​It's economics.

​Starkville has a thriving arts and culture community… theatre, symphony, film, art education programs and exhibits, the Cotton District Arts Festival, live music, pianos downtown, Sunday Funday… we could continue this list for quite some time.
But... what if the arts went dark?

• What if there was no stage for theatre?
• What if we had no film or movies?
• What if choirs stopped singing, drums stopped drumming, writers stopped writing, and dancers stopped dancing?
• What if artists packed up their brushes, their wheels, their canvas, their pencils, their typewriters, their tools, and left for … somewhere else?

What would we lose next?

• Would we have newspapers or books without writers?
• Would we have a nightlight without theatres, movies, or bands?
• With nothing to do, where do folks eat? Where do people shop?
• Where do they buy homes and build lives?
• If they don’t live here, where do they bank, workout, buy groceries, get their car repaired, get haircuts, buy clothes?
• Would someone retire in a community that has nothing to do?
• When people live somewhere else, who gets their property and sales taxes?
• Would people even visit?
• What business(es) would close?
• Which neighbor(s) will move?

The arts are economics, at a fundamental level.
35,000 people in Oktibbeha County live above poverty. If only 1 in 35 gave just $10/year, that would provide $10,000 for art and art education programming that could fund:

• Art in the Park for 3 years, providing free hands-on access to art activities for families.
• As many as 40 summer scholarships for youth seeking enrichment outside of the school year.
• Art Partners for 2+ years, reaching more than 100 youth in after-school programs.
• All music for #CDAF2020, which is provided for free to the public

Small waves shift tides.
Give up that nice cup of coffee just once (maybe twice) in November and donate to the arts. If you can't donate, then please volunteer. Without volunteers, events like Art in the Park and CDAF would immediately cease. Every act of generosity counts, and each means even more when we give together. If you want to help in other ways, visit this page to see where you can lend a hand.
Help create a community where people want to live, stay, and build their lives. Donate to SAAC for #GivingTuesday. If not SAAC, then consider one of the several arts organizations in Starkville.

It’ll come back to you, we promise.

#starkvillearts #artsgivingday #givingtuesday #annualcampaign