Project Overview and Description
Cedar City Music Arts: Continuing the Legacy through Community Involvement
Cedar City Music Arts has been an integral force in the community, bringing in world-class performances for more than 80 years, from which I have immensely enjoyed and benefited . With ticket sales and apparently community members’ interest in the programs offered by CCMA on the decline, I will be implementing various organizational and incorporation techniques to involve the community with CCMA.
The areas that I’ll be focusing on are working with local community businesses to build sponsorships to help ensure community financial support in the future; working on CCMA’s social media outlets to boost the presence of CCMA in the community eye since the internet has become a digital town square; incorporate CCMA in community-wide events to give community sense of ownership in the organization.
I will be including local businesses in the ticket sales, advertising, and sponsoring of these concerts, instead of limiting it to CCMA "frequent flyrs" and financial organizations. By including a larger sphere of ticket sellers, advertisers, and sponsors, we will be able to unalienate CCMA as the elitist organization it has become in the last few years.
The larger purpose for this project is that CCMA can fully integrate into the community and become one of the unique things that makes Cedar City "Festival City USA." I love CCMA and want others to be able to continue enjoying the wonderful performances they bring to Cedar City. I want to incorporate various techniques and models for community involvement that will be easy to maintain, so the program can have sustained funding and patronage in the future.
Not only will this project, when it’s completed, benefit CCMA, but it will benefit me personally by giving me opportunities to reach out to build personal relationships with those in the community who may share my passion for the arts and bring collaborative spirits, united in purpose.
Too many times I have told people about the amazing performances I have witnessed through CCMA and heard the response, “I didn’t know that was even a thing.” It is disheartening. I want to have the community take charge of CCMA with its funding, promotion, and attendance, and to be excited about it.
Not only do I want the community to become involved in those aspects, but I want CCMA to become actively involved with the local arts scene, too. There are so many things that go on in this town and CCMA is, right now, behaving like an island that doesn’t want to get out of its own sphere and see what is happening back on the mainland. Through vertical integration and cross promotion, I will help CCMA become a recognized presence throughout the arts community.