BAYarts' Moondance still the party of the year

What rain? In spite of the wet forecast, more than 1,200 guests filled the BAYarts campus on Sept. 12 for the ninth annual Moondance benefit, raising over $90,000 for the non-profit. Funds raised by this event make it possible for BAYarts to keep other events free throughout the year, including gallery exhibitions, summer concerts, the new farmer's market and the annual art festival. The event chair is Mary Conway Sullivan, vice president of BAYarts' board and development chair; it is executed by Diana Brewer and BAYarts' special events team.

Each year BAYarts honors an individual who helps advance the message of arts as a means of economic growth and community engagement. This year the honoree was Bay Village resident Liz Maugans, Executive Director of Zygote Press, founder of the CAN Journal and tireless advocate for the arts in northeast Ohio.

Moondance is always a community effort: members of the Bay Village Green Team were on hand to supervise recycling and composting efforts and Gina's Pizza provided free lunch for volunteers setting up the event. Landmark provided the landscape lighting that filled the trees as well as lots of straw to cover the soggy ground. 

"The week leading up to the event, I get asked a lot if we feel stressed," said BAYarts Executive Director Nancy Heaton. "It's true, it is a huge undertaking and we work late into the night getting everything ready. But every year the same team comes together and shines, everyone's got their specialty and it runs like clockwork, its actually great fun. Unfortunately, we also have to clean up the next day. We haven't figured how to get out of that yet."  

Save the date for Sept. 10, 2016, when BAYarts celebrates Moondance's 10th anniversary. 

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Volume 7, Issue 19, Posted 8:59 AM, 10.06.2015