From Center for the Arts:
Sixteen ordinary Harford County residents, including two high school students, will be transformed into graceful ballroom dancers as they compete in Harford County’s Center for the Arts annual “Dancing for the Arts” Gala. The gala takes place Saturday, November 21 from 6:30-11:30 p.m. at the Maryland Golf and Country Club, with all proceeds benefitting the non-profit organization that is working to build a home for the arts in Harford County. For the first time, Center for the Arts will also present a matinee performance on Saturday, November 21 from 2:00-3:30 p.m. in addition to the preview that is also open to the public, on Friday, November 20 at 6:30 p.m.
This 2015 Dancing for the Arts celebrity dancers include Katie Cole (Public Relations and Social Media Specialist, JigSaw Marketing Solutions); Barclay Gibbs (Artistic Director, MD School of Ballet & Modern Dance) and R. Anthony Gibbs (Board of Directors, MD School of Ballet & Modern Dance); Landri Taylor Hardriek (Patient Resource Navigator of Oncology Support Services, GBMC Cancer Institute); Kathy Heidelmaier (Senior Vice President, It’s Pay Day); Tony Lisuzzo (Booz Allen Hamilton); David Lockhart (Boeing Site Manager, Aberdeen Proving Ground); Chris Moore (Zayo Group, Manager, Large Project Fiber Engineering) and Lynn Moore (Creative Consultant); Pamela C. Overbay (Harford Community Action Agency); Brigitte Peters (City of Havre de Grace Office of Tourism); Linda Greco Rich (Exit Preferred Realty) and Bob Rich (Saxon’s Diamond Centers); Suzanne Zantop (Board Member, Deer Creek Chorale); and Abby Walsh and Evan Wozniak (both freshmen at C. Milton Wright High School and dancers at the Rage Box Contemporary Dance Center). Each dancer or couple has a fundraising goal and is hosting individual events to help reach that target.
This year the community has more choices than ever to see the dancers in action. The Saturday night gala offers attendees an evening of fine dining, an open bar, a live auction and a performance from Maryland School of Ballet & Modern Dance, but the highlight of the night is the ballroom dancing competition that puts the spotlight on the moves of the “celebrity” dancers as they take the floor and compete for the honor of being named the Dancing for the Arts champion. Tickets are $185 per person and attire is black tie optional.
Tickets for the Friday preview and Saturday matinee are $25 or just $13 for children age 11 and under. Refreshments will be available for purchase. Guests are invited to vote for their favorite dancers at all three events (gala, matinee and preview). The lower-priced tickets for the matinee and preview reflect the Center’s vision to offer cultural experiences that are accessible for all. Last year’s sell-out preview and gala together netted more than $100,000 for Center for the Arts; this year’s matinee is being offered to accommodate popular demand.
Most of this year’s “celebrities” do not have prior dance experience, but regardless of their skills, each dancer or couple will learn new steps and choreography with the help of dance coach and choreographer Tom Rzepnicki and his dance instructor partner, Natasha Pollock. Tom Rzepnicki is a professional dancer and the owner of Dancing With Friends Studio in Harford County, as well as the organizer of the New Jersey Open Championships in Atlantic City. Natasha Pollock studied dance in the Soviet Union before moving to the United States. She now trains with Rzepnicki in all aspects of Ballroom and Theatrical Arts.
Carolyn Evans of Sengstacke & Evans LLC is an event co-chair and previous dancer. She says, “I know exactly how the dancers feel right now. Being a dancer is a challenging and slightly nerve-wracking role to take on! But every year ordinary people step up and volunteer their time and talents to support this cause, and that shows how much all members of our community truly welcome the presence of the Center for the Arts.” Dr. Mary Teddy Wray of Laurel Bush Family Dentistry is the other event co-chair and also a previous dancer. She adds, “This event is becoming so popular that last year’s gala and preview sold out. That’s why we added a matinee for 2015, to make sure no one would miss out on the fun. Get your tickets early to guarantee your seat and help us move one step closer to building a home for the arts in Harford County!”
Sponsorship and advertising opportunities are still available. For additional information, to support a dancer, or to purchase tickets to the gala, dress rehearsal or matinee, visit www.dancingforthearts.com.
EVENT DETAILS
Dancing for the Arts Preview—Friday, November 20, 2015, 6:30-8:00 p.m. $25 ($13 for ages 11 and under)
Dancing for the Arts Matinee—Saturday, November 21, 2015, 2:00-3:30 p.m., $25 ($13 for ages 11 and under)
Dancing for the Arts Gala—Saturday, November 21, 2015, 6:30-11:30 p.m., $185
All events take place at Maryland Golf and Country Club, 1335 E. Macphail Rd., Bel Air, Md., 21015.
all for a good cause…hard working folks behind the Harford Center for The Arts…this is really what ‘community’ is all about.
