HomeMy WebLinkAboutII (B) West Orange Center for the Arts Agenda 11-20-2001
Item II B
Executive Summary
The West Orange Center for the Arts, Inc. is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation
whose mission is to advance the arts and arts education in west Orange and south Lake
Counties. Founded by Mr. Ken Anderson, whose background includes twenty years of
professional experience in marketing, senior management and nonprofit administration,
WOCA plans to open a 16,500 square foot multi-use arts facility in downtown Winter
Garden. The WOCA facility will include a 210-seat state-of-the-art performance venue,
artists' studios, an art gallery, art classrooms and rehearsal halls. Programs starting in
the fall of 2002 will include a Theater Series, a Children's Theater Series a Concert
Series and arts education programs in theater, music, visual arts, stagecraft and dance.
Future programming will include a film festival, choral festival and presentations of
performing artists of national and international stature. In addition, the WOCA
performance hall and facilities will be available to other community arts groups and
education organizations as a regional "arts incubator."
Growth trends, the lack of significant arts resources in the area and low financing
costs provide an excellent environment in which to commence this business plan.
Though short-term economic growth projections are soft, this project calls for a long-
term community investment perspective. Population projections for zip codes within a
ten-mile radius of Winder Garden estimate that almost 289,500 people will reside in this
community by 2006, representing over 14% of the metropolitan Orlando population and
79% growth since 1990. This rate is 60% higher than the general growth rate of the
Orlando metro-area. Additionally, this growth comes from affluent households, those
with annual incomes of more than $100,000 per year. In fact, 20% of all households in
metro-Orlando with annual incomes greater than $100,000 currently reside in this
community, with 24,589 such households projected here by 2006. Though
programming and education resources will be available to all in the community, it is
important to recognize that on-going operational support and stability for WOCA will
only be secured from those in the area who have the financial resources and
commitment to the community to do so.
Current start-up funding calls for $290,000 to be raised from the community or
other sources by December 2001 in order to remain on schedule for a Center opening
in the autumn of 2002. In addition, $757,000 in financing needs to be secured for
facility renovation and equipment purchases from January through July 2002. WOCA
projects an annual operations budget of$837,000 for fiscal year 2002-2003, employing
six full-time staff members and numerous part-time actors, designers, directors and
artists. Volunteer programs in fundraising, ushering, administrative and technical
support will engage the community at-large. WOCA has begun a $1.5 million Facility
and Capital Campaign to obtain the initial start-up funds, to support year-one operations
and to pay down construction loans as quickly as possible.
WOCA leadership believes that the facility envisioned and the professional
programs offered there will represent the community as a premier location for arts and
education. Within 10-miles from WOCA's planned facility, over 48,200 students attend
public schools in grades pre-K through 12. Although most of these schools have some
arts programming, over 6,000 students here have no school instruction in the visual
arts, almost 23,000 have no access to drama or theater programs and over 36,000 have
no schooling in dance. Through partnerships with the school systems and other arts-
training organizations over the years, WOCA will be able to provide thousands of the
community's children the opportunity to develop their full potentials through the arts.
WOCA calls on those in the community who believe in the value of the arts and
arts education, and those who believe in the future of west Orange and south Lake
Counties to seize this opportunity. Our future begins today.