S P A RK I NG T HE I NNER
ARTIST
SAWTOOTH SCHOOL FOR VISUAL ART
L
ONG BEFORE WINSTON-SALEM established an official arts district — or became known as the City
of Arts and Innovation — a core of the city’s creative community was already thriving inside the historic Sawtooth building downtown.
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“We are not just a community art school. We are a community of people. You are not just finding the artist in you, you are finding lasting friendships.”
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the winston-salem foundation annual report
That’s where the Sawtooth School for Visual Art has provided inspiration to aspiring artists young and old, of all skill levels and backgrounds, since 1982. And now the premier community art school in the Triad is able to serve more students than ever before. “We couldn’t have done it without the Foundation,” says JoAnne Vernon, executive director of Sawtooth School, which began more than 70 years ago as the Arts & Crafts Workshop. “We are in a much stronger position than we were five years ago, in terms of systems and infrastructure, but also because of this incredible team of people who are here.” The Foundation has funded several new positions at Sawtooth in recent years — one in sales and marketing, another in development — that helped set the nonprofit on a path of strategic growth. As a result, Sawtooth has increased its donor base fourfold and launched a major gifts campaign that is close to reaching an ambitious goal. Last year the art school offered over 540 classes with more than 6,100 students enrolled, generating record revenues. Classes range from ceramics, photography, digital arts and woodworking to metals, fibers, glass, painting and printmaking, among others. “It has transformed our organization,” Vernon says. “We went to the Foundation and said we really need support getting this development program off the ground. We had nothing — just some Excel spreadsheets and QuickBooks and paper files, but no real information about our donors and how they were connected with us.” Sawtooth also cultivates unique partnerships in the community that provide arts experiences to an array of students through schools, businesses and other nonprofits. For example, its Healing and Wellness through the Arts program offered 32 workshops and
classes last year to nearly 1,000 cancer patients, survivors, family members and caregivers. And Sawtooth’s collaboration with Carter G. Woodson Charter School provided weekly art classes that would not have been offered given the school’s limited resources. The classes culminated in an exhibition showcasing the students’ work. “The whole gallery was filled with their artwork — it was literally floor-to-ceiling — and it was so beautiful,” Vernon recalls. “The school brought the entire student body over here, during the course of a week, to see what their peers had done.” Elizabeth Repetti was among Sawtooth School’s biggest fans even before she joined its board of directors a few years ago. “I brought my kids here because my mother took me to art class when I was young, and I wanted my children to have the same experience,” says Repetti, now president of the board. “Then I started taking classes here more than 10 years ago, and I’ve probably taken 40 classes since then. I’m hooked!” IN 2015, Sawtooth was awarded $24,000 in support of a development assistant for a second year. In the past 10 years, the Foundation has provided Sawtooth with six Community Grants totaling $166,600. Left: Participants in Sawtooth’s summer art programs Above: JoAnne Vernon and Elizabeth Repetti
the winston-salem foundation annual report
B U I L D I N G CO M M U N I T Y TO G E T H E R
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