Culture Works, the united arts fund and arts service agency serving the Dayton region, announced today that it is reorganizing staff and programs to gain greater organizational efficiencies, and seeking community input regarding its programs and activities. 

“Culture Works is actively working to align its organizational structure to provide the best possible stewardship of the funds entrusted to us by our donors, and to position the organization to provide increased funding and services for Dayton area arts and artists,” said Martine Meredith Collier, the organization’s president and CEO. 

In July, Culture Works announced that as a result of depleted reserves and decreased donations, allocations to Dayton’s seven major performing arts organizations were being cut for the 2011-2012 year by 30 percent and indicated that this would be a “correction year” for Culture Works.  

“This was not an action anyone wanted to take,” said Collier, “but it was unavoidable.   We had supplemented allocations to the arts groups from our reserves for three years, which is not a sustainable path.  However, the necessity of having to take this action also underscored the importance of Culture Works reassessing all aspects of its programs and operations to insure that it is meeting community needs in the most efficient and effective way possible.” 

Culture Works is actively seeking community input regarding its programs and services through a survey found on the organization’s website, at www.cultureworks.org.  

“Effective organizational decision making is dependent on good information, and good information comes from knowing how your community perceives your value and effectiveness,” continued Collier.  “We sent a mailing to over 3,000 of our donors last week encouraging them to take the survey, and we are encouraging every member of the community to help us by providing feedback.”

All media inquiries should be directed to Martine Meredith Collier, mcollier@cultureworks.org, (937) 222-2787 ext. 220.