Donors, Sponsors, & Volunteers

News From the Director

As I write, fifth and sixth graders from across the state are arriving for “Waterworld,” where they will explore the marine environment and their individual creativity in partnership with scientists from the Port Townsend Marine Science Center and artists who have been teaching in an array of programs as part of our 2008 Young Artist Project.

With support from Washington’s Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, Centrum has been providing creative residential learning experiences to elementary, middle school, and high school students for the last 35 years. While these workshops have a lower profile than our big summer festivals, their effect on participants can be even more profound. For example, Kisha Palmer, our new Director of Business Development, moved from Los Angeles to work at Centrum because she took a writing class here when she was 16 that changed her life, exposing her to “a universe of possibilities I never knew existed or could be available to me before.”

Last week I received a note from self identified “parents of a child who just experienced the magic of Centrum.” They write, “Our daughter was ecstatic about her experience. We were particularly impressed with her desire to explore beyond her passion for theater, to experience the other arts. Thanks more than we can say.”

And I echo that thanks, to you and all other Centrum supporters who make such experiences possible.

Summer Performances
April 15th is opening day for donors to get the very best seats at all Centrum summer performances, two weeks in advance of the general public.

Our ticket office awaits your call. They can answer any special questions you have and make arrangements for guests with special access needs. Call: 360.385.3102, x117 or 800.733.3608, weekdays, 9am – 4pm.

If you want personalized service but can’t order between 9 am – 4 pm our online order site is for you!  This year Centrum has joined forces with a new e-ticket provider to produce a greatly improved online ticket buying experience, including seat selection. Simply go, on our website, to your area of your interest (e.g., Jazz, Fiddle, Blues, Singing) then look to the left column and click on Buy Tickets.

Nine Things to Know about the New Fort Worden

1. For the last 4 years Centrum has been a very active participant in the Fort Worden planning process.

2. Centrum’s core business (residential learning) was adopted as the central feature of the Conceptual Plan for Fort Worden, approved in January of 2007 by the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission.

3. This plan designated Fort Worden a “center for life-long learning,” with an economy driven by tuition, food, and accommodations business generated and/or supported by all Fort partners, providing residential learning experiences for groups and individuals from around the region, nation, and world.

4. Over the last two years Centrum generated $1.25 million in food and accommodations business for the Park. The approved Conceptual Plan envisions four times that level of food and accommodations business generated by partner organizations at Fort Worden.

5. A special Task Force was called into being by the Washington State Legislature to determine what management structure would have the highest probability of building and sustaining a successful business based on residential learning programs at Fort Worden State Park.

6. The Task Force has determined that an existing or new nonprofit organization would be the organizational structure best suited to achieve the mission, vision, and goals outlined in the approved Conceptual Plan. 

7. At this point in the process it is reasonable to assume that Centrum—merging and significantly expanding upon its existing capacities with those of the current Fort Worden administration and other Fort partners—will be charged with supporting and coordinating program and business activities at the Park.

8. Such a transition would take place over an extended period and be guided by a carefully calibrated benchmarking process to ensure that the new management partnership develops the necessary and appropriate capacities to successfully implement the new vision for Fort Worden, while fulfilling the overarching mission and values of Washington State Parks.

9. The Task Force will make their recommendation to the State Parks Commission in August of 2008. For more details about the overall planning process at Fort Worden, as well as a schedule of opportunities for public input, visit the State Parks website (http://www.parks.wa.gov/fortworden/).

Our Promise
Four years ago Centrum created a document entitled “A Commitment to Change.” The central message in that document was that an organization with a mission of providing transformational experiences for its customers must itself embrace deep change as a core organizational value. Our 2004 Plan for Growth outlined a series of specific growth and change initiatives. With your guidance and extraordinary financial support we have achieved nearly every objective laid out in that plan.

We will not rest on our laurels.

As executive director, it is critical to me is that you continue to be proud of and excited by your ongoing investment in Centrum. Today, the board and staff are working harder and with greater focus than I have ever seen to achieve one result: Excellence. We are refining every system, testing every assumption, and—thanks to your support—utilizing new human and financial resources to ensure that Centrum will provide the richest educational, cultural, and customer experience imaginable. This is our promise to you.

Thank you, as always,

Thatcher Bailey

Centrum's Facebook Page

Whether you are a workshop participant, performance attendee, donor, volunteer, resident, or interested observer, we hope you will take a moment to visit our new Facebook page.

Facebook allows each of you to connect with us and extend your experience at Centrum. Upload your photos and videos. Talk about your past or upcoming workshops, review performances and readings. In large measure, 'our' page is 'your' page.

So take a look, and let us know what you think. We're exploring whether or not to create specific social networking sites for each of our major program areas. What do you think? (Now you have your first discussion topic on Facebook.)

