Center for the Arts of Homer, Inc. is a not-for-profit, locally-owned arts venue. We are a community of artists, art lovers, music makers, and creators. The Center for the Arts is well known for hosting national music concerts, but we also feature film screenings, a community theater program, and a professional art gallery that showcases artwork by regional, national, and international visual artists. The Center also hosts classes, workshops, and programs throughout the year, and adds to the economic vitality of Homer Village, Cortland County, and the Central New York region.
Our newly-air-conditioned facilities are available at modest rates to other community organizations and individuals for a variety of educational purposes, events, and private functions. Not-for-profit groups receive discounted rates.
200 years after an early Baptist congregation began the planning that would eventually lead to the raising of our building, a small group of neighbors came together in 2001. The First Baptist Church of Homer had outgrown its space and planned to leave the building. What would become of it? A core group of founders — neighbors and community members — met with church leaders and held meetings to devise a plan to save the old church and create something new for the community.
A founder’s group was formally established by volunteers who brought considerable expertise and energy to the challenge. Their mission was to preserve the building as an important part of Homer’s history – and the gateway to the downtown Homer business district, NYS Scenic Route 90, and the Homer Route 281 business district. They recognized that preserving the building was integral to Homer’s significant National and State Historic Register District. They also focused on giving it new community life as an economic, social, and cultural anchor on the Village’s Main Street and the historic Village Green.
The Center was formally established as a non-profit organization with 501 (c) 3 status in 2003. Many of the original Center for the Arts Founders group, supplemented by community members, created a Board of Directors to serve as policymakers and catalyze the grassroots support that was evident since the Center’s first public event in November 2001.
Today, board members and volunteers work with the small professional staff to contribute to support functions such as marketing, programming, operations, facilities management, and development. Together, the Center for the Arts volunteers are the true heart, soul, spirit – and hands-on-deck – of the organization and a huge reason that the Center is a vibrant, dynamic, efficient, and effective community arts center and venue. Volunteers are at the very “center” of the Center for Arts of Homer’s success story over its two decades.
Having just celebrated our twentieth anniversary, Center for the Arts continues to innovate under its new Executive Director, Ty Marshal – who has had extensive experience working with various arts and cultural organizations.
Under Ty’s leadership, the Center is focusing on building a sustainable growth strategy focused on programming excellence, expanded offerings and outreach, new audience development, organizational capacity-building, and resource development.
