Dear Cornerstone Friends,

"It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!” The words of this song first recorded by Johnny Mathis in 1963 ring throughout this time of year as a tribute to a holiday season of love, laughter, and life.

It is a wonderful time of the year for us because we get to reminisce about all of the great things that happened in the life of Cornerstone Center for the Arts over the past twelve months.

We have had a tremendous year. We painted the first and second floors of our 125,000 sq. ft. building. We had more than 1,650 students in our arts classes, increasing our numbers by twenty-four percent. We surpassed the number of people in our building with over 104,500 guests. We gave more than twenty presentations to service clubs, student groups, and professional organizations.

In addition to these highlights, we acquired two dance troupes, one of which is now the new Cornerstone Dance Company. We were also voted 2009 “Best Banquet Facility” by the community. Most notable, Cornerstone and the City of Muncie hosted the 2009 Governor’s Arts Awards, bringing people together from across our state to recognize arts contributions in Indiana.

We had more weddings, more receptions, more programs, more students, more publicity, and more recognition than ever before. We also grew in our number of donors, sponsors, grant dollars, and other contributions.

Although we struggled, like almost every non-profit organization across the nation, we persevered. We saw major cuts in arts funding, and we saw a decrease and delay in overall giving. We made some tough decisions. We cut salaries. We cut expenses. We worked smarter and harder.

That is why we need YOUR help.

You have shown yourself to be a supporter of our community and a supporter of the arts. If you have already donated to Cornerstone this year, THANK YOU. If you have the capacity to give more, PLEASE DO. If you have not donated to Cornerstone this year, WE NEED YOU! We need you to help us continue to bring quality programs and events to our community.

You can go directly to our website, www.cornerstonearts.org, and make your donation using your credit card. You can also mail your year-end gift to P.O. Box 454, Muncie, IN 47308.

We hope that during this most wonderful time of the year, you can reminisce on an experience of love, laughter, and life at Cornerstone. We thank YOU for a memorable year, and we look forward to the new year and new opportunities for Cornerstone and our community.

With sincere hearts,

Tara Smalstig                                           Terry Whitt Bailey
Board Chair                                                       President & CEO