Dear friends,
What a year! I have so much to share with you—where to begin? I’ll start with the most profound moment of this year, which occurred recently during our strategic planning workshop.
I wish you could have been there with me, when, in the last hour of the last day, a participant read the following:
“…I recognize that what I have is a dream that will not reach full realization during my lifetime, and that for it to reach fulfillment will require the participation of people of my community. I also recognize that, while I can look at the destination, I cannot chart the course. Those who are involved must have the freedom to chart the course as the circumstances change.”
The room went quiet. There were few dry eyes. The scope of these words was astounding, resonant and uncannily timely. Why? Because these were the exact words written in our late founders’ will.
Lloyd and Myrtle Hoffman
Hoffman Center for the Arts is now on the eve of its 20th anniversary. It was a magical feeling, hearing those words in late September, with a group of 18 community members, strategically charting the course of HCA’s next three years—just like Lloyd and Myrtle Hoffman had imagined.
Lloyd Hoffman was a member of our community. He was an artist, a visionary and a philanthropist. He and his wife Myrtle left their Laneda Avenue property in Manzanita to the community in their estate plans, in the hopes that it would become a cherished cultural institution. It is worth pausing for a moment to realize that, thanks to your encouragement, participation and support over the years, this is exactly what has happened.
We have set a year-end goal of raising $20,000 to launch HCA into its 20th year of serving our community. I invite you to help us get there by giving generously in the spirit of Lloyd and Myrtle’s vision.
We all know it has taken many more than 18 people to get HCA to where it is today. It has taken all of you believing in the mission; attending events, workshops and shows: volunteering your time in the gallery, the garden, the clay studio, the office and spreading the word to your friends and communities. Having come so far, we are now poised and ready to do so much more—with your help.
You understand the value of arts and culture in today’s world. Your donation today is an expression of your pride in HCA’s success thus far.
Thanks in no small part to your incredible support over the years, HCA has reached this historic moment with more momentum than ever before. Allow me to share with you a bit about how we arrived here…
Sign goes up on the new building!
The Hoffman Center for the Arts was founded in 2003, the result of the vision and benefaction of Lloyd and Myrtle Hoffman. From its inception, HCA was built and managed by dedicated volunteers who developed the facility, ran its programs, and broadcasted them to the community. They recruited stimulating speakers, writers, and teachers for lectures and classes, worked with artists to show their work in the gallery, published poets and writers in The North Coast Squid, created interdisciplinary collaborations with Word & Image, and so much more.
Student painting during a plein air class
By 2021, management of HCA had grown beyond its volunteer structure. After thoughtful deliberation, the Board and Program Leads agreed it was time to hire HCA’s first paid staff. After a wide search, I was selected as the first Executive Director and assumed my position in September 2022. As the search was underway, so was the COVID-19 pandemic. HCA pivoted to online classes in visual arts and writing, drawing grateful participants from up and down the North Oregon Coast and throughout the country. The Wonder Garden remained a place of solace and beauty throughout it all. And, let us not forget that also in 2022, thanks to the generosity of our community, we paid off the remaining mortgage on our building and Hoffman Center became debt free!
Poet Laureate Anis Mojgani reads in the Wonder Garden
As things began to open back up, in-person programs resumed and exhibitions of outstanding local and regional artists were reinstated. In addition to exhibiting prominent regional artists, HCA has begun mounting major historical exhibitions like the Oregon Painters “Landscape to Modernism 1859-1959” exhibit and “John Stahl: A Mini Retrospective.” I hope you had a chance to experience these two important shows which received regional acclaim and put our gallery on the map. This year’s Artist Studio Tour was a tremendous, sold-out success that featured 15 local artists. The tour drew participants from Washington to the Portland metro area. The Wonder Garden’s new shade structures sheltered plants and visitors and added a whimsical, colorful gateway to Manzanita.
This kind of cultural vitality, colorful presence, and inspiring energy is only possible with the support of our community. We are eager to keep it all going in 2024—and beyond. Your year-end gift lets us know that you agree with our direction and are ready to see Hoffman Center for the Arts grow and thrive.
For nearly 20 years HCA has delivered ways to explore, connect and create arts and culture experiences for our locals and visitors, and 2023 exceeded all expectations. I reflect on 2023 as a clarifying year for charting our course.
With my position as Executive Director firmly in place, and many of our programs at capacity, we recently completed a dynamic Strategic Plan that will guide Hoffman Center for the Arts as we thoughtfully build organizational capacity and lay the groundwork to better serve our growing community. We are eager to begin serving our local youth and expanding collaborations with community partners.
Now that we have clarified our values, focused on our vision, and recommitted ourselves to our mission: “to provide opportunities for artistic and cultural access, education, exploration and collaboration,” I am excited that this plan will begin in January 2024 and guide our efforts through the next three years.
Wonder Garden plant sale volunteers
Guided by Lloyd and Myrtle Hoffman’s dream, your support and our Vision: “a vibrant, engaged community in which the arts are integrated into the lives of residents and visitors alike,” I am confident that over the next three years we will grow and strengthen like never before.
I invite you to participate in this exciting time of charting our future course by giving generously to help us meet our year-end goal of $20,000 to continue to be the organization you are proud to be a part of.
There are many ways to give, and whether you support us by contributing towards reaching our $20,000 goal or by the offering of your time, I am so grateful. If you choose to donate this year-end through cash, check, appreciated stock, required minimum distributions of an IRA or a gift to HCA to match with the Oregon Cultural Trust, HCA will receive your generosity by delivering on our mission.
I am immensely proud of the way our small but mighty community, residents and visitors alike, join together to support organizations like HCA. Thank you for proving that rural communities like ours value and deserve opportunities for arts, culture, and education.
From all of us at Hoffman Center for the Arts, we wish you and your loved ones a cozy and comfortable end of the year. For me, the biggest gift and accomplishment of this year has been meeting so many of you. If we have not met yet, please reach out!
With gratitude,
India Downes-Le Guin
Executive Director
[email protected]
