After decades of close collaboration and support, the Arts Council for Chautauqua County and the Reg Lenna Civic Center will merge into one organization. The boards of both nonprofits have voted on and approved the merger with the expectation that it will be finalized by late summer.
The Reg Lenna Civic Center and the Arts Council for Chautauqua County complement one another in mission and operations. With a ninety-year history of delivering performing arts, cinema and productions from community organizations, the Reg Lenna Civic Center will continue to expand these traditions with the merger.
Arts Council for Chautauqua County, which formed in 1979, has grown into a countywide agency whose main focus includes servicing arts organizations and artists, presenting arts education for regional youth and operating the 3rd on 3rd Art Gallery.
Once the merger is complete, both organizations’ programming will continue as before, but as part of one larger and more sustainable body called the Reg Lenna Center for the Arts.
“This is an exciting time for both organizations as we merge into one entity,” said Board President Nathan Arnone. “Both organizations work towards growing art programming. By merging, community resources can be maximized and used more efficiently, allowing us the ability to develop an even richer arts community.”
This merger was made possible by funding from the Sheldon Foundation, the Gebbie Foundation, the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation, and the Lenna Foundation. Through their support the Reg Lenna Center for the Arts will continue to inspire, entertain, and use the arts to contribute to the economic development of the greater Jamestown region. Visit artscouncil.comand reglenna.com for more information.
