June 2026 Board of Trustees Meeting

The members of the Arts Council's Board of Trustees met on June 10, 2026.

President and CEO, Shannon B. Henry, gave a report on how the Arts Council is doing and the vision for the future.

"Our responsibility is to leave this organization stronger than we found it and position it for the next generation of impact."

She spoke on how Arts Council has focused on strengthening the foundation. Over the past year we have raised organizational standards, created a culture of accountability, strengthened financial oversight, improved operational discipline and focused on long-term sustainability. The key to mastering anything is mastering the fundamentals.

She acknowledged the many hats we wear and the work that must be done every day including financial sustainability (financial stewardship, individual giving, corporate sponsorships and gifts, grant solicitation and management), relationship management (donor and patron relations, partner, tenant and community relations, fiscal sponsorship support), operations (facilities and tenant management, venue and event operations, technical production support), and mission delivery (grant making, programming and community impact, community engagement and advocacy, art gallery and community gift shop operations). The focus is on sustainability, efficiency, and accountability.

Shannon re-introduced the team carrying the mission forward that is now lean, adaptable and mission focused.

This quarter, community leadership and advocacy efforts included:

• Met with Forsyth County Commissioners

• Spoke at City budget hearing

• Spoke at County budget hearing

• Participated in Arts Day & Legislative Day (Board Representatives Ken Pettigrew and Jim DeCristo)

• Engaged State Legislators

• Spoke at the International Black Theatre Festival Program Reveal

• Shannon graduated from Leadership Winston-Salem Insight

We are building relationships, expanding visibility, and advocating for the arts.

We renewed the spirit of the 1949 Society, community leaders invested in a vision. In Arts Council's 75 year history, members of the 1949 Society contributed time, resources, relationships, leadership and philanthropy. Our goal for today is to reconnect with that spirit, cultivate it, and invite others to carry it forward. What began in 1949 as an act of civic leadership remains an invitation to lead today.

This fall, we are building a signature annual tradition with the inaugural City of the Arts Gala. This will be an elevated guest experience, celebration of arts and philanthropy, expand sponsorship opportunities, increase funding impact, and community wide engagement. Under Sue Henderson and Howard Upchurch's leadership, the planning and investment is under way with rigor.

As we look to the next 77 years, our goals are long-term financial sustainability, naming opportunities, strategic partnerships, philanthropic growth, capital and facility planning, revenue diversification. The goal is not simply to survive, the goal is to thrive for the next 77 years.