LIVING ARTS BLOG

20th Anniversary, Development, Living Arts Story Tara Tuomaala, Director of Development 20th Anniversary, Development, Living Arts Story Tara Tuomaala, Director of Development

20th Anniversary Fund Update!

Across Metro Detroit, our Teaching Artists helped preschoolers get the skills they need to succeed in kindergarten and brought older students inspiring movement, songwriting, and animation experiences that gave them new ways to connect with their creativity and understand academic subjects like math and language arts.

Your gifts to the 20th Anniversary Fund helped make 2019 a memorable milestone year for Living Arts! 


Across Metro Detroit, our Teaching Artists helped preschoolers get the skills they need to succeed in kindergarten and brought older students inspiring movement, songwriting, and animation experiences that gave them new ways to connect with their creativity and understand academic subjects like math and language arts.

Our 2019 after-school program grads have already completed their first semester of college—and other alumni launched dance careers in Montreal and New York City and are pursuing professional and artistic paths across the country!

Achievements like these attracted the attention and support of 115 generous donors and helped Living Arts raise more than $90,000 for the 20th Anniversary Fund—an accomplishment that was a momentous capstone to a remarkable year!

We are indebted to Jason REVOK Williams, whose generosity launched the Fund. We also owe a special thanks to The Peck Foundation for their wonderful investment—and to Gail Mondry, who led the Living Arts Initiative and brought together individuals from around the metro area who believe in Detroit’s youth.

What does this mean for 2020?

With your help, Living Arts is entering the new year—and a new decade!—with plans to do even more for Detroit area youth. Our board and staff leadership are exploring new ways to grow our after-school program and make room for the more than 100 youth currently on our waitlist—and we’re planning exciting partnerships that will help our Teaching Artists have an even greater impact. All of this will be guided by a new strategic plan that will launch later this spring (and you'll be among the first to hear about the details)! Thank you for your generosity and believing in the transformative power of art!

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Development Tara Tuomaala, Director of Development Development Tara Tuomaala, Director of Development

The Role YOU Play in Our Work

This is the time of year when you likely find your inbox and mailbox are fuller than usual with requests for support from worthy organizations like Living Arts.

There’s good reason for it. While big grants from foundations and corporations get a lot of attention in the press, modest donations from regular folks still account for three-quarters of the funds donated across the country. On average, American households donate about $2,500 each year—totalling more than $4 billion—to improve their communities and support people in need.

Photo by: J. Lindsey Photography

Photo by: J. Lindsey Photography

This is the time of year when you likely find your inbox and mailbox are fuller than usual with requests for support from worthy organizations like Living Arts.

There’s good reason for it. While big grants from foundations and corporations get a lot of attention in the press, modest donations from regular folks still account for three-quarters of the funds donated across the country. On average, American households donate about $2,500 each year—totalling more than $4 billion—to improve their communities and support people in need.

Living Arts has been successful on both of these fronts. Major foundation and corporate grants and thousands of gifts from individual donors have played a big role in helping us bring transformative arts experiences to 50,000 youth over the past 20 years. 

Every gift makes a difference. You’ve probably heard it many times—because it’s true! 

While most of us would love to win the lottery and make a newsworthy contribution to our favorite charity, there are many other ways you can support an organization like Living Arts in addition to a year-end or monthly contribution:

  • Social media is the most cost-effective way for Living Arts to spread the word about our work and the impact we are having for Detroit youth. It costs nothing to “Like,” comment on and share our posts, but it’s a big help in getting our message out!

  • Let us know if your employer will match your contribution—it’s the easiest way to double (or sometimes even triple!) your gift.

  • Consider making a contribution in honor of a friend who is passionate about a cause in lieu of a holiday or birthday gift—and encourage your friends and family to do the same.

  • Play matchmaker and introduce Living Arts to others who might have a heartfelt connection to our mission.

  • Explore how you can volunteer. At Living Arts, we have dozens of community members who serve on our board and committees to share their insights, feedback, and professional expertise. We couldn’t do it without them!

At Living Arts, we’re grateful for every gift—and all the ways our community members support our work by sharing their time and their personal and professional networks to advance our mission.

Thanks for supporting our work to bring inspiration and learning through the arts to more Detroit youth!

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Welcome Lex!

We are so excited to formally welcome Lex Draper to the Living Arts team! Lex will be working closely with Director of Development Tara Tuomaala and the event committee planning the next iteration of our annual event (Save the Date for April 23, 2020).

We are so excited to formally welcome Lex Draper to the Living Arts team! Lex will be working closely with Director of Development Tara Tuomaala and the event committee planning the next iteration of our annual event (Save the Date for April 23, 2020).

Lex describes her work as one of a “Community Switchboard Operator”. Making connections between needs and people is her mission.  She owns Down the Rabbit Hole Productions and  From Lex With Love & Associates Event Planning where her team focuses on all levels of event planning, coordinating, and décor services.  She’s also the founder and curator of Middle Finger to Cancer, a fundraiser to support the Relay for Life which benefits the American Cancer Society, which is in its 5th year.  She is a creative professional who specializes in making spaces to support other creative professionals.  Supporting the arts and culture in her hometown of Detroit is her passion. Her recent work includes production of both the 7th Annual Sidewalk Festival and the second season of the Market on the Ave series with Live6 Detroit. She is more than an asset to any team, she is an accelerant. 

Please join us in welcoming Lex to the team!

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