The Arts Center of West Napoleon (ACOW) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization established in 1984. ACOW serves the West Napa Valley with educational programs, exhibits, and community engagement opportunities. We are dedicated to preserving and fostering creativity by developing a culturally diverse community centered around the arts.
I’ll admit, the name might be a bit confusing, but ACOW does more than just offer classes and exhibits. It also does a lot of community outreach, which is why I want to talk about the arts right now.
The arts have been a big part of West Napa Valley’s history. In fact, many of our area’s early pioneers were active in the arts. In fact, the only reason we didn’t have it here long ago is it was almost completely nonexistent. It took a lot of effort to get the West Napa Valley to the point where we have it, but we succeeded.
West Napa Valley has been the home of many of the top performing arts organizations in the US, and I think there are a few things to talk about that have nothing to do with arts. Our arts organization is West Napa Valley Arts in association with the Valley’s Chamber of Commerce. Our president is the executive director of the Chamber, and our board includes many of our area residents.
Here are a few things to talk about. First, our arts organization has an annual budget of $35,000, and we are very proud of that. Most of the arts organizations have to make a lot of sacrifices to sustain themselves. Our organization doesn’t have to. We simply ask our supporters to help us fund what we need to do to maintain our arts organization, and in turn, we need the help of our supporters. We have no other way to do our work.
We are a non-profit organization, and all of our funds come from our own revenue and donations. We use our funding to do a variety of things, from arts to events to programs. We also depend on the support of the community, the city, and visitors to enjoy our arts programs and events. Our annual budget is about 35,000, and we use about 4,500 of that to pay artists who perform in our art programs.
Our annual budget is about 35,000, and we use about 4,500 of that to pay artists who perform in our art programs. So that means we have a staff of about 300 in all of our programming, which includes everything from administrative staff to creative staff. Our executive director is the artistic director, and we have a few other staff members as well. We have about 10 full-time and part-time staff members, and about 10 or so part-time interns as well.
I have to say that the art programs have come a long way in the past five years. We have a number of arts programs that are completely art-related, including our annual Artist and Designer Conference, which is the only one of our seven art programs that does not include a studio visit.
Our Artist and Designer Conference is our flagship event to attract the best artists and designers in the country to come to our office in Napa Valley. We also host the annual Napa Valley Art Fair, and the annual Napa Valley Art Prize, which has been held now for six years, since the late Dan Kibler, who was a friend of ours. We also host the annual Napa Valley Craft and Design Show, which attracts over 500 vendors.
The Arts of West Napa is a great event for anyone who likes to learn about the art and craft history of this beautiful region, or who just wants to see it all in person. It’s also a terrific way for artists and designers to get out of the house and meet our designers and artists.
