The Art Center Highland Park is a Local Business, too.

Have you ever even considered the value of Highland Park having a thriving arts center just off-center of our downtown? Do you realize that we’re a business, too, and that we drive results to our community in a big way?

You may not think of it in this light, but we’re a business, too.

• We employ 3 full-time and 4 part-time employees year-round
• We have a pool of 60 teachers who are independent contractors and depend on us for income
• We create summer employment for teens in our summer camps
• We never turn down a scholarship request and have done outreach programming from Highland Park to Waukegan
• We collaborate with other not-for-profits to support their success by offering discounted rental rates or free room use when possible
• We operate on just under a $1m budget and (pre-COVID) trend income positive
• We don’t always ask for ‘freebies’: we regularly buy hardware supplies, use caterers, buy beer/wine/liquor, use printers, security companies, plumbers, landscapers, and electricians and we choose local businesses as often as we can.
• We do not own our building – we pay rent to the city
• Our employees, teachers, and students shop and eat locally
• We attract 30,000 attendees each year to our events, classes, and festivals
• For our summer concerts on the lawn, we incentivized attendees to shop/dine locally and gave them a free raffle ticket if they could show a same-day receipt.
• Our executive director is on the city’s Cultural Arts Advisory Group and is a member of the Chamber of Commerce
• Our Art Walk recently showcased over 40 stores throughout the city at no cost to the store owners
• Our gift shop offers unique gifts and we charge sales tax like any other store
• Our events bring YOU sales

“Event-related spending by arts audiences reflects an average of $22.87 per person in spending for hotels, restaurants, parking, souvenirs, refreshments, or other similar costs-with non-local attendees spending nearly twice as much as local attendees ($38.05 compared to $21.75)”

NATIONAL ARTS ADMINISTRATION AND POLICY PUBLICATIONS DATABASE (NAAPPD)

As we tell people, the arts are not the icing on the cake, but a key ingredient to success. We want to remind you that we’re willing partners for anything that we can do to support the health and welfare of the Highland Park business community and we hope we can count on you for any support you can give us in return – raffle items, hang our event posters in your windows, and consider holding events, parties, or team building events at our center.

We want to be YOUR business partner. Please reach out to us for any ideas for collaboration, brainstorming, or programming that will support your business. We are invested in our community and hope you are invested in us.

Reach out to James M. Lynch, Executive Director, 847-432-1888, ext. 4

 

Please also reference our arts community friends: Bitter Jester Music Festival, Ravinia Festival, Highland Park Players, Makkai Ballet, North Shore School of Dance, Soul 2 Sole, and others

This is a unique event for The Art Center. We rarely feature one artist, one artistic medium in our main gallery. But when we were offered the opportunity to be the FIRST midwest exhibitor of the photography of Henri Dauman we jumped on it. The exhibit is open from October 1 through November 13, Monday through Saturday, 10-4, or by special arrangement for groups with special needs or other requests. Read more about it by CLICKING HERE.

The night before the opening Curator Caren Helene Rudman and Executive Director James M Lynch had the opportunity to talk to Henri and his granddaughter, Nicole Suerez, and her husband, Peter Kenneth Jones, respectively the Producer and Director of the documentary film about Henri’s life, Looking Up. The video below is a part of the conversation they had about the life, work, and future of this gifted genius, Henri Dauman.