3 min read April 2024 — Invest: is joined by Jennifer Evins, president and CEO of United Arts of Central Florida, to discuss how the organization is supporting the arts sector through a variety of fundraising and development efforts while growing the vibrancy of art in Central Florida. “We want to build community through the arts,” she said.
What have been your takeaways from the past two years?
We conducted an arts ecology study completed by the DeVos Institute of Arts Management at the University of Maryland. This initiative looked at the entire arts ecosystem, from individuals to nonprofit organizations. It evaluated the health of our sector after the pandemic. We had just opened the new Steinmetz Hall, a theater for performing arts. It was a critical time to figure out how we survived the pandemic and look forward. The arts ecology study results were announced in early 2023, highlighting the need to market the arts beyond our local audiences. We want to position Central Florida as a national and international arts destination.
There is also a need for more funding for private arts philanthropy from individuals, corporations, and foundations. The study shined a light on the emerging BIPOC nonprofits that are bringing rich, diverse experiences to our communities. However, these organizations sometimes lack more established arts management, marketing, and fundraising expertise. It also highlighted the need for individual artists, studios, and affordable live/work spaces so that artists can make a living. The study helped us focus on what a healthy arts ecosystem looks like. Compared to other cities, our size is way behind in private-sector funding for the arts. We have a lot of great public support because of the tax dollars dedicated to arts and culture, but private philanthropy hasn’t caught up. Mainly because we are a young community without five or six generations of philanthropists, like cities in the Northeast. We have to build new families of support for the arts.
In 2023, we also reached the goal in our collaborative arts campaign of raising $6 million of unrestricted money between 34 arts organizations. Additionally, the national advocacy and economic research organization Americans for the Arts conducted a two-year study on economic prosperity, looking at over 300 communities nationwide, including Orange County. This study revealed that we have over $264 million in direct investment by arts organizations, nonprofits, and their audiences for the local economy. It also told us that 41% of our audience are tourists, which means we are a tourist attraction. We are also supporting nearly 5,000 local jobs, so the arts’ economic impact is huge and growing substantially.
How is United Arts creating more excitement for the arts in Central Florida?
Community and cultural vibrancy can be seen in so many different ways. This could be murals, street musicians, school art, and festivals. But for us, it’s about making sure the arts and cultural experiences are accessible to all people and reflective of the community here. 61% of our population are people of color, and the Hispanic population makes up 39%. Our vibrancy is due to celebrating our diverse cultures. We have over 80 cultural festivals and 20 film festivals in the region throughout the year, and our cultural richness is because it’s authentic and seen in all of our cultural nonprofits. There’s an intentionality to celebrate that, and is why we invest in arts education and nonprofits that reflect different communities. Our work is to increase the awareness of the arts and how diverse and vibrant we are.
How do you encourage arts organizations and nonprofits to implement technology?
We work with about 125 nonprofit arts organizations, and part of the partnership is the encouragement and funding of virtual experiences in the arts. The pandemic made us aware of the need to provide access to programming through virtual streams, so many of our organizations now provide it. There is also an opportunity to enhance arts education. The challenge for us is that smaller organizations don’t have the capacity for that, so we’re constantly looking for partnerships and collaborations to help them have the technology to present their work through various digital forms. The transition from traditional arts to digital arts is very alive. Over half our population are millennials, and the arts must stay relevant and make sure what we’re doing is accessible through digital platforms to reach new and younger audiences.
How is United Arts embracing sustainability as a key component for the arts in Central Florida?
We want to ultimately help artists thrive and give them a living wage and upward mobility to work in their trade, so it’s not just a part-time job. Affordable workforce housing and studio space, as is healthcare, are a big part of that. We want to engage the public and raise awareness that we are among creative people who are our neighbors, so we want to ensure they can succeed. There are also a lot of nonprofits that don’t have employee benefits and are worrying about being competitive in terms of wages. There is a lot of demand for unfilled jobs, and these nonprofits still compete for great talent. The arts sector is concerned about the economic environment and sustainability, so artists are providing different strategies of awareness by communicating through their art to connect the message that we are in an environmental crisis and how the arts can provide a better way of treating the planet.
How can the arts continue to grow in the region?
A big part of any successful, healthy community is arts education in our schools, which gives children access to develop their creativity and see the professional opportunities available. We embrace diverse teaching artists to work in our schools to give many different art forms to our students. We want youth to see themselves in the arts in the community, so placing these art teachers in schools helps make that connection. We also work hard to address accessibility issues, especially for people with sensory challenges, so they can enjoy the various arts in the region. We want people to enter the arts in many different ways, whether at a community festival or a faith-based event. We want to build community through the arts.
What is your outlook over the next two to three years?
We are looking at a younger population moving forward, and we want to engage them because they want to make meaningful changes. We see the arts as a catalyst for change in our community and recruiting more engagement within the next generation of arts patrons. The arts will be a larger strategy for Central Florida to be competitive. People are moving here for many reasons, and we want to make sure they recognize a quality of life that includes the arts in the community. Additionally, with mental health at the top of many communities’ minds, arts catalyze wellness and intervention. I think we’ll see a real elevation in using the arts as a strategic and effective way to help people with mental and behavioral health issues. It will take the arts into an entirely new area of importance for our community.
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