Time and again the arts have proven to be an important source of optimism for our community: the arts have fueled community development -- creating opportunities for entrepreneurs and generating revenue for public reinvestment; they have inspired learning – reaching students who have given up on traditional classes or workers seeking new careers; and they have brought our diverse communities together to honor and celebrate important occasions and moments of our lives here in the Hudson Valley.

This year as we celebrate the region's past and as we prepare to face challenges ahead, we need the arts more than ever for strength, joy, shared purpose, and positive outlook. The Dutchess County Arts Fund not only ensures that everyone has access to shared cultural resources but, like the arts themselves, the Arts Fund provides us with the opportunity to create something of lasting value that will better our communities now and in the future.    Please join me in supporting this community-wide campaign.

Tom Sipos
2009 Arts Fund Chair

The Arts Fund of the Dutchess County Arts Council is a community-wide partnership bringing together members from all business sectors, political affiliations, economic levels, walks of life, cultures, and generations to build the resources needed to encourage and fortify one of our region’s most valuable and dynamic resources -- the arts.

Since its inception in 1979, the Arts Fund has helped the Arts Council invest almost $10 million in cultural organizations and activities that continue to be a vital to communities in Dutchess County and the Mid-Hudson Valley.