A nonprofit organization supporting, creating and promoting Arts and Culture in Southern Arizona for over 15 years
About the Southern Arizona Arts & Cultural Alliance
The Southern Arizona Arts and Cultural Alliance (SAACA) is a not-for-profit organization that exists to ensure that, through engagement in arts and culture, our communities produce strong, inspired citizens. SAACA enlists artists, businesses, governments and individuals to expand artistic and cultural opportunities in their respective communities. To enhance access to the Arts and to promote cultural awareness, SAACA presents large-scale festivals, events and other programs. The Alliance also promotes educational opportunities in art and culture for both the young and the old.
Interesting Facts about SAACA
• Works with more than 1,000 local and national visual artists each year to create new
opportunities to exhibit their artwork for sale within the community
• Hires more than 400 unique local musicians and groups annually to perform in the community
• Works with more than 100 volunteers to deliver more than 100 community events each year
• Gains support from hundreds of local businesses each year through financial gifts and sponsorships
• Receives no more than $15,000 a year in government support, resulting in all programs and
events being executed through partnerships in the business community
• Joined local charter with the Americans for the Arts to administer the Southern AZ
Business Committee for the Arts
• Collaborates with more than 80 Southern Arizonan arts organizations and not-for-profits
in all genres
• Has grown nearly 100% in the past three years despite a down economy
• Increased an email database from 1,500 to more than 15,000 subscribers in the past two years
• Presents events in Southern AZ Communities: Marana, Oro Valley, Casa Grande, AZ Foothills –
Pima County, Central Tucson, Downtown Tucson, Green Valley/Sahuarita and Saddlebrooke
• Hosts programs, concerts and events, with more than 85% being FREE to the community
Business Committee for the Arts
Administered by the Southern Arizona Arts & Cultural Alliance, SABCA is a membership group comprised of leading corporations and small businesses that have a philanthropic and/or model commitment to the Arts and recognize the link between cultural vitality and creative innovative success.
The Southern Arizona Business Committee for the Arts (SABCA) is a catalyst for Southern Arizona’s business community to leverage art for economic development. SABCA is an affiliate member program of the Americans for the Arts, National Business Committee for the Arts.
Events
SAACA began by raising money to host fine art events, like Tucson
Symphony Orchestra venues and upscale jazz concerts. While nurturing
these fine art roots, SAACA has also branched out to host events in a
wide variety of arts – like craft fairs to sustain local artists, car shows to
honor the artistic techniques employed in automotive restoration
and painting, musical performances featuring all genres and cultures of
music and unique fashion shows presenting local, student and popular
clothing designs.
Opportunity for Families
The organization creates an atmosphere for all ages to enjoy events, with youth entertainment including artistic demonstrations, jump lands, face painting, magicians and illusionists and nature talks geared towards children. With almost every event free to attend, families can experience community and culture on a weekly or monthly basis.
Collaboration
SAACA has designed an innovative program linking the non-profit arts sector to businesses, government and other non-profits through Southern Arizona Business Committee for the Arts. SABCA has pioneered the way grass roots organizations relate to the community through these partnerships by offering advertising, free or discounted tickets for members and employees, a philanthropic corporate image, expert help with events and training programs that link economic development with a commitment to the Arts.
The Alliance has sponsored many student outreach programs throughout the life of the organization, including:
• Musical Magic for Kids—teaching kids about music through interactive
dance participation,
• Musical Gold in the Morning—playing classical compositions to K-12 students through
the school’s speaker system, requiring minimal classroom and teacher time while
ensuring a continuation of fine art forms among youth,
• Master Classes—bringing legendary jazz musicians to students, from junior high
to college, allowing them to learn and interact directly with talented artists that have traveled around the world and been in the jazz scene for decades.
OUR VISION
We exist because we know that the Arts are a powerful vehicle for communication, a way to express ideas that are beyond the capacity of words and a medium for cultural enlightenment. We support the Arts because we know that it changes lives. It can change your mood, reality and existence… if you let it in. We know that art matters because every day we hear the stories from people of all ages of how our efforts have affected their lives in a positive manner. We will continue to strive to preserve the Arts, because we know art can produce a community of stronger, more inspired and conscious individuals. SAACA represents a group of individuals, businesses, government entities and artists dedicated to promoting, sustaining and advancing the Arts everywhere around us.
HISTORY
SAACA is Southern Arizona’s leading art organization, embracing our region’s multicultural diversity and art in all of Southern Arizona through advocacy, education and civic engagement. The organization also provides support for established and emerging artists.
The Alliance grew out of the Greater Oro Valley Arts Council (GOVAC), an organization established in 1997 to provide artistic and cultural opportunities for residents of northwest Tucson. Over the years, the not-for-profit blossomed to become one of the largest art opportunity and community engagement organizations in the entire greater Oro Valley region. In 2009, after several years of community surveys and artist feedback, GOVAC changed names to Southern Arizona Arts and Cultural Alliance and grew into a more relevant and streamlined organization. SAACA has achieved success by partnering with other entities and individuals in order to establish a sustainable, multicultural arts foundation throughout Southern Arizona for many years to come.
Today, SAACA consistently supports artists and communities in the region with a successful events and programs history.
Through the years, the organization has…
• Entered into an agreement with the Town of Oro Valley, designating SAACA as the official Arts agency for the Town of Oro Valley
• Presented the Tucson Symphony Orchestra "Just for Kids" Family Concerts in Oro Valley, making this program accessible to the rural communities in the area
• Administered the Summer Youth Public Art Transportation Project for the Town of Oro Valley which employed 10 youths, ages 15 to 18, for eight weeks to create public art
• Provided "Musicians-in-the-Classroom" for middle and high schools
• Administered public art projects for the Town of Oro Valley
• Infused corporate dollars into the organization to help with financial stability
• Restructured the Board of Directors to include more business-minded professionals and a broader representation of the community at large
• Received the distinguished LUMIE Award from the Tucson Pima Arts Council for Established Arts Organization of the year – for creativity and innovation in Southern Arizona for more than 10 years
• Won national acclaim for annual arts festivals
• Expanded Musical Gold in the Morning program into local public school districts
