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Dear Friends of Cerimon House,
This December, Cerimon House’s board and staff hope you are safe and warm! We have good reports, and a request.
We find ourselves, like many, working hard to face the challenges of 2020, but we remain grateful for all the good we have seen -- some of which Cerimon House has had the good fortune to create with your support.
Indeed, Cerimon House’s culture is imbued with an “attitude of gratitude.” It is impossible to despair with gratitude in our hearts. So, in that spirit, I have a list of five things I’m grateful for about Cerimon House in the year 2020.
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Gratitude for Cerimon House founder and Artistic Director Emeritus, Randall Stuart, and his dear friends who gathered in early 2009 -- more than a decade ago! -- to commit to creating Cerimon House as a “Sanctuary for the Humanities.”
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Gratitude for all the Cerimon House board members, past and present, whose passion for the arts is humbling. They know that the arts help us express the inexpressible.
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Gratitude for current volunteers, staff, board, and new friends who support our pandemic pivot, preserve our mission, protect the health of our artists, and harbor the hopes and works of you and our arts community.
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Gratitude for essential funding provided in 2020 from a) Oregon Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) as part of the 2020 Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act of 2020; b) the federal Payroll Protection Program (PPP), and c) The PDXCares Venue Support Program being delivered by the Regional Arts & Culture Council.
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Gratitude for those who tuned into one of our live stream concerts or events this year, followed us on Facebook, joined our mailing list or contributed financially to the endeavor. That support is our lifeblood.
The use of our building has been limited during the pandemic -- and now it is essentially impossible. Still we continue to connect artists with our community. We are doing this by hosting weekly informational and uplifting video-based conversations online with locally and nationally prominent artists. Stay tuned to www.cerimonhouse.org for updates on the dates, times and topics of those conversations. We are also building our content library of amazing performances and interviews that will be available soon online. It’s exciting! Each of you helped make it possible.
Your support -- and the incredible energy of artists -- has made a difference this year. Your passion is shared -- indeed, we have been fortunate in receiving timely grants and gifts, especially from an anonymous donor in Oregon wine country who has given more generously than any other this year (thank you!).
Only with your help will we be able to make ends meet with the complete loss of rental income due to COVID-19. We give to the artists and storytellers in our community through our collective commitment and your financial support. Please join us in lifting up the arts. Their voices lift our community ever upward.
With gratitude and hope,
Will Patton
Board Chair
PS Give what you can at cerimonhouse.org/donate. Timely donations may be tax-deductible for 2020. Your gift, no matter the size, keeps the dream alive! If you are comfortable sharing this appeal to friends and family who love our community, the arts, and the humanities, please do! Thank you.
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