The nonprofit organization responsible for the Fayetteville Arts Festival has dissolved, it announced in a news release Friday.
The board of Fayetteville Downtown Partners filed papers with the Arkansas secretary of state to dissolve its 501(c)3 status, citing a lack of manpower and a recessionary economy as the primary reasons for the dissolution.
Fayetteville Downtown Partners started producing the annual Fayetteville Arts Festival in 2005.
The rights to the festival, related intellectual property and a small number of Tshirts and other merchandise are being transferred to another local nonprofit organization, New Design Center, for safekeeping.
“We sincerely hope that one day the Fayetteville Arts Festival can be revived,” members of the board said in a joint statement. “Although it is a lot of hard work, it is worth it to our community. With the right group of people and the right funding in place, we are confident the festival can once again be a success.”
Fayetteville Downtown Partners became a volunteer organization in September 2007, announcing that the group didn’t have the money to keep a full-time paid staff. The group received funding from the city for three years based on the condition that it would be self-sufficient at the end of three years.
Part of the agreement was also contingent on the group establishing a downtown improvement district. The group was unsuccessful, however, in getting enough downtown property owners to support forming a district.
The 2008 festival was made possible largely from donations. The Fayetteville Town Center coordinated and donated the venue space for the visual arts portion of the festival. Fayetteville’s Advertising and Promotion Commission granted the organization $2,500, and the Fayetteville City Council contributed $12,500.
Downtown Partners sponsors estimated about 3,000 people attended the Fayetteville Arts Festival in 2008, compared to the largest crowd estimate of about 11,000 in 2005.
However, the 2008 festival carried over more than double the money of any other year, due in part to managing expenses and in part to its largest donor, the City Council.
Former board President Daniel Keeley said following the festival that Downtown Partners would have about $20,000 to put aside for next year’s festival.
That’s more than the combined donations of $12,500 from the City Council and $2,500 from the Fayetteville Advertising and Promotion Commission.
The release included a list of the organization’s accomplishments, some of which include facilitation of the Fayetteville Downtown Master Plan, management of the Dickson Street Banner program, establishment of a Fayetteville public art policy, establishment of the Fayetteville Cultural Arts District, establishment of the Fayetteville Arts Council and many public meeting and community outreach projects.
Publication:Northwest Arkansas Times; Date:Feb 22, 2009
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Comments ( 2 )
Just a reminder that the annual Pinnacle Hills Art Festival will be held September 11-13, 2009 at the Pinnacle Hills Promenade in Northwest Arkansas. The 2009 event will benefit the THEA Foundation, an Arkansas-based charitable organization that provides support to children’s art education programs across Arkansas.
The annual Pinnacle Hills Art Festival is a juried art show and sale, featuring more than 100 fine artists and exhibitors from across Arkansas and the USA.
Admission and parking is free to the public.
Artists and others seeking more information can visit our website at http://www.pinnaclehills.info or call us at (479) 899-6294.
Dan Stiel added these pithy words on
Feb 22 09 at
11:51 am
Thank you Dan for this timely reminder.
The Pinnacle Hills Art Festival is wonderful (for those who have not attended).
I just wish it included or may in the future include the dramatic arts component.
Larry Fruhlinger added these pithy words on
Feb 22 09 at
1:22 pm
