East End Arts: President’s Letter to Donors, Sponsors, Members, Staff & Volunteers / Dec 2019

On behalf of the Board of Directors, I am writing to thank all stakeholders in East End Arts for your support and commitment to our mission and programming. I also want to take this opportunity to provide an update on the evolution of East End Arts over the past year.

In December 2018, we were very fortunate to have Diane Burke join as Executive Director. She has brought a combination of enthusiasm, collaboration, and business acumen that is leading East End Arts to be a sustainable organization. Major accomplishments over the course of the past year include:

• Completion of our second year of successful financial operation including a significant and continuing

reduction of debt while also establishing positive working capital.

• Engaged the support and participation of successful artists on the east end who do not normally

exhibit here, resulting in 3 exhibits of artists’ work we would not normally see;

• Established shopEEA.com which features the work of artist members including artists currently on

exhibit giving our artist members broader marketing exposure;

• Active participation on Town of Riverhead Business Advisory Board, Riverhead Revitalization,

Riverhead Business Advisory Committee, and Riverhead Chamber of Commerce leading to reciprocal

involvement and support from the community in EEA programs and events;

• Strengthened the community participation in Community Mosaic, Teeny Awards, Harvest Gospel,

Perlman Strings Collaborative, and Music Master Program – our signature events;

• Conducted 4 artist talks including the participation of regional art writers and critics;

• Expanded the course offerings at our school so that a larger portion of the community was able to

learn from our professional faculty. With advanced degrees from prestigious institutions including

Juilliard, Mannes, Boston Conservatory of Music, Moscow Conservatory of Music and Berkley, and the

Parsons School of Design, the caliber of instruction is second to none;

• Hired Monique Cutone Parsons as our Full-time Development and Marketing Director.

Once successful change begins, it gathers momentum and that is certainly true at East End Arts. Activities are underway to

• Establish a program to help artists successfully market and sell their work; (continued)

• Establish cooperation and collaboration with Stony Brook University, Suffolk County Community

College, and Staller Performing Arts Center;

• Establish cooperation and collaboration with regional art galleries; and

• Recruit and expand our Board of Directors and Advisory Council.

The East End community has evolved since 1972 when East End Arts was founded and so has our organization. This is an indication of health and vitality in both. If East End Arts doesn’t evolve, we become irrelevant and fail. Over the past year, Diane has worked with our board members to open the dialogue with donors, sponsors, members, and staff to carry out this evolution. That work has led the Board of Directors and Executive Director to succinctly restate and sharpen our mission in tangible terms:

To encourage a wide range of artistic creativity and expression through education, exhibition and performance, and collaboration across the community.

The curiosity, imagination, and aspirations expressed in the arts extend into all aspects of our community. As we embark on 2020 and our 48th year of operations, we ask for your continuing support and commitment to the positive impact the arts have on the east end.

Sincerely,