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Steamboat Springs — Walking down the halls of the guest lodge at Three Forks Ranch, supporters of the Steamboat Springs Arts Council admired dozens of pieces of Western art Thursday as they perused a collection worth a considerable, though unspecified, chunk of change.

"I think this is the closest to beauty human beings can create on Earth," said Arts Council Executive Director Marion Kahn, who gazed up at the lodge's vaulted ceilings and over to paintings by featured artists Craig Tennant, Maria Bell-Salter, John Tayson and Wayne Cooper.

Twenty-six people, including Arts Council staff, board members and supporters, took a shuttle bus to Three Forks as an arts outing and fundraiser for SSAC. The ranch donated its facility, food, wine, wait staff, art tour and time for the event.

"It is a fundraiser and an incredible opportunity," Kahn said, adding that she hopes the event is the first of several arts outings. "This would be hard to top."

The Three Forks art collection, much of which was commissioned for the ranch lodge, could serve as an inspiration for the arts council, as the nonprofit group works to strengthen its organization and fundraising efforts.

A new direction

Ben Spiegel - who did the painting on the Three Forks lodge and serves as vice president of the SSAC board of directors - said the Three Forks tour generated donations from those who got on the bus. He hopes it will be a first step toward a new brand of art event, in which fundraising and entertainment are not mutually exclusive.

"The arts council is in such a new growth period. We have new management over the past year and a half, and the board has gotten a lot more active, so we're trying to create that financial success as a nonprofit," Spiegel said. Possible fundraisers could include a concert or night of theater that features heavy appetizers and drinks. The goal is to put SSAC in a place where it can continue to support its affiliates in various disciplines and put money in the bank at the same time, he said.

"It (the Arts Council) is so diversified, helping everybody put their programs together, that they've been in a place to facilitate those programs but have never had an ability to profit so they could keep their doors open," Spiegel said, adding that a new facility for performing and visual arts could be a long-term aspiration.

"That's our new five-year goal, where we really provide a service to the community with good programming and good fundraising," he said, explaining that keeping the programming diverse - to include visual art, music, drama and dance - is key.

Finding new funding

Like many other nonprofit and community organizations, the Arts Council eyes its goals in the face of potential cuts in government funding. At a Tuesday meeting, the Steamboat Springs City Council considered a plan that would cut community support funding by about 50 percent. That consideration comes about a month and a half after community groups requested a hike in support spending, from $1.77 million in 2008 to $2.32 million for 2009.

"We're obviously looking at every possible opportunity, just because I think all of the nonprofit organizations are fearful about potential cuts in city funding," Kahn said. Reshaping existing events around a potential loss of income will take some time, she said, and not all funding needs are related to city allocations.

Kahn said the Arts Council has discussed new programs, including youth arts mentoring and a short film series, as part of "our own internal mission."

This fall, the Arts Council plans to present a two-week pilot program in children's theater led by local drama teacher Rusty de Lucia, as well as a longer youth mentoring program in videography led by SSAC board member Kelly Anzalone.

"I think kids need a place to succeed. If they can find an outlet that helps them be successful, I think that will carry over to every part of their lives," Kahn said of the youth programs.

The children's theater program has full underwriting, and the mentoring program will be covered for the most part by the roughly $3,000 in donations taken at this year's Art in the Park.

In 2008, the Arts Council received $40,000 in city funding, with an additional $8,500 in re-granting from the Yampa Valley Community Foundation, Kahn said. The rest of the organization's $300,000 operating budget is left to membership fees, affiliate dues, business grants, foundation grants, sponsorships and earned income. Spiegel hopes to supplement existing funds with a more active, business-minded outlook.

"It's a great group of people. It's got good energy, and there's only one direction to go and that's up," he said about the Arts Council board and membership.

"We've been around a long time, and it's weird to see a nonprofit that's been this substantial in this community in the past, to have weaker legs underneath it and really be in a position where it's a pro-growth kind of environment," he said, adding that community support is imperative to establishing the Arts Council as a sustainable, and then profitable, entity.

"Hopefully, in 10 years we can say, 'Look, we're stepping ground into a new facility,'" he said. "And until that day is here, I've got a whole bunch of people holding hands with me and saying, 'This is where we're going.' It's a ways away."

- To reach Margaret Hair, call 871-4204

or e-mail mhair@steamboatpilot.com.