YourArts Collective hosted the annual “Fore the Arts Golf Classic” to generate support for the Valley’s art scene at the Youngstown Country Club on Friday.
In recent years, support for the arts has increased in many areas. Dani Dier, YourArts Collective chief business officer, said events like the golf outing are important to maintaining the art scene in the community.
“It’s key to our community because arts and culture mean so much to education and youth,” Dier said. “Our orchestra concerts are free to students, so the funds raised with events like this help us to make sure and ensure we’re able to continue doing things like offering free tickets to youth, but also to be able to continue putting on programming like what the orchestra does.”
Dier said it is exciting to see the different community organizations showing up in support of the event in light of recent federal funding cuts.
“This is about the community, […] so to have the community coming in and supporting us to ensure that this is here for the rest of the community, you know not everybody can always afford a ticket to an event,” Dier said.
As some art and culture events go unnoticed, Dier explained that she is looking to partner with different community organizations to make sure local students are aware of the opportunities sitting right at their doorstep.
“A lot of people we hear say, ‘I didn’t know Youngstown had a Symphony Orchestra, I go to Pittsburgh, I go to Cleveland,’ we’re like ‘No, you can stay right here in the community and support your own musicians and your own businesses that are right here,” Dier said.
All proceeds from the event directly benefit the YourArts Collective which is comprised of the DeYor Performing Arts Center, Opera Western Reserve, Stambaugh Auditorium, The Youngstown Playhouse and The Youngstown Symphony.
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