Our History
The High Plains Arts Council was incorporated in 1985 for the debut season of 1986–1987. Most performances have been held at the High School Auditorium in Sidney, Nebraska. Our area consists of small rural towns, most of which participate in the Arts Council and are within a twenty mile radius of Sidney. The founding eleven board members chose the Mission Statement of: The purpose of the High Plains Arts Council, Inc., will be to provide the widest variety of cultural activities by developing, promoting, and supporting the visual, performing, and creative arts for all people within the High Plains and surrounding areas; and to obtain and secure methods of providing financial stability therefor. Our mission statement today may be a little less verbose, but the meaning has held.
The founding board members were from seven communities in Western Nebraska. In fact, the articles of incorporation required that no more than 50% of the board members could reside in Sidney. As time has passed that requirement is no longer being honored, but is still sought. We continue to strive for the same variety that existed in 1985, but realize that geographical diversity can be challenging.
Over the years our performances have been held in the High School and, in 2009, we had a very nice upgrade in our venue. A new school with an outstanding 649 seat auditorium was built. It is a fantastic facility and greatly enhances our mission. We have offered 248 productions to our communities over the past 33 years with an average of eight shows per year. This commitment and dedication of our board holds true for over three decades.
The council members serve on a volunteer basis except for our grant writer who receives a small monthly stipend. Grants through the Nebraska Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts, and Mid-America Arts Alliance help fund our programs. We also pursue local grants. Through focused efforts, we have greatly increased our memberships, which has been a financial benefit to our organization. We believe that writing personal notes and follow up phone calls to our consistent members encourages them to continue supporting the fine arts. Personal contact with as many newcomers to our community as possible has also increased our memberships and audience attendance.
We are a non-profit organization serving people in rural communities. We work hard to keep our membership pricing reasonable and are sensitive that a large proportion of our audience is on a fixed income. We feel that is what our purpose is all about: providing excellent performances to the residents of Cheyenne County in a manner that they enjoy and for a reasonable price.