2008 Donor 'Thank You' Events

Centrum thrives because of the courage and understanding of you, our donors. Each year, we endeavor to connect donors with experiences that deepen their connection to the people and activities their generosity serves.

For a complete list of our 2008 donor events, please download our 2008 "Thank You Calendar. For questions and more information, please contact our Donor Events Manager, Kendra Golden, at kendra@centrum.org.

January Letter from the Director

You have transformed Centrum. Over the last four years your participation and generosity have been responsible for more programs, more participants, more artists-in-residence, more partners, more scholarships, more volunteers, more donors, more sponsors and advertisers, and more free performances and public events. Numbers are one way to demonstrate the efficacy of your generosity. But numbers do not tell the whole story.

Centrum is where you come to be fearless. This is no small thing: Making art demands a particular courage—to take risks, be vulnerable, work harder than you have ever worked, fail more often than you succeed, and maybe let go of the life you have known, for a life you can no longer imagine not living.
Centrum thrives because you are part of a community that completely understands, participates in, and fiercely applauds such courage. Thank you for being fearless.

It is paying off. 2008 has the potential to be one of the most remarkable years in Centrum’s 36-year history. Experience Magazine (newly designed this March), a monthly e-newsletter (also launching in March), and our website will provide updated listings and details of specific events, but below I offer a sampling of some of the undertakings you make possible.

Last weekend, six British artists—in residence over the last three weeks—held an “open studio” that extended to the top of Artillery Hill, where 16 artworks played off the colors, textures, and architecture of the gun emplacements.

This weekend high school visual artists from across Washington arrive to participate in the new Young Artist Project, working with and learning from Ryan Horvath and Amy Johnson, part of an extraordinary artist-faculty team who will be in residence throughout 2008.

The first weekend in February, Mike Dowling, Steve James, and Centrum’s Artistic Director for Slide and Steel, Orville Johnson, will be in residence leading a Bottleneck Slide Intensive and performing February 2nd at the Joseph F. Wheeler Theater.

The following week Fort Worden hosts the winter residency for Goddard College Creative Writing MFA, and February 21-24, Eileen Myles—perhaps the United States' best-known "unofficial poet"—will give a special workshop at Centrum about creating new poetry.

The final phase of Fort Worden planning will be complete and ready for Parks Commission approval in June. Centrum will play a pivotal role in developing, supporting, and promoting an increasingly diverse array of year-round creative, learning/teaching, and performance / exhibition opportunities at the Park.

You will be excited to know that in 2009, the extraordinary guitarist Corey Harris will succeed Phil Wiggins as Artistic Director of the Port Townsend Country Blues Festival. As emeritus director, Phil will remain a vital presence, and is delighted that Corey will add his unique stamp to this beloved festival.

The School of Rock, a youth program initiated two years ago, has evolved into Roots of Rock, a July intergenerational workshop, featuring the first Queen of Rock, Wanda Jackson.

Partnerships continue to blossom. Centrum is working with Artist Trust to bring more choreographers and dancers to develop and present new work at Fort Worden. In April Centrum is hosting a gathering of Western States Folklorists, under the direction of Jens Lund. In October Seattle Theater Group and Centrum will co-produce a Seattle-based Fiddle Tunes event with the legendary Ralph Stanley.

Donors continue to increase scholarship and fellowships support (up 43% this year over last) so that exceptional students and artists from diverse geographies and backgrounds will enrich the creative communities that gather at Fort Worden.

In 2008 we will lay the groundwork for the renovation of six underutilized buildings into the new education campus at Fort Worden. Celebrating deep community connections to the Park, this capital campaign will solicit and celebrate hands-on volunteer labor and in-kind contributions.

Centrum and Fort Worden are able to expand opportunities at the Park because you are part of a community for whom this place and its programs hold deep and lasting value. Guided by enduring values that embrace both tradition and innovation, Fort Worden thrives on an economy of gratitude. All of us who work here have learned and continue to learn so much through our efforts to serve you.
Thank you.

Thatcher

November Letter from the Director

As we head into the traditional season of gratitude I offer up my personal thanks to you and the expanding universe of individuals whose active engagement with—and deepening support of—Centrum powerfully demonstrate that, indeed, it does take a village.

November 1st marked my fourth anniversary in this job, and with each passing year my appreciation of this most generous community grows more profound.

This weekend, author Pam Houston will cap off a three-day Advanced Manuscript Revision Intensive with a free, public reading in the Joseph F. Wheeler Theater. The following week, mandolin virtuoso Mike Marshall and his band Choro Famoso are leading a three-day master class.

