The
Opening
of a New Era
For Local Art
SCHOLARSHIPS
T
he success of any business ultimately relies on relationships, which is why
marketing is the backbone of any business, as it provides the communication that
forms the relationships that keep the business running.
Marketers for non-profit organizations should be entirely transparent and honest.
Every single initiative or program that they implement is an experiment — they
don’t know if it will work, and can’t guarantee it will work — but they can paint a
picture of the goals for the program and why they are implementing it.
SAUL RIP Hansen
Spokane Valley Arts Council
COUNCIL BOARD MEMBER
Saul Rip Hansen - works for
Bernardo|Wills Architects, and is working
towards his architectural license. He
was born in Spokane and raised in
Elk, Washington, just an hour north of
Spokane. He obtained an associate
degree in architecture and a bachelor
degree in illustration. Saul is a board
member on the council for SVAC,
with responsibilities including their
scholarships, as well as maintaining
the website and generating marketing
material for SVAC’s brand.
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ART CHOWDER MAGAZINE
To remain true to that mantra, the Spokane Valley Arts Council admits that their
art scholarship program has indeed been an experiment. Measuring the success of
the program has been accomplished by the simple question of whether or not the
scholarships are claimed each year. There have been several years when no students
even applied for the scholarship, and other years when the scholarships have been
awarded, but the recipients never claimed the funds.
After shelving the program to assess what wasn’t working and why, the Spokane
Valley Arts Council has reconfigured the art scholarship program, with a much
broader and inclusive scope to encourage and increase the number of entrants for
the scholarship.
Jill Smith, a pioneer for the local pottery scene, recently said when questioned about
the Spokane Valley Arts Council, “It’s the greatest local arts organization nobody
knows about.” With a recent revamp of the organization’s website, in tandem with
new changes to the scholarship program, hopefully all that’s about to change.