Media Information
For Immediate Release
Contact: Neil Kimball at 632-8026 or Chris Bivins at 285-9590
ARTS COUNCIL AND FESTIVAL FORM NEW ALLIANCE
A new alliance was announced today by the Board of Directors of the Arts Council of Greater Grand Rapids and the volunteer organizers of Festival. Neil Kimball, President of the Arts Council, made the announcement in conjunction with in-coming Festival 2003 Co-Chair Christina Bivins.
The alliance recognizes Festival as an independent member organization of the Arts Council, with its own 501 (c)(3) nonprofit status pending Internal Revenue Service approval.
This agreement follows more than two years of work by the Festival Study Committee, consisting of Arts Council Board members, arts organization representatives, and Festival volunteers. The committee was organized by then-Arts Council President Hester LaClaire-Hendricks, and chaired by former Arts Council President Michael Julien. Its task was to study the on-going relationship between the two organizations. "What we learned was that, while the Arts Council and Festival have a shared history, they each have entirely different, yet well-founded missions," said Julien. "Both organizations will undoubtedly be stronger with Festival as a member organization, very much like Civic Theatre or the Ballet or any of the other members of the Arts Council.
"Kimball was enthusiastic about the new alliance. "We've been working the past two years behind the scenes to make this a reality. I am excited to have Festival as a member of the Council. The volunteers who put Festival on have done a remarkable job of maintaining their focus through the years, and helping to put West Michigan arts on the map with one of the largest arts event of its kind in the nation."
Bivins, a member of the Festival Study Committee and Festival 2003 Co-Chair, will be the first of the "second generation" to co-chair the event, along with Bob Bird, longtime Festival volunteer. Bivins said, "Festival is in my blood, since I grew up with the event, and both my parents have co-chaired the event. I look forward to co-chairing Festival with its new independent nonprofit status, and working with the Arts Council to continue presenting the best arts and performers West Michigan has to offer."
The agreement was approved unanimously by the Festival Steering Committee (the governing body of Festival) and by the Arts Council Executive Committee and its Board of Directors at a meeting on April 23, 2002.