Saturday, November 10, in the Wheeler Theater, they will offer regional audiences an unusual opportunity to hear the “sweet lament” of this Brazilian music. The next week musicians will gather with Fiddle Tunes artistic Director Dirk Powell, Tim Eriksen, and Riley Baugus to explore string band tunes, country songs and shape notes in the southern mountain tradition. Tickets are available for a Wheeler performance by these extraordinary artists on November 17.

January 18-21, the Centrum Young Artist Project kicks off with a master class for gifted high school visual artists from across Washington State. Students will explore the rich territory between drawing and sculpture under the guidance of Amy Johnson and Jeffry Mitchell, two of the core artist faculty who will be in residence to teach and to create their own work throughout 2008. This program is generously supported by the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Thank you to the more than 500 individuals and businesses who contributed their time, talent, money, and imagination to make the 2007 Gala a record-breaking evening of philanthropy in support of Centrum artists and programs. The evening grossed $260,000, an 11% increase over last-years record-breaking event.

Highlights of the evening included two opportunities for patrons to raise their paddles in support of scholarships and of the newly establish Russell Jaqua Fund for Artistic Excellence. Adding to challenges offered up by Kristin Manwaring Insurance, Rick and Debbie Zajicek, and Joe and Renate Wheeler, over $76,000 was contributed that night for these critical initiatives.

As you can see on the enclosed financial statements, ten months into the year, Centrum is in a healthy position. Although we have fallen short in a couple of revenue lines, we have exceeded expectations in others, and have been very careful with expenses. Cash flow remains strong and we are projecting a solid year-end. The major variable is year-end fundraising success. Donors have already been exceedingly generous this year, giving and pledging $120,000 more from January through October than in all of 2006. Still, as we grow the number and quality of our programs we are seeking additional support: another $40,000 over the next two months. If we can achieve that goal it would be a powerful indication Centrum is providing real value to you and all the other donors who make this place run.

I am very excited to introduce new staff members whose experience and skills will enhance Centrum’s abilities to serve and anticipate your needs and interests in the years ahead. Anne Kearson (Production Director) has worked for the Los Angeles Festival of the Arts, and ACT, the Seattle Rep, and the Fifth Avenue theaters in Seattle. Kim Jons (Sales Manager) comes to us after eight years as an advertising manager at the Peninsula Daily News. Tom Scharf (Development Director) has worked in public relations, marketing, writing, and editing for museums and nonprofits in San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.

We are poised to sign off on a contract with the same firm that developed business and site plans for the remarkable Presidio project in San Francisco. We hope to have their work completed and documents available for public review and comment by spring of 2008. We have taken a major step forward by selecting Bon Appétit to be the next food provider for the Fort, a food service company known for its culinary expertise, commitment to socially responsible food sourcing and business practices, and strong partnerships with respected conservation organizations.

We will continue to deepen our commitments to change, excellence, and connection. By March we will have completed our own three-year business and communications plans and will send them out for your review and comment. We are working hard to make you feel good about your investment in the future of this amazing place.

You are Centrum. Thank you for that.

 

Glass Art Auction and Sale November 24

As part of a contribution to Centrum, visual artists Gordon Redmond and Laura Popenoe will sell several pieces of their work on Saturday, November 24, at Fort Worden State Park’s Building 204.

Items will be available for viewing and silent bidding between 2 and 4 pm. The back entrance of Building 204 has a ramp and an elevator, making the venue accessible to persons of all abilities.

Community Gives Record Amount at 2007 Centrum Gala

The theme was “Imagine,” but Gala chair Jean Marzan says, “I never imagined quite this level of  generosity! Once again Centrum patrons outdid themselves.”

THANK YOU to all you Centrum supporters. You set a new fundraising record of $260,000 last Saturday night. 

The amount raised goes well beyond the previous record of $230,000, set in 2006. And Gala attendees raised over $70,000 specifically for scholarships.

The Gala was run almost entirely by nearly 150 community volunteers. Table captains filled 35 tables of ten attendees each, who bid on the hundreds of silent and live auction items donated by local and regional businesses and individuals.

“We reduced the number of items we sold at the auction by half,” Marzan says, “and still, guests gave about $30,000 more than last year. The Gala is all about enjoying the best party on the peninsula while raising money for a very worthwhile organization."

George Radebaugh and Friends played jazz standards as Gala attendees walked down a red carpet to the auction and banquet floor. Dinner was catered by Dream City Catering, and auctioneer Laura Michalek and Seattle actress Rebecca Davis led the auction.

Items and experiences such as trips to New York, the Caribbean, and Thailand, as well as gourmet dinners by renowned local chefs and hosts kept paddles raised throughout the evening.

Former Centrum executive director Joseph Wheeler and 2007 jazz scholarship student Ashley Davis gave special presentations. Willene Jaqua, widow of artist Russell Jaqua, gave a presentation that raised $36,000 to launch the Russell Jaqua Fund for Artistic Excellence.