Everyone is feeling the current economic crunch, it seems, and that includes funding for arts in the area. The Downtown Merchants of Blacksburg and the Arts Alliance present an ArtSpeak event tomorrow morning that will examine funding opportunities.

The Artspeak event is called “New Strategies for Sustainable Fundraising for the Arts” and it takes place at 8 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 26, at the Lyric Theatre in Blacksburg.

ArtSpeak is intended to raise awareness of the New River Valley’s diverse arts and cultural community through monthly speakers, events, and networking opportunities. While the core of the group may have a Blacksburg connection, event organizers encourage all those in the NRV who have an interest in the arts to participate. ArtSpeak is hoping to be a clearinghouse, of sorts, for ideas and solutions to issues facing the arts in this area.

In Thursday’s meeting, Charles Lattimer, President of Cooperative Leadership Institute, and Ben Dixon, Vice President Emeritus of Multicultural Affairs at Virginia Tech, will speak on merchant partnerships and giving circles as sustainable funding sources for the arts in the New River Valley.

Dixon said he was asked to speak because of his involvement in both the New Mountain Climbers giving circle and the Arts Alliance.
Dixon said that a giving circle is an emerging trend, though it started about 10 years ago. He explained that a giving circle is essentially a group of people coming together to act as philanthropists and then they make a decision as a group about what nonprofit cause they want to fund.

Dixon likened giving circles to old-style investment clubs and social clubs that are interested in community issues. He said that there are more than 400 of these clubs in the country in about 44 states. He added that the New Mountain Climbers was, he believed, the first African-American giving circle in Virginia. The club was created about 4 or 5 years ago, Dixon said.

The idea for Thursday’s meeting is to explore innovative and creative ways to assist the arts. The meeting is just the second public meeting of ArtSpeak.

For additional information, contact the Downtown Merchants of Blacksburg at dmob@downtownblacksburg.com or call 540-951-0454, or contact the Arts Alliance at jwirgau@vt.edu.