Community Gallery Inc

Program Service Accomplishment #2 AVA hosted 13 group and 15 solo exhibitions, representing 620 artists, in its galleries during 2024. Highlights included the 16th Annual High School Exhibition featuring 14 regional high schools; and the lift of blue, an annual exhibition featuring over 50 local artists, thematically supporting mental health awareness in collaboration with West Central Behavioral Health. Our Galleries hosted 6124 visitors for exhibitions, openings, auctions, and artist talks during the year. Kiras Garden and surrounding outdoor sculpture gardens provides a place for inspiration and reflection just steps from the busy Lebanon Green. The vibrant areas feature work by Blaze Konefal, Nira Granott Fox, Torin Porter, Kira Fournier Schore,and Nancy Sepe. The Mudroom, AVAs quarterly story-telling series completed its season with four sold out shows. 28 storytellers tell true stories, told from the heart, in a live setting. Over four hundred people attended this program in 2024. Part III, Line 4b - Program Service Accomplishment #3 AVAs second and third floors are home to 19 studios that are rented to artists of all disciplines. Open studio events and an informal gallery space welcome visitors and support a thriving artistic community. Member artists are invited to showcase, and sell, their work in the newly named Bank Street Gallery.

Part III, Line 4c - Other Program Services AVAs 575 members celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2024 with the culmination of the Seed to Bloom capital campaign, raising funds to care for our historic building, support new staff positions, and invest in our future financial stability. AVA members contributed over 4,000 volunteer hours to support education programs and exhibitions in 2024. Both the Carter Building and the Sculptural Studies Building are LEED certified. In 2024, AVA installed heat pumps in a portion of the Carter Building, making the office and studio spaces more comfortable and reducing our use of heating fuel. New lighting was installed in the Sculptural Studies Building, reducing the electrical usage in the building.