Imagine Capital Campaign

IMAGINING AND Building Our Future

On August 25, 2017, Rockport, Texas was decimated by a category four hurricane that altered the course of our great City; affecting every citizen, business and organization.  One of the organizations severely affected was the Rockport Art Association, Inc. (dba Rockport Center for the Arts).  Soon after the storm, insurance determined that the facility the organization had called home since 1984, was a total loss that exceeded $1 million in damages.  The timing was ironic. Four days before the storm, the organization had launched a feasibility study for a capital campaign.  The staff and Board did not miss a beat, and relaunched programs in less than a month, and opened a temporary facility 99 days after the storm.  With determination to move forward, on March 10, 2018, the Board of Directors challenged the State of Texas to Imagine the future for the Arts in Rockport.  

A major gift campaign was launched with the goal of building a new campus on a 1 acre tract of land in the heart of downtown Rockport.  The land was purchased in 2016 for a planned expansion. This expansion was part of the 2016-2021 Strategic Plan developed at a board retreat in September 2015.  On March 2019, the federal government invested in the project with a $5M economic development grant from the U. S. Department of Commerce.  The grant required a $3.7M match, a public partnership, and an organization that already had land.  The City of Rockport is a partner in the project.

The brick and mortar portion of the project- 22,000 sq. ft. in modern, state of the art facilities and a 16,000 sq. ft. sculpture garden is estimated at $9 million.  The project broke ground on February 23, 2021, and construction started April 1st of the same year the day after Kline’s Cafe Building, a historical asset on the property, was relocated for historical preservation to another location.  The public phase of the Imagine campaign was launched at the groundbreaking.  Construction is scheduled for completion September 2022.  The land investment is $900,000, with two additional tracts acquired the summer of 2020 to expand onsite parking.  Thanks to funding from the Texas General Land Office, a 56 space surface parking lot has been built one block away from the campus.

To date, 800 gifts and pledges have been received exceeding $7.5 million.  When finished, the total real estate investment in downtown Rockport will be $12.5 million. Business tourism, culinary, performing, media and literary arts, will be added to existing visual arts and art education programs that were started in 1969, the year the organization was incorporated.

Imagine Champions

$500,000 or more

50ROCK! Society: Foundation Circle
Barrow Foundation
Insurance Proceeds for Bruhl O’Connor Home
Rebuild Texas Fund
Still Water Foundation

$200,000 to $499,999

Anonymous Family
H-E-B
David Mendez
The Brown Foundation

$100,000 to $199,999 

Anonymous Foundation
Kelly and Scott Biar
Molly and Jeremy Fernandes
Bill Hildebrand and Sam D. Williams
Margaret Sue Rust Foundation
McKelvey Charitable Fund
The Ed Rachal Foundation
The Meadows Foundation
The M.R.S. Foundation

$40,000 to $99,999

Anonymous Family
Castaways Thrift Shop
Joan and Lynn Lee
Robert E. Miller
Mary Lynn and Russell Painton
Reliant, an NRG Company
The Ruth Parr Sparks Foundation
Mary and John Willrodt

On the 50th Anniversary of the organization, May 20, 2019, the Imagine Capital Campaign Committee formed the 50ROCK! Society: Foundation Circle.  The Society is made up of individuals, families and partner organizations (below) with close, life-long ties to the Rockport Center for the Arts.  The Society’s aim is to be the foundation for the organization’s future by making a significant investment in the membership’s ability to Explore, Discover, Express. With gifts of $10,000 to $39,999, to date $1 million has been raised.  Opportunities to join the 50ROCK! Society are still available.  To invest, please contact Luis Purón at 361-450-8022.  50ROCK! gifts will be acknowledged on a tasteful and prominent sign near the entrance to the new facility. 

50ROCK ! Society: Foundation Circle Members

Government Champions

Aransas County Long Term Recovery Team

City of Rockport

The Texas General Land Office

U.S. Economic Development Administration 

Imagine Capital Campaign Committee

Mary Hime, Chair
John Jackson
Marion Lee, Lee+ Associates, Capital Campaign Consultant
Hugh Morrison
Sara Morrison
Luis Purón
Tracey Ramsey Bennett
Ron Young

Board of Directors, 2018

Terry Baiamonte  
Mike Collins 
Paula Dean
Angalee DeForest
Pete Fischer
Connie Garcia
Jean Giesey, Past President
Mary Hime, Vice President
Kent Howard
Carol Koutnik
Hugh Morrison, President
Gayly Opem, Treasurer
Mary Lynn Painton, Secretary
Margaret Ann “Missi” Thomas
Ron Young

Imagine CAPITAL PROJECT Team

Larry Beavers
City of Rockport
GrantWorks, Inc.
Richter Architects
Rockport Center for the Arts
Teal Construction Company