Thursday, April 12, 2012

04/12/2012

Dallas Mayor Promotes Arts & Business

Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings has launched what he's calling the Business/Arts Initiative. The project's goal is to encourage people in the business community to support the arts.

'I have tapped several top business executives to join this initiative and substantially boost business support for the arts—in financial terms as well as participation,' says Mayor Rawlings.

Mayor Rawlings is working with Councilmember and Chair of the City's Arts, Culture and Libraries Committee Ann Margolin and Business Council for the Arts CEO Katherine Wagner. They have assembled an Arts Action Team, which is made up of around 15 business owners who are long time supporters of the arts. The plan is for the team members to reach out to their colleagues and encourage them to join them in supporting local arts organizations...

In order to make the process as streamlined as possible, arts organizations are being asked to submit 'business engagement' packages. These packages can include anything from group tickets to full sponsorships. Wagner says around 80 of the roughly 130 arts organizations in Dallas have already submitted package proposals at the $10,000, $25,000, $50,000 and $100,000 levels through the Business Council for the Arts' website...

Mayor Rawlings says that a stronger partnership between the business and the arts worlds will benefit the city as a whole.

'I strongly believe that the arts enhance a city's quality of life, economic growth and business development. Art inspires, brings a wide range of people together and bridges divides.'"

TheaterJones.com 04/10/2012