summary

In October 2006 our organization completed a comprehensive community arts study and plan that was conducted over the course of 16 months.  The study was funded by the Ohio Arts Council, the City of Westlake, the Westlake/Westshore Arts Council and the Westlake Junior Women’s Club and employed the assistance of non-profit management consultant Janus Small.  In this study we surveyed our residents, measured Westlake’s current arts climate, evaluated comparable communities, completed case studies of arts centers throughout Ohio and outlined building, operational and fundraising plans.

The findings of our study demonstrated that:

There is a clear and measurable need to improve upon the amount of arts education, programming and facilities in Westlake.

Existing local performance facilities are under-utilized.

Westlake is falling behind comparable communities when it comes to providing arts education and programming to its citizens.

The community supports the idea of a local arts center.  86% of those surveyed, said they would pay for classes and/or programming at a Westlake-based arts center.

Local residents are discouraged from visiting many of Northeast Ohio’s arts institutions and programs because of time limitations, distance and a lack of effective marketing.

An arts center will improve upon the quality of life of Westshore residents and could positively impact our region’s struggling economy.

Our plans are to:

1. Establish an arts center in Westlake

This arts center will provide venues for art presentation, classes and space for dance, music and the visual arts, including: painting, ceramics, photography, sculpture and digital art.

2. Renovate the “Old Red Brick” Schoolhouse.

We will renovate this historic building and create in it an affordable and sustainable non-profit community arts center.

3. Utilize Existing Arts Facilities

We will help the community better utilize the arts facilities that already exist in or near Westlake, including our own Westlake Performing Arts Center.

4. Create an Arts Consortium

We will facilitate the creation of an arts consortium, providing a way for local non-profit arts organizations to network, cooperatively program and pool their marketing resources.

establish a new non-profit arts center

We plan to create a dynamic center of arts education that provides classes and programming for people of all ages in music, dance, visual art and theatre.  In addition, the center will produce two or three special arts events each year.

Music, dance and visual art will be immediate and primary offerings.  Theatre education and programming will eventually be offered as is needed to fill gaps in the offerings of other organizations.  Also, we plan to encourage area residents to participate in theatre education and programming offered by other organizations. 

he center will house visual art facilities, including exhibition spaces, general purpose classrooms and a ceramics studio.  Music facilities will include private lesson studios, equipment storage, and the use of multi-purpose classrooms for group instruction.  Two dance studios will also be created

We want to provide the very highest caliber of arts education, programming and events to our community.  We also see that there is a “disconnect” between the residents of our area and the many fine arts institutions in Cleveland and Northeast Ohio.

In order to provide the very best, to connect our community with the greater community of artists and arts organizations, we intend to partner with respected institutions from the region and beyond.

To facilitate this, we have begun discussions with several regional arts, cultural and educational organizations who are expressly interested in expanding their audiences, reaching west-siders, and engaging us with all they have to offer.

We are also very excited to be partnering with the Westlake Porter Public Library, allowing RBCA to offer digital arts education in the library’s computer lab.

renovate the “Red Brick” schoolhouse

part 1: raise a lot of money

We find ourselves in an unusual situation.  Most non-profit organizations begin operations, for at least a couple of years, before they raise capital for their facilities.  As our organization launches itself, raising $5 million in capital in order to create a facility as well as beginning to fund an annual budget makes our group’s fundraising needs somewhat unique.

Although this will present some challenges, we anticipate raising the majority of the needed $5 million ($2.9 million for construction, fixtures, furnishings and equipment and $2 million for an endowment that will subsidize the art center’s annual operating budget) in an 18 to 24 month timeframe.

Our report details the sources of expected funding, based on a funding feasibility study, provides timelines, and outlines the strategies we will use to accomplish our goals.

Part 2: renovate and restore the “Old Red Brick”

The Red Brick School is a historic landmark that is an important historical, architectural and cultural element of Westlake.  The Red Brick Center for the Arts proposes to nominate the property to the National Register of Historic Places, the nation's list of properties worthy of preservation.  Its planned conversion to an arts center will comply with the U. S. Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation.

Among the historic features that are to be carefully preserved are the exterior masonry, which will be cleaned and repointed as required; the original wood windows, which will be repaired and have appropriate new storms or insulated glazing (if possible); interior trim and elements such as blackboards, that convey the history of this as a school, to the extent practical; the broad and spacious corridors and stairways; and the classrooms themselves.

This project will involve necessary careful updating of the building to address functional and safety issues.  These include installation of a new elevator to provide for handicapped accessibility, plus a new grade-level entrance convenient to a new parking lot.  The building will have modern and energy-efficient heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems that are unobtrusively planned such that dropped ceilings and obstructed windows are avoided.  New electrical systems and lighting shall make the spaces functional and efficient for arts use.  

We are investigating the possibility of addressing energy efficiency and design standards as embodied in LEED, and should we pursue these standards, will solicit the help and support of the Cleveland Green Building Coalition.

The end result will be an innovative, efficient and highly functional facility that carefully preserves one of the city's most important landmarks.

Our report includes a thorough site and building review, building plan, and construction cost estimate.

Click here to view an architectural illustration of how the “Red Brick” will be renovated for use as an arts center.

utilize existing arts facilities

Located within Westlake or in very near proximity are a number of facilities that could provide space for arts education, programming and performances.   These include Clague Playhouse, Huntington Playhouse, Baycrafters, the Westlake Performing Arts Center and the Magnificat Performing Arts Center.

Four out of these five buildings are theatres, and two of them (the Westlake and Magnificat Performing Arts Centers) are brand new, state of the art, multi-million dollar performance facilities.  While both of these performance venues are attached to high schools, and serve to present school-related programming, both facilities are available for other use and were built to serve as community arts resources.

Why are these facilities important?

They’re important for two distinct reasons.  First, because of their size, location and availability, it makes sense that any new arts center in our area should make use of these existing spaces.  Because of them, there are an ample amount of stages, seating and other multi-purpose arts spaces available to teach theatre and some performance arts classes, as well as present music, dance and theatre productions.

Secondly, it’s clear that because of this existing performance capacity, our new arts center does not require a theatre or other performance venue.  This reinforces the fact that the Red Brick is the right shape and size to house an arts center in our community.

Because of its location (the Red Brick is located somewhat centrally to all of these facilities), and because of our desire to coordinate with these local venues and organizations, RBCA can act as a sort of “hub” of arts activity throughout the Westshore area. 

We feel that making better use of existing arts facilities is a responsible use of our community’s resources and is a smart, well rounded approach to providing arts education and programming to Westlake residents and neighbors.

create an arts consortium

We propose the formation of a consortium of non-profit arts organizations located in the “Westshore” suburbs of Lakewood, Rocky River, Bay Village, Westlake, Avon, Avon Lake, North Olmsted, Fairview Park, North Ridgeville and as far reaching as Lorain County.  The potential benefits of this type of arrangement are multi-fold.

By working in cooperation, participating organizations could produce marketing materials that would promote individual organizations’ classes and events, could promote our region as an arts destination, and could offer ticket packages that would allow people to “sample” the offerings of specific types of activities.  Organizations could reach a broader audience, by sharing their mailing lists, and could invite more “trial” consumers by offering reciprocal memberships.

There are examples of this type of cooperation emerging throughout the country and foundation giving trends benefit organizations that work together this way.