New Glendale Arts Organization Gets City Approval and Community-wide Support

On May 13, 2008, the Glendale City Council, acting as the Redevelopment Agency, approved the formal creation of Glendale Arts, a new non-profit arts organization that will operate the Alex Theatre and help to coordinate resources among local artists and arts organizations.

Glendale Arts, formerly known as the Glendale Arts Alliance, was born out of a 2007 internal assessment of the Alex Theatre’s business operations model. The assessment concluded, that while the Alex Regional Theatre (ART) Board has significantly increased earned income through the rental of the Alex Theatre, it has been less effective in raising contributed income through donations, grants, and fundraisers. That, coupled with the anticipated elimination of the Theatre’s annual subsidy from the Redevelopment Agency in 2015, caused the ART Board develop a plan to cultivate new sources of revenue, both contributed and earned.

“The ART Board came to the conclusion that in order to be responsible stewards of the Alex Theatre, they needed focus on the long-term financial opportunities that were available and aside from earned income those were limited,” stated Barry McComb, the Theatre’s Executive Director and primary architect of Glendale Arts. “Over the last few years, the Theatre increased its earned income by more than 121%, but the reality is that even with this steady increase in income there is a ceiling and the Theatre just couldn’t survive without assistance from the Redevelopment Agency.”

“Additionally, as an arts non-profit, we saw a distinct gap in how artists, arts organizations, businesses and government entities communicate with one another,” continued McComb. “The ART Board saw Glendale Arts as a way to bridge the communications gap, expand opportunities for artists and arts organizations and ensure the long-term financial health of the Alex Theatre.”

“The community has been very supportive,” he stated. “We held several, well attended, community forums back in February and time, after time, we were told that the City needed an organization like Glendale Arts. At the core of Glendale Arts is collaboration and we are pleased to say that we have already established some key partnerships even before the organization was officially approved by the GRA,” he concluded.

One early alliance has been with the Glendale Art Association.

“The Glendale Art Association had been looking for someone to take the lead in coordinating the City’s arts resources for some time,” said Vincent Takas, President of the Glendale Art Association. “I met with Barry (McComb) to discuss the new organization and how it would impact the Glendale Art Association – after all Glendale Arts Alliance and Glendale Arts Association had the potential to confuse some people – and before I knew it, he agreed to change the organization’s name to Glendale Arts and I agreed to give the new organization Glendale Arts Association’s URL, www.glendalearts.org. It was a win-win for everyone, especially for Glendale.”

Glendale Arts expects to begin operations starting July 1, 2008.

About Glendale Arts

Glendale Arts is a private 501(c) (3) nonprofit umbrella arts management organization with a primary purpose of operating the Alex Theatre as a performing arts and entertainment center through a management contract with the GRA. In collaboration with local arts organizations, and artists, Glendale Arts will also develop and maintain programs throughout the greater Glendale area in performing arts, visual arts, and arts leaning in an effort to nurture a strong and vibrant arts community.

Glendale Arts believes that a great city is defined by its arts and envisions a supportive environment that encourages and values all artistic disciplines and believes that the arts are an essential ingredient for a vibrant, creative, and economically healthy community.

Media Contact:
Elissa Glickman
(p) 818.243-2611 ext. 14
(c) 323.309.3093
(e) eglickman@alextheatre.org