At the end of 2003 the Myrna Loy Center can mark several major accomplishments in the past year:

• Film attendance reached its all-time record with 26,081 tickets sold in the fiscal year ending on June 30. In the 6 months since then film attendance continues to maintain high levels with the 2nd best 1st and 2nd Quarters just behind the record-breaking levels of last year. This happened in a year when film attendance nationwide was lower.
• The Myrna Loy Center received over $300,000 in grants from major funders and corporate donors. A majority of this money went to fund the major video and live performance installation, Geyser Land, which garnered national attention including a major article in the N Y Times. This program continued to confirm the Myrna Loy Center's national reputation as one of the country's leading rural arts organizations. Funding came from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Allen Foundation for the Arts, the National Performance Network with support from the Doris Duke Charitable Trust and the Wallace Funds, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Surdna Foundation, the Charlotte Martin Foundation, the Montana Arts Council, and LEF Foundation.
• Other grants fund helped to support the Myrna Loy Center Arts in the School Program. The Myrna Loy Center provided opportunities for Helena area schools, including East Helena, Montana City, Ovando, Lincoln, Basin, Whitehall, and Boulder schools with performance and residency opportunities with Congreso from Peru, Il Teatro Calimari Puppet Theater, Todd Green, Scott Kirby, Tears of Joy Puppet Theater, Aulos Ensemble, the Kennedy Center's Harlem, and the Lost Journals of Lewis and Clark. This work in arts education was recognized by Dana Foundation's report on leading art center education programs in their publication "Acts of Achievement" and by the Kennedy Center in their report on important national partnerships between performing arts centers and school districts. At the Myrna Loy Center, media education continues with classes being offered several times a year in video editing and production.
• The Myrna Loy Center presented 27 national live performance shows in its regular series seasons, and 12 shows that were a mix of local and national performers in the summer series, "Mondays at the Myrna." The Myrna Loy Center also produced or hosted local performances by many groups including the Helena Theater Company, Artisan Dance Theater, Helena Mimeprov, Jason DeShaw, the Helena Symphony players, Western Writers Association, and Helena Music Teachers. Besides being a gathering place for film and live performances, the Myrna Loy Center was the scene for many local gatherings and special events from art shows to receptions.
• Fundraising continues to be a major aspect of the work of the Myrna Loy Center. An annual membership campaign, end of the year fund drive, business sponsorships, raffles, special events, and endowment giving raises 20% of the annual budget of the Myrna Loy Center. Several new fundraisers that hopefully will become annual events helped in this endeavor including "The Wine Auction" held in April/May, the Bad Art Auction, and the Funkin Halloween Pumpkin Auction. The economy over the past two years has made fundraising even more difficult, but the Myrna Loy Center continues to see widespread support in the community. Without this support the Myrna Loy Center would be unable to operate. An active Board of Directors, who dedicates time and energy to keep the organization fiscally healthy, leads this effort.
• The website fulfilled its role as a major connection between the MLC and its audience, locally and nationally. Four years ago, the Board and the staff established a goal of using the website as a central source of information. The website provides on-line ticketing, streaming audio and video for live performance, information on all aspects of the Center, and is continuously daily. A recent report by our webmaster, Allen Lefohn, outlines the success and history of this endeavor at http://www.myrnaloycenter.com/web.htm.

Several key challenges and opportunities presented themselves in 2003:

• Reports of new cineplex's being built was big news all summer with the final result seeing groundbreaking for a Cinemark 8-screen plex in October. This new complex will open in the Fall of 2004. This will bring the number of screens in Helena from 7 to 15 and will dramatically change the dynamics of being a film presenter in this community.
• The potential of an Allen Foundation for the Arts grant for live performance in 2004-05 offers the Center the chance to take more chances on bigger national performing arts events. The announcement of this grant will come in March.
• The fiscal reality of the Myrna Loy Center seems to be moving towards a position of more predictable stability. For over 7 years, a projected deficit of approximately $40,000 to $70,000 had continued to threaten the organization. In 2000, the MLC went through a major reorganization after a real deficit reached $150,000. After raising funds to eliminate that debt, in the past 4 years, the organization has found ways to raise that annual deficit ending each year in the black. This year the budgeting for the first time showed an absence of the large deficit partially from realization of new endowment monies. The Pauline Allen Endowment will begin to provide income to the MLC in February of 2004 and will become fully funded in 2005, tripling our endowment funds from the 2003 level. The Myrna Loy Center continues to develop exciting contemporary arts events for the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Commemoration with the highlight being the PORTAL performance by Project Bandaloop in July of 2005. The Myrna Loy Center is waiting word on several major grants for the creation of work for the Bicentennial in 2005.

In the past four years, the Myrna Loy Center has grown in its role as being a vital center for media and live performance for Central Montana. It has expanded its audience within the Helena area and is meeting more of the community needs than ever before. It has been a major provider of arts education for schools in the past 4 years when educational funding has being dramatically reduced for Montana schools. It has renewed its national reputation as a rural leader and as a major producer of contemporary performance. With acceptance of the ongoing reality of the work needed to keep the MLC alive, all involved in the work of the MLC the past year should take pride in the accomplishments of this important organization.

Ed Noonan, Executive Director
Myrna Loy Center

Past Year-End Reviews

Year-End Review for the Year 2002
Year-End Review for the Year 2001
Year-End Review for the Year 2000

Myrna Loy Center 15 North Ewing Helena, Montana 59601