Tobin Ernst
The Chandler Cultural Foundation, which facilitates programming and fund development for Chandler Center for the Arts, is getting ready to implement marketing research to build a comprehensive plan, thanks in part to a pair of grants from the Arizona Commission on the Arts and Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust.
As part of the process, the Foundation’s leadership is seeking Sun Lake’s community input on what the vision of the Center’s future programming should be, and are asking Sun Lakes residents for five minutes of their time to take a 16-question survey. The survey can be found at www.chandlercenter.org/survey.
“This process will allow us to better understand the challenges and opportunities, while listening to feedback from the community,” said Jeanne Forbis, Chair of Chandler Cultural Foundation. “Chandler Center for the Arts’ vision embodies the belief that the arts hold transformative potential and that the Center elevates the social culture of our community, empowering citizens to bridge borders through participation, intellectual exploration and leadership development of the arts.”
Chandler Center for the Arts was one of more than 200 nonprofit arts organizations, schools and cultural agencies to receive funding from the Arizona Commission on the Arts to keep the arts alive in Arizona. The commission, which has been around for 50 years, supports and develops the Arizona arts sector through programming, research and grant making.
In addition to the Commission’s grant, the Cultural Foundation and arts center is using funding from Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust to test and identify specific opportunities for audience identification and increase both non-paid and paid attendance to the arts center that attracts more than 300,000 visitors annually. It will also support a comprehensive marketing plan, using audience research and feedback to enhance the communication of the Center’s programs in a way that resonates with new visitors, attendees and supporters as the arts center approaches its 30th year as a presenter in the Valley.
“Since the Center’s inception, the residents of Sun Lakes have been instrumental in supporting the programming and the funding for the Chandler Center for the Arts,” said Michelle Mac Lennan, General Manager of Chandler Center for the Arts. “It is of most importance that their voices are included in this survey.”
Located on the northwest corner of Arizona Avenue and Chandler Blvd., the Chandler Center for the Arts boasts an impressive architectural design that allows for multiple, simultaneous performances with three theaters and an art gallery. Its 1,500-seat mainstage is the signature performance hall where no seat is farther than 100 feet from the stage.