The Van Wezel Foundation, 777 N Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, 941-366-5578.

In the July/August 2022 edition of SRQ Magazine, we interviewed Cheryl Mendelson, CEO of the Van Wezel Foundation as part of our In Conversation feature about nonprofit leaders. Below is an excerpt published in the magazine in which Mendelson shares her insights with SRQ readers on community growth and changes.

What are some of the goals you'd want to see fulfilled in the next three years?

We've got three key goals, the first one is to continue our investment in serving the community in arts education and integration in deepening that work, but also adding an element of outcomes measurement in efficacy. It's important that we understand the investment and the impact that it makes. And so, a big focus for us over the next three years, is taking a look at measurement and identifying new partners in the community who believe also that the arts can play a deepening role in the work they're currently doing. The second one is continuing to engage the community and their feedback on the aspirations they have for the performing arts center. We're calling our community engagement, a place for ideas, a place for the arts, a place for you. And we really, really want people to feel the element of where artists, learners, and audience all intersect, that's really the secret sauce of Sarasota. And so, we'll continue to grow and develop that communication over the next three years. And then, of course, the main big goal is in three years, we will have the shovels in the ground.

The Van Wezel Foundation, 777 N Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, 941-366-5578.

To read the full article, click here.