After six years of providing a wide array of cultural and music programs for residents of the Verde Valley, the Board of Trustees of the Phillip England Center for the Performing Arts Foundation regrets to announce that the organization will be suspending operations effective June 30.
During its six-year history, PECPAF is proud to have contributed some $40,000 worth of musical instruments to students in the Camp Verde Unified School District and technical upgrades to the Phillip England Center.
Unfortunately, despite sustained and broad-scale advertising of its programs throughout the Verde Valley and to the school district community, the organization has averaged only approximately 100 attendees at its performances, including several that were free-of-charge.
Further, despite offering free admission to students for the entire six years, very few have attended.
The Phillip England Center seats 424 people, so performance revenue after expenses has been much less than ideal. During the last year, the organization has largely relied on grants and donations in support of the organization in order to remain fiscally healthy so that it is able to contribute money to the school district for its arts and culture programs and technical upgrades to the Center.
However, this is not a viable, ongoing solution to generating the funds needed to achieve the organization’s primary mission of helping fund the school district’s programs and very much-needed Center upgrades that can also help enrich student learning.
The Board of Trustees is deeply disappointed about the low attendance at its performances, especially given that those who have attended have consistently rated their satisfaction with those performances at 4.5 or higher on a 5-point scale. The conclusion of the board is that at this time, the Verde Valley community is not yet ready to provide the support needed to help ensure that PECPAF’s mission can be successfully realized.
At the same time, the board sincerely thanks all those who have attended PECPAF performances, and especially those good citizens who became supporters through their financial contributions. All remaining funds will be donated to a cause that complements the mission of PECPAF.