They may be good, well-intentioned people, but the Harford Center for the Arts is a money pit that will hopefully never see the light of day. Waaaay too big and expensive with no chance of every being self-supporting. How much money do they have left after almost 10 years of fundraising?
If you knew the whole story, you would feel differently. You’re a good man and a pillar of our community, and I thank you for all that you’ve done day in and day out for so long, to make all of our lives better in Harford. So I urge you and everyone to do what you can to learn the WHOLE financial picture from CFA. Unfortunately, I doubt you’ll get any help from CFA in this discovery effort; and i’m talking about the total amount of money they’ve raised and spent since inception., I challenge CFA to post or announce these numbers; It would be easy to do if they have all of their records.
I feel so bad for this year’s unsuspecting dancers, and even more so for the contributors who are acting with good faith & generosity & alas, naivety.
This is so embarrassing.
My post was addressed to the post that was previous to Joe Bel Air’s. Sorry about the confusion. And Joe Bel Air is, unfortunately, absolutely on target.
I watch with fascination as the Center for the Arts’ list of dancing gala related events continues to spawn additional money-extracting events. IS it only a matter of time before we see the following:
-Dancing for the Arts, Preview to the Preview – $25 Thursday
-Dancing for the Arts, Matinee of the Preview to the Preview – $24 Wednesday
-Dancing for the Arts, Live on the Red Carpet of the Matinee of the Preview to the Preview – $23 Tuesday
-Dancing for the Arts, Sneak Peak at Live on the Red Carpet of the Matinee of the Preview to the Preview – $22 Monday
-Dancing for the Arts, The making of The Sneak Peak at Live on the Red Carpet of the Matinee of the Preview to the Preview – $21 Sunday
“The lower-priced tickets for the matinee and preview reflect the Center’s vision to offer cultural experiences that are accessible for all.”
25 bucks a pop, and no drinks included for the commoners. And this is considered affordable, accessible for all? 25 bucks is half a tank of gas.
If they would only have added some soccer fields this project would have been completed 10 years ago. Haford countians love their fields, but the arts not so much.
This is a pretty expensive fundraiser. If this is built, where will the funds come from for recurring operating costs? I am a huge proponent of the arts, but this will require lots of money to operate, especially if they want to keep the event pricing within reach of the average Harford County resident.
Have you read or seen all of their iterations of “plans and studies”? Especially the latest 3? Embarrassing and UTTERLY unrealistic (in my humble opinion). I understand that they’ve raised about $2 million, and have very little in the bank. Center for the Arts: please post your balance sheet, income statements, and 990’s since inception on your website. What are you afraid of? Do you have all of your financial records? You could easily quiet your growing list of detractors by posting ALL of your data, without slicing and dicing it. Why won’t you? Why won’t you prove to us that you’re responsible stewards of the money we’ve contributed; That you’re responsible stewards of the reputation and cash of this year’s dancers and contributors?
I can’t speak to the last ten years, but I know what the Center for the Arts made in 2014 and early 2015.
Revenues for 2014, including a 50,000 grant = roughly 289,000
Expenditures for 2014, roughly 200,000
In the bank account for start of 2015: $40,000
January 2015 – March 2015: A loss of $63,000
“Other Assets” – A Feasibility Study and Architectural Plan valued at $169,000 (if you could hypothetically get someone to buy them, of course)
http://tinyurl.com/nocfa
Christina: Thank you for posting. While you and I may disagree slightly on public funding for the arts ( i think that its okay in the right circumstances), we are totally in synch on the following:
– Transparency is critical! Ask CFA if they have all their financial records preserved and, if not, what’s the reason (there’s a few answers floating around)
– Economic sustainability is critical! Again, if they have raised $ 2million and spent all but $ 40k with nothing to show for it but some signs and donated land, what does that tell us? plus their projections for the cash burn for the new center are so understated and unrealistic, in my opinion, that its embarrassing.
– Oversight has to be airtight! Ask them if they’ve had any Board member resignation issues; ask them who prepares their books and records?
May I ask what docs you have that showed their balance sheet and can you post them here? ( including their budget projections). The only thing I can find are their 990’s and their 2014 isn’t available yet. (CFA, if you’re listening would you mind posting your 2014 990 form on your website. SHould be easy to do!
Some questions to ask them:
-How much raised since inception????? should be a simple answer, right?
-How much spent since inception, and on what???? Should be a simple answer right?
-If, as you stated above, they’ve capitalized some of those feasibility studies, which resulted in their assets being inflated, what accounting firm or CPA allowed them to do that? Do their notes to their financial statements specify what the underlying assets are that are being capitalized?
– Are they uniformly on a cash or accrual basis?
– Are their financial statements audited? Ever been audited?
Just a request: please don’t let them a) cloak themselves in “love for the arts”; or b) threaten that apartments will be built on the site if they don’t get $25 million. Let’s make this argument about CFA and only CFA. Make sense? its the only right thing to do for our community. Thanks for your involvement.