New director, new direction for Leelanau center
Traverse City Record Eagle, 24 October 2014
BY MARTA HEPLER DRAHOS
mdrahos@record-eagle.com
TRAVERSE CITY — Becky Ross sees art from both sides of the loom: as a fiber artist, and as an arts administrator whose job is to help weave together her organization’s past, present and future.
Ross recently signed on to become the Leelanau Community Cultural Center’s second executive director. She replaces Judy Livingston, who retires after 17 years.
Ross is the former executive director of the Leelanau Children’s Center and a former LCCC board member. She was selected from a field of more than 45 applicants from as far away as Brazil, said Dan Lisuk, LCCC board president.
“She has incredible experience in working with nonprofits in terms of fundraising and grant writing, both of which are significant to our organization,” said Lisuk, noting Ross’s longtime career as a fundraising and strategic planning consultant with private and independent schools internationally. “She has a deep love and history with Leland, which we hold at a high premium since we serve the community. And she had knowledge of our organization so the transition will be easier.”
Traverse City Record Eagle, 24 October 2014
BY MARTA HEPLER DRAHOS
mdrahos@record-eagle.com
TRAVERSE CITY — Becky Ross sees art from both sides of the loom: as a fiber artist, and as an arts administrator whose job is to help weave together her organization’s past, present and future.
Ross recently signed on to become the Leelanau Community Cultural Center’s second executive director. She replaces Judy Livingston, who retires after 17 years.
Ross is the former executive director of the Leelanau Children’s Center and a former LCCC board member. She was selected from a field of more than 45 applicants from as far away as Brazil, said Dan Lisuk, LCCC board president.
“She has incredible experience in working with nonprofits in terms of fundraising and grant writing, both of which are significant to our organization,” said Lisuk, noting Ross’s longtime career as a fundraising and strategic planning consultant with private and independent schools internationally. “She has a deep love and history with Leland, which we hold at a high premium since we serve the community. And she had knowledge of our organization so the transition will be easier.”
Record-Eagle/ Jan-Michael Stump
Ross said her immediate focus is on continuing what the center “does
so well” — from adult and children’s classes to exhibitions, concerts
and films — but with an eye toward drawing in a younger crowd.
“I’d like to see a children’s choir perform, I’d like to see storytelling and younger music, so we do a really great job for our year-round residents,” she said. “There’s a younger crowd who also live here that we can engage. It’s an area to grow.”
Other priorities include developing a strategic plan for the next five to seven years, doubling the center’s endowment fund from $500,000 to $1 million during the next few years and improving the organization’s recognition in the greater Leelanau community and Traverse City.
“If there’s a concern, it would be marketing: how do we let people know who we are, what we do, and where we are,” she said.
The Leelanau Community Cultural Center is housed in the Old Art Building, a Leland village icon for more than 90 years. The state-recognized historic structure near Main Street along the Leland River was built in 1922 as a women’s cultural and social club. From 1939-1989 it was used as a summer art school by Michigan State University — then known as Michigan State College — which still owns the property.
Now the building, with its 20-foot ceilings, wood floors and walls, fieldstone fireplace and curved stage, plays host to everything from fitness classes and weddings to art shows and film, spoken word, coffeehouse and concert series, making it a vital part of life in the tight-knit community.
Ross said she plans to keep the community focus while expanding the center’s “possibilities.” Eventually she hopes to explore collaborations with other organizations like Petoskey’s Crooked Tree Arts Center and Interlochen Center for the Arts.
“You don’t want to be everything to everyone but we don’t want to be a small thing to a small group,” she said. “We want to broaden our horizons that way. We are not and do not have a longterm gallery space where we could put up a show that could last a month, but that doesn’t mean we couldn’t do co-op events with other people.”
Said Lisuk: “One of the things we guard jealously is our relationship with the community. But even the little town of Leland is digitally connected to the rest of the world, so we have to keep our options open while being sensitive to our tradition to the past and the community.”
If anyone understands that, it’s Ross. The Toledo, Ohio, native grew up vacationing in the Leelanau County area, where her grandparents lived. She exhibited and volunteered with LCCC’s annual fall Fiber Festival for 10 years, and joined the organization’s board shortly after moving to Cedar from Marshall in 2010.
“The Leelanau Community Cultural Center’s strengths are the programs that are offered for the community,” she said. “It’s such a great place and program. Right now I’m looking at a room full of artists that come together to paint every Tuesday.”
“I’d like to see a children’s choir perform, I’d like to see storytelling and younger music, so we do a really great job for our year-round residents,” she said. “There’s a younger crowd who also live here that we can engage. It’s an area to grow.”
Other priorities include developing a strategic plan for the next five to seven years, doubling the center’s endowment fund from $500,000 to $1 million during the next few years and improving the organization’s recognition in the greater Leelanau community and Traverse City.
“If there’s a concern, it would be marketing: how do we let people know who we are, what we do, and where we are,” she said.
The Leelanau Community Cultural Center is housed in the Old Art Building, a Leland village icon for more than 90 years. The state-recognized historic structure near Main Street along the Leland River was built in 1922 as a women’s cultural and social club. From 1939-1989 it was used as a summer art school by Michigan State University — then known as Michigan State College — which still owns the property.
Now the building, with its 20-foot ceilings, wood floors and walls, fieldstone fireplace and curved stage, plays host to everything from fitness classes and weddings to art shows and film, spoken word, coffeehouse and concert series, making it a vital part of life in the tight-knit community.
Ross said she plans to keep the community focus while expanding the center’s “possibilities.” Eventually she hopes to explore collaborations with other organizations like Petoskey’s Crooked Tree Arts Center and Interlochen Center for the Arts.
“You don’t want to be everything to everyone but we don’t want to be a small thing to a small group,” she said. “We want to broaden our horizons that way. We are not and do not have a longterm gallery space where we could put up a show that could last a month, but that doesn’t mean we couldn’t do co-op events with other people.”
Said Lisuk: “One of the things we guard jealously is our relationship with the community. But even the little town of Leland is digitally connected to the rest of the world, so we have to keep our options open while being sensitive to our tradition to the past and the community.”
If anyone understands that, it’s Ross. The Toledo, Ohio, native grew up vacationing in the Leelanau County area, where her grandparents lived. She exhibited and volunteered with LCCC’s annual fall Fiber Festival for 10 years, and joined the organization’s board shortly after moving to Cedar from Marshall in 2010.
“The Leelanau Community Cultural Center’s strengths are the programs that are offered for the community,” she said. “It’s such a great place and program. Right now I’m looking at a room full of artists that come together to paint every Tuesday.”
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