In spring 2022, the Tucson Jewish Community Center (Tucson JCC) launched a new fundraising campaign, the Patron of the Arts Society.
Fran Katz, who joined the Tucson JCC staff in 2021 as chief development officer, said her inspiration for the arts society was twofold: to raise community awareness of the many arts and culture activities taking place at the Tucson JCC, and to begin combining solicitations instead of approaching people separately for programs such as the Tucson International Jewish Film Festival and the Sculpture Garden.
“It gets them involved in the Tucson J in many different ways,” said Katz, who hoped to acquire 18 patrons in the society’s first year. To date, there are 25 patrons spanning a range of six giving levels, from $1,000 to $10,000.
The Patron of the Arts Society allows the Tucson JCC to increase its arts and culture activities while reducing fees for those programs, Katz said.
Todd Rockoff, the Tucson JCC’s president and CEO, agrees it is essential to provide arts and culture experiences “without a huge cost barrier.”
“You don’t want really fantastic programming that just isn’t affordable,” Rockoff said.
Arts and culture and Jewish life and engagement programs are “foundational to what we do,” Rockoff said, and bringing them together under one philanthropic umbrella “has helped us to have more agility and depth.”
The underwriting has helped the center increase its infrastructure, with new hires in arts and culture and engagement. With the Tucson JCC now taking the lead on the Weintraub Israel Center (a joint program of the Tucson JCC and Jewish Philanthropies of Southern Arizona), the support also helps create programs such as a recent “Humans of Israel” photography exhibit at the center.
Signature events for the 2023-24 season have included appearances by Dara Horn, award-winning author of “People Love Dead Jews”; Zioness founder Amanda Berman, whose topic was “Can You Be Zionist and Progressive? (Of Course!)”; and Ladino singer/songwriter Sarah Aroeste, along with the annual Celebration of Sculpture event, which featured 60 sculptures displayed in the garden that included nine juried selections, more sculptures inside the Fine Arts Gallery, artist talks, music and youth activities. The film festival, which will run for three weeks in January, and a conversation about intermarriage with educator-activist Keren McGinty in February will round out the season.
“The arts are essential to a healthy, whole life,” said Anne Maley-Schaffner, an arts patron who has renewed her gift for a second year.
“What the Tucson J is doing with the arts, expanding that part of their mission in a very real way — not just talking about it — is really impressive,” she said, emphasizing that programs are open and accessible to the whole community. Many are free, such as the Celebration of Sculpture and all the shows in the gallery.
“I’m not Jewish, but my values are aligned with the Jewish community,” Maley-Schaffner said, adding, “I believe the J is a community for the whole community. It’s inclusive.”
Jennifer Selco, the Tucson JCC’s senior director of Jewish living and engagement, said that “through the generosity of the Patron of the Arts participants, we’ve been able to think more holistically about the series of programming that we want to offer.”
“Our intent is for arts, culture, and community programming to be designed in a way that is both mirrors and windows,” she said. Mirrors allow the community to see themselves reflected in the programs presented, Selco explained, while windows offer an opportunity to learn something new, from a different perspective.
With the 2023-24 season well underway, Selco is starting to map out the 2024-25 program.
To ensure the Patron of the Arts Society doesn’t detract from the center’s general fundraising, Katz has specifically reached out to people in the community who are interested in the arts. The Tucson JCC has always had a broad membership base, not limited to the Jewish community, and the arts society is another way to reach out to the broader community.
As part of that outreach, Katz has arranged programs with other local arts organizations, such as a free event at the Philabaum Glass Gallery in October. She also invites patrons to gatherings at the Tucson JCC, which may include special receptions for the Patron of the Arts Society and the Stars of Giving donors.
Creating the Patron of the Arts Society has been a good way for the J to reach new people as well as those who have not been involved for a while, Katz said.
“We’re very proud to have this,” Rockoff said. “We look forward to year-over-year expanding the investment so that we can expand the return for our community.” JN
For more information, visit tucsonjcc.org.
Phyllis Braun is a freelance writer and editor based in Tucson.