Good morning! We’re pleased to introduce … Charles Phaneuf, managing director of Joe’s Movement Emporium/World Arts Focus in Mount Rainier. Open 7 days a week and 12 hours a day, Joe’s is home to 25 regional artists and performance groups, offers 3-4 hours of after-school programs daily, and hosts an intensive summer arts camp for low and moderate-income families. Learn even more right here …

1. What was your most interesting recent project, initiative, partnership, or event?

Working on creative ways to build our audience and generate revenue. In the past, Joe’s has been funded largely by foundation and government partners but resources are not what they used to be. We have to grow individual giving and devise creative ways to partner with businesses beyond traditional sponsorships. In the last few months, we did a percentage sale at a restaurant (Hank’s Tavern in Hyattsville) that was also a preview event for shows in our season, so it brought artistic content out to the community and had an audience development goal. We’re working with Hank’s, our local framing shop (Fountain Framing) and hopefully some other businesses to create offers for Deals for Deeds, which we won two weeks ago. We hope that these efforts and others will help build a deeper relationship with our partners and audiences while also funding programs so that we don’t have to cut services and can continue to grow.

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