website www.oxarts.org and in posters posted around the community.
Monies raised from the Mad Hatter Gala and the raffle will support programming and operating expenses of the Center which continues to benefit community members, both “ young and young at heart” through an increasing number of activities in the performing arts and arts education. Plan to attend the Gala, a future play, concert, or gallery opening. See the diverse community talents including monthly exhibits of artworks by young area artists.
Read more........
In March, Board Members, John Cumming (Treasurer) and Nora Ellen Bowers (Secretary) completed their terms. Their hard work in the service of the Arts Center helped gain grants for programming, salaries and renovations, saw the installation of the new elevator and restrooms, increased programming in the arts for the Oxford community and so much more. Even though John and Nora Ellen are off the board, their continued support will undoubtedly bring even more improvements to arts programming and building preservation efforts in the future.
Germaine Vonderhaar, Norm Butt, Cindy Hurley and Joseph Neyer have stepped up to apply their expertise to the Arts Center’s mission. Much gratitude goes out to these community members who take time from their busy schedules to promote the arts and contribute their efforts toward preserving the Oxford College for Women as a permanent home for the arts in the Oxford Community. The board would also like to express its appreciation to Sarah Michael, the outgoing President of the Board who has worked tirelessly to promote the mission of the Oxford Community Arts Center. Read more........
OCAC’s first Fine Arts Fanfare Gala was a
resounding success! The event committee would
like to thank all the artists, sponsors, guests and
volunteers who made the Gala auction and dinner
possible. Over 150 pieces of donated art and
merchandise exceeded the planning committee’s
hopes in number and variety for the auction. More
than $45,000 raised for programming and operating
expenses also exceeded expectations. It could not
have been done without the volunteers who planned
the Gala, while soliciting contributions to the
auction, selling raffle tickets, sending invitations and
inviting other volunteers to participate in the
evening.
Read more........
As with all charitable organizations, the Oxford Community Arts Center depends on your generosity in order to keep its doors open and its facilities available. Bringing Caroline Croswell in as Executive Director of the Center has been a boon to the Oxford Community as well as to the Center. Her contacts with the Des Fleur Garden Club made the Children’s Educational Garden possible.
The first annual Oxford International Film Festival was an idea brought by a Miami student, JC Schroder, who asked for office space. He and his corps of volunteers organized the OIFF from an office in the OCAC.
Children’s programs and art classes, concerts and family gatherings have brought the center to life. All of these activities have brought additional benefits to the
community, whether it was families buying tools to start their own gardens
or people staying in local hotels while attending the Film Festival or just
improving the quality of life for the many people who rented the ballroom
or attended a concert or class. The Oxford Community Arts Center
exists to benefit the community.
Plans are going forward for even more events and classes. Your ideas, your volunteer time and your financial support are needed to keep the doors open. There are many ways you can help. Office volunteers to answer phones and greet guests are necessary since Caroline may be in meetings during office hours. Occasional volunteers to help paint are also needed. In-kind contributions are always welcome. See our present list of needs below. Money for everything from heat to renovations is always welcome. Planned and estate giving are also appreciated. Read more.......
