Arts Partnership of Greater Spartanburg
In the mid-1990s, WolfBrown worked with civic and cultural leaders in Spartanburg County, SC, to develop a county-wide cultural plan. Among other recommendations, the plan proposed the creation of an organization that oversaw a united arts fundraising campaign and served as the local arts agency for the county. The community jumped at the opportunity to retool its cultural infrastructure and established an agency, The Arts Partnership of Greater Spartanburg, which has thrived since its creation. At about the same time, an initiative to build a new community cultural center was moving forward. That center – the Chapman Cultural Center, a beautiful facility that houses performance, exhibition, classroom, and office space for its resident groups – opened in October 2007.
Understanding that its organizational structure might have to shift to accommodate its new responsibilities as the building operator and presenter, Arts Partnership of Greater Spartanburg contracted with WolfBrown to conduct an examination of structural options for consideration going forward. WolfBrown gathered information about the groups through questionnaires and a series of confidential interviews, and reviewed best practices of similarly configured organizations. Various operating models were examined and three were presented to the board, based on the balance of control and autonomy between the groups and Arts Partnership of Greater Spartanburg. The board opted for a more collaborative model that ensured greater cooperation, especially in fundraising, while preserving the independence of the groups.
Go to Arts Partnership of Greater Spartanburg and Chapman Cultural Center.