The Bowlus Fine Arts Center is getting back to business.
The coming season, which starts in September, will go back to a full slate of events and programs after the COVID-19 pandemic limited the program for the past two years, director Daniel Kays told USD 257 board members.
The school district oversees the Bowlus; Kays gave his annual budget presentation at Monday night’s meeting.
COVID and inflation will still have an impact on the 2022/23 budget, Kays said, even as operations have returned to normal over the past six months or so.
The facility’s operations budget is set for $522,222 and includes a 5% cost-of-living increase for salaries and a proposal for an additional 4% merit increase for the director. The budget accounts for inflation, higher utility costs and continued supply chain issues, Kays said.
It also includes improvement projects including a fire alarm upgrade and a sewer improvement project to reline a tank in the basement.
To pay for those things, the Bowlus will use funding from various accounts, including reserves, grants and other donations or contributions.
The budget for projects will increase, as the Bowlus will again have more events than it has for the past two years. Revenue from ticket sales also is expected to be higher. This year’s budget for projects is at $398,804, an increase of about $50,000 compared to the previous year.
The Bowlus continued to offer performances even during much of the pandemic, but canceled a handful of events in the first few months. Still, the number of events was much lower than a typical year.
About 17% of the Bowlus’ projects revenue comes from ticket sales, with grants, trusts and sponsorship providing the bulk of revenue. Kays said he would like to see ticket sales increase to cover about 20% of the costs. He said he gave conservative estimates; he expects sales to outperform his projection of $52,000.
He also wants to boost sponsorships.
And with the return to a more normal season, Kays said he expects to return to in-person conferences. Those events allow him to meet with agents and see performing acts to judge if they would be a good fit for the local community. However, some of those events have changed since the pandemic. The conference that previously was most useful is no longer offered, so Kays will check out new events.
THE BOWLUS will have 27 total performances in the 2022-23 season, including 11 educational programs.
The Bowlus is expected to host eight cultural attractions (four music and four family events), three events in the Speaker Series, three in the Recital Series and two symphony performances.
