Foothills Arts Center to close its doors

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WILTON – On April 30 the Foothills Arts Center will close its doors, and the organization will cease to exist. For 20 years the region’s community arts center presented highly acclaimed programs in communities and schools throughout Western Maine.

“When a group of over 200 community members founded the Foothills Arts Center in 1989, our goal was to establish a community arts center, a place where people of all ages and backgrounds could come and watch artists and craftspeople at work, take classes and give them, join in rehearsals and performances, and share stories and laughs with old and new friends,” said Anne Geller, the Center’s executive director.

The organization’s carefully researched business plan included two elements crucial for achieving all that: a fulltime paid director and a building of about 14,000 square feet. Over the years, while presenting programs in schools, churches, and grange halls, Geller and the Board of Directors searched for a home for the Foothills Arts Center and for the continuous funding that would pay overhead expenses and administrative staff and artist-teachers.

Geller explained that “the Foothills Arts Center is not a casualty of the current national economic crisis. We have known since our founding how much money it would take to sustain this operation. The figures have changed remarkably little in 20 years.”

“Ideally, in 2010 we would have begun a gradual, two-year transition for me to hand the directorship over to someone else. Since we have not been able to acquire the long-term funding from the community to pay for my replacement and the Center’s operating costs, the Foothills Arts Center and I, together, must say goodbye to the community. I will continue to be an active member of our community, working on issues and causes that I believe in.”

“I am proud of the accolades and appreciation that I have received from colleagues across the country and from hundreds of community members. It has been my pleasure and my fulfillment to donate 20 years of professional time.”

Geller added that “the successes of the Foothills Arts Center were made possible in large part by the support of my family – my husband, Bill, our daughters, Jennifer and Sarah, and my late parents, Bernice and Julius Cohen. They made it possible for us to donate over $20,000 to the Foothills Arts Center this year to keep the organization viable in the short term and to try to leverage an adequate level of community financial support for the long term.”

Helen Gray, FoothilIs’ administrative assistant, reminisced about her first experience with a Foothills program: “In 1999 Foothills was producing Ma Bean’s Front Porch Memories in Jay. I volunteered for backstage work and during rehearsals I also sat on the gym floor helping Anne prepare a mailing for Foothills Summer Arts. Soon after, she hired me to assist her year-round. I have learned so much while working with Anne and I appreciate that we worked together as a team. I will miss everything about working at Foothills.”

Foothills’ Board President Andrew Sturtevant summed up the 20 years: “Organizationally Anne Geller has been the heart and soul of Foothills. Her love of the arts and the Foothills region, as well as her relentless pursuit to run a professional organization has been astounding, and I have learned so much by observing this remarkable woman.

“Though I have immense sadness that the time has come to cease operations, I have such deep joy and satisfaction at having been a part of it all, both performing in the original musicals and serving on the board. The many lives touched by Foothills programs all remain as a living legacy of the Foothills Arts Center.”

For more information about the Foothills Arts Center and the ending of this era of creative learning and joyful exploration, please contact Anne Geller at info@foothillsarts.org.

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  1. As a former participant and mother to two young children in this community I am deeply saddened by this news. I had hoped to one day share the enrichment I experienced with my children. I would like to thank Anne for her years of service and dedication to this program and the countless children of western Maine whose horizons were broadened by her influence.

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