Foothills Art Center
$6 million raised (and counting!) + a 300% increase in arts participation. Our strategic plan and brand attracts local philanthropists and artists alike, for a more vibrant Golden, Colorado.
Sector
Deliverables
Fundraising Campaigns
Strategic Planning
Visual Identity
A landmark building, a leap to take.
For over 50 years, Foothills Art Center has served Golden, Colorado with valuable cultural experiences and educational programs for artists of all ages.
When a historic downtown landmark building became available as a potential new location, the institution faced a gutsy decision: take a leap into the unknown and raise the millions of dollars needed to renovate the faded icon and bring it into new glory, or take the safer route by continuing to operate at the same scale they had for decades.
Loyal fans, but a sleepy reputation.
While they have a loyal and engaged community, most people in the region either didn’t know they existed or had the wrong perception that the center was a traditional, sleepy art center. The excitement of a new downtown location provided the right opportunity to clearly define Foothills Art Center’s vibrant brand and vision for the future.
Plan + brand + campaign, together.
Together with Mission Minded, Foothills developed a bold new strategic plan that placed the arts institution at the center of Golden’s cultural community, grounded in their new vision statement, “We create a stronger community through art.”
Then, inspiring and engaging fundraising campaign tools made the case for local philanthropists to invest in the ambitious plan. The campaign theme “Reconnect” invited donors to transform a symbol of Golden’s past into a new space that welcomes and connects people. It’s a call to action to connect the heart of Golden with the arts, giving their community the hub it needs to build a more creative, vibrant, and diverse future.
Once support had been galvanized, a dynamic visual identity and website launched the newly reinvented cultural center in a way that invited the entire community.
Foothills’ mission to make “everyone’s daily life more connected, culturally rich, and vibrant through art” comes alive through their visual identity and across their website. Bright colors give a sense of both liveliness and openness, with a pattern modeled after the foothills for which they are named.
$6M raised. 300% growth in participation.
After employing the strategic plan, case for support, and rebranding, the art center raised the $6 million needed to take over the historic landmark building in downtown Golden. In that time fundraising events have increased in revenue by 500%, and in the six months since launch, they saw a 300% increase in participants in their arts classes.
The new Foothills Art Center has exceeded expectations, and draws in local foot traffic that deepens the experience of anyone now visiting Golden to see it as more than an outdoor escape and home to an iconic brewery.
