TACA Arts Insider with Ashley Sage
What motivates you to invest in TACA and support the arts in Dallas?
I have been lucky to be involved in the arts for my entire life. I grew up in a musical family in the small town of Tahlequah, Oklahoma. My mom, her brother, and my grandpa made up the “family band” that performed country and bluegrass music all over the state for many years, my parents met performing together in a musical variety show, all of our first job is teaching guitar and fiddle lessons out of the garage, we were very involved in community and school musical theater productions my entire childhood, and one year, my sister and I were the only two that made the Oklahoma All State Choir from our school. I went on to study theater in college and landed in Dallas because of the SMU MA/MBA arts management and business dual degree program. My life and how I was raised simply do not exist in a world without music and theater.
I grew up around a community of small-town, underfunded, hardworking artists who took the arts seriously, even in a place where it is nearly impossible to sustain a real career just as an artist. What I saw when I came to Dallas is that the vision of a sustainable arts ecosystem where artists and people working in arts organizations can make a life happen from that work. That’s just magical, in my humble opinion. In Tahlequah, that’s just not the reality (maybe one day!). To me, TACA fully embodies this vision and is a huge, irreplaceable catalyst for sustainability.
Today, I serve as a board member for Verdigris Ensemble, and we have been so lucky to partner with TACA and receive not only funds, but connections, community, guidance, workforce development, just a remarkable level of support…and we are just one organization! What TACA makes possible in this city is incredible, and that is why I am proud to support.
Was there a standout arts moment in Dallas this past year that really resonated with you?
The experience that has stuck with me most this year was a Verdigris performance in early March. The production was called Song from the Uproar – a contemporary opera that tells the story of Swiss explorer Isabelle Eberhardt. Aside from being a stunning performance, gorgeous vocal music, 360-degree projections that filled the room with art, and a fascinating story, the final scene of the production left me with an image that has brought me a lot of comfort in a time of grief. I lost my grandmother on New Year’s Day this year, and she was an avid stargazer. Just two months after her passing, I attended this performance. The final scene of the opera depicts Isabelle’s death, and the final image of the entire piece is of her body, alone and peaceful, bathed in a night sky of projected stars that fill the entire room. Even typing this, I feel emotional again, because if there is an afterlife, I can imagine that Grandma would choose to spend it among the stars.
How does your professional work intersect with your passion for the arts, and in what ways do you see that connection strengthening our community?
Professionally, I work for CCS Fundraising, a nonprofit consulting firm. I have had the good fortune of working with a wide variety of nonprofit organizations in my role, including in the arts sector. The firm actively encourages us to be involved in causes that we are passionate about as part of our professional development, especially Board service, to ensure we are embedded in the communities we serve and can relate and speak from a place of active experience when we provide client guidance. Because of this, my colleagues serve on their own Boards and maintain memberships in a variety of nonprofit programs, and we constantly attend and support one another’s events. We all collaborate on solutions for our clients, and this collaborative spirit is what I love most about my company. In my work, I have found the joy in identifying where experiences and best practices from other organizations can inform new ways to engage supporters and community members for my clients. I try my best to bring this energy to Verdigris and our development committee, and I think it ties very much to why I believe in TACA’s mission. So often, it is easy to think of other arts organizations as “competitors” for the attention of potential audience members, for donations, and for everything we do. But TACA’s work proves that a rising tide lifts all ships, and ultimately, we are in this together, creating a better world through the artists and art forms that we support.
Ashley Sage works with CCS Fundraising, a nonprofit consulting firm, serves on the board of directors at Verdigris Ensemble, and is a lifelong arts advocate. She shares her passion for supporting TACA and highlights how a thriving arts community benefits both artists and audiences alike.