Mack, an artist from Round Pond, chairs the board that is leading the effort to launch the newly formed community arts organization River Arts at Round Top Farm. Still very much in its formative stage, the board that Mack chairs replaces the one that governed the former Round Top Center for Arts, based in Damariscotta for nearly two decades.
Because of financial troubles, Round Top closed in April.
Mack and her 14-member board have been meeting since May to chart a course for the new arts group. Part of their discussion involves the possibility of partnering with other arts organizations, including Heartwood Regional Theater and the DaPonte String Quartet.
"People are waiting with bated breath to find out what's going on and when it will happen," she said.
Mack and the River Arts strategic planning committee hope to wrap up their work in mid-February and present a plan to the community in late winter or early spring. In a perfect world, River Arts would offer arts programming as early as the spring, she said.
The story of Round Top and its River Arts successor illustrates the challenges that nonprofit arts organizations face in today's financial climate, as well as the role of a board in shaping and executing vision and strategy.
A year ago at this time, the former Round Top board announced it would cease operations in the spring.
The news shocked the community. Round Top had been around for 19 years and by appearances was a stable arts organization with an annual budget of about $300,000.
It offered classes, presented visual arts exhibitions and hosted musical performances in an old barn that became a symbol for arts in the midcoast region.
In its previous life, the 15-acre campus had been home to a dairy farm, with rolling, tree-covered hills that stretched down to the Damariscotta River.
Round Top populated the meadow with sculpture, creating an idyllic setting for arts programs.
The center's failure struck hard at the core of the community, Mack said.
"I cannot imagine this area without an arts center," she said. "This place is rich in talent and tradition."
The depth of talent was never in question. The issue for Round Top involved funding.
Judy Tarr, the previous board's president, said the arts center could not meet its $300,000-a-year budget. For the fiscal year ending September 2006, it had a deficit of $106,000.
Rather than ask supporters for donations, the board decided that ceasing operations was the smarter thing to do.
With about 250 nonprofit groups in Lincoln County, supporters were tapped out, the board said.
If the center couldn't support itself, it should go out of business, it reasoned.
Tarr said the board felt hamstrung, and had few options.
"This isn't the first time this organization faced this decision," she said in January 2007, announcing the center's closure. "But this is the first board to make the responsible decision."
As she followed the story in the news, Mack disbelieved that Damariscotta couldn't support an arts center.
She understood the financial situation, but felt there had to be other options besides closing and throwing away nearly two decades of work.
She was among a core group of arts supporters who rallied to save the center. After a series of meetings with the Round Top board, Mack and a few others negotiated the opportunity to keep the arts organization alive with a new name and mission and a clean slate.
The new board spent the past nine months surveying the community to determine needs and interests. Survey results suggest that River Arts can survive with a programming approach that combines art and nature, taking advantage of the center's riverside location and its historic association with the Damariscotta River Association,...
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