Mark Poole is a retired Air Force veteran and small farm owner who found a renewed creative passion in clay—hand building, wheel throwing, and sculpting—and now enjoys teaching pottery to help others discover the art form. He joined the Desoto Arts Council in 2016 to promote his pottery and soon stepped into leadership as council president during a major transition.
Transcription of episode:
[on-hold music] Good evening. Welcome to this episode of Community Connections. I'm Dr. Heather Carpenter, executive director of the Institute for Nonprofit Administration Research at LSU Shreveport. And this evening's episode, I'm lucky to be joined by Mark Poole, who's board president of DeSoto Arts Council. Welcome to the show, Mark. Good to be here. [chuckles] Great. So can you tell us a little bit about your, uh, organization, a little bit of its mission, its history? Um, the organization started in, uh, nineteen eighty-seven is when we first got our, uh, charter with the state. Been going in different forms since then. Um, our mission is to foster the arts in DeSoto Parish and the surrounding area, and we concentrate mostly on, um, residents and organizations in the parish. Okay, great. Tell me about some programming that you do with your organization. Um, we really don't have a lot of programming. Our, our main mission anymore, we've kind of changed over to this, uh, a few years back, is to, uh, take the money that we receive through donations- Mm-hmm ... from local residents and some corporation, uh, donations, and we channel that back out to artists and organizations in the parish that deal with, with the arts. Okay, that's great. Awesome. So, um, how many, uh, arts organizations are there in your- In DeSoto? In your parish? [chuckles] Us. Yeah. [chuckles] That's it. I mean, that's... I mean, as far as, uh- Like, but there's artists and- There-- Oh, there's lots of artists. Um, and we... Uh, to be honest, w- the word doesn't get out real well down here- Mm-hmm ... about things. But, uh, we, we try to reach out to them, let them know that we're available- Mm-hmm ... and that we have grant money available to them. Great. And spread that word, and hopefully this will help. Okay. Yeah, this is great. Yeah. So tell me about some of the projects you've funded. Um, so we've, uh, done, uh, money for the, the library system- Okay ... down there. They, uh, requested some a few years back for a program they were putting on that had some art involvement in it. Mm-hmm. And they do a lot of those during the summer for the kids, different programs, and they'll have artists that come in. And we support, uh, some of the festivals down there to, and make sure that the money that we donate goes, uh, to, uh, art- Yeah ... artists that are coming in and performing in the festivals. Mm-hmm. Um, there's some, uh, photographers that are pretty well known that have, uh, received money from us for going and doing different projects. And the, uh, North DeSoto, uh, Players, they're the theatrical group at, uh, North DeSoto High School, they've received money from us. The, uh, local right in Grand Cane, we're located in Grand Cane, the Back Alley Theatre, they've-- we've donated money to them. I, I say donated, we-- they applied for our grant. Mm-hmm. We gave them that, but... Good. That's awesome. Yeah. Well, um, I've noticed that there's lots of fairs and festivals in Louisiana. In fact, there's association fairs and festivals, um, that I got asked to participate in a few years ago. It's, it's fascinating to me. I feel like there's a fair and festival for everything. What, what are some of the fun fairs and festivals in, in your region? Um, so the, uh, River City Festival, which is in Logansport. There's, uh, a Christmas festival that's in Mansfield. Okay. And there's a small Christmas festival that's in Grand Cane. There's, um... And actually I, I-- they might not have done it this last year in Stonewall. There's a, a festival there that they put on. Okay. Um, I'm trying to recall the name of it right now. Yeah. But, um, yeah, I mean, there's, there's a lot of them. A lot of the little towns and stuff have them. Yeah. That's great. That's awesome. Um, sorry to put you on the spot there. No, it's okay. It's just, it's- It's okay. It's just, um, it's just awesome the, the culture of the festivals and that your organization is, is supporting it. Um, so what led you to this role, um, and, and involvement in this organization? Um, I took up pottery after retiring from the Air Force. And- Okay ... I was looking for a, a way to get my pottery out there and seen. Okay. And so I contacted the Arts Council and, um, they sh- started showing some, and they had a little gallery at the time. Uh-huh. And, uh, put some in the gallery and- Mm-hmm ... they helped me out that way, and that's how I got involved- Okay ... with, initially, just with the Arts Council. Yeah. Great. And so are you vo- you're volunteer run then, or? We are, yes. Yeah. So your board does all of the, that, that work of overseeing, uh, the grants and the organization. Um, so can you talk about, um, maybe someone, um, or your story, h- where you saw transformation in their life as a result of getting a grant or an organization? So we have two types of grants. One is a community arts grant that, uh, that goes out to artists and organizations that are, that are putting on festivals and things like that. And that applied to the, the library when they applied and the-Theater groups- Mm-hmm ... and, uh, some individual artists that have applied. Our second type of, uh, grant that we have available is a, a scholastic arts grant- Okay ... that we started just, uh, I think three years ago for seniors in high school who are gonna go on into the arts, uh, after they graduate. Mm-hmm. And it doesn't have to be college, it can be something else. Mm-hmm. But if, if they demonstrate that they're moving on into the arts, we have money available for them. So that's where some of those we've been able to kinda help them along in their- Yeah ... journey forward. That's great. That's awesome. So, um, looking ahead, where do you see this organization in the next few years? Um, there's been a lot of changes in funding and- Uh, yeah, our... Like I said, our funding comes mostly just from within the parish. Uh, there are a few corporate, uh, people that donate. Okay. Williams, uh, Pipeline Company, they do that, and we've gotten some from Chesapeake local down- Uh-huh ... down there that have donated. Um- So you're not impacted by the, um, cuts to, like, the arts at the federal or state level? We, we have not received any money from the state. Okay. We get ours from the residents within- Okay ... the parish and the, and the businesses down there. Okay. Um, and that's, uh... And I- the... We don't get it from the state because we don't go look for it. Uh-huh. We're, we're able to do what we want- Okay ... with the local money. And you mentioned you had a gallery before. Like, have you seen shifts in donations over the years? The, the... At the time I came into the council, the gallery was there, but it, it kinda dwindled away and the, the participation, the artists weren't that interested in coming. Mm. Sales had dropped off. Mm-hmm. And, uh, we had very few people coming, and we had already decided to, uh, change how we were operating. Mm-hmm. And that was our main focus at the time, was the gallery, and we, and we did a small festival. You asked about festivals. We did a festival in Grand Cane. Mm-hmm. But the, a lot of the people that came were just from right there. Mm-hmm. And it really didn't seem to be impacting the parish like it should. Mm-hmm. So, um, we had decided to change over to the, the grant- Mm-hmm ... money and, and spread out what we had- Mm-hmm ... to the artists directly. Rather than... Okay, I see. That's great. Yeah. I, I don't know if that answered your question or not. Yeah, it does. It does. Well, you're still achieving your mission, but you're focusing on achieving it through the artists. It... More of a direct impact. Yeah. Uh, the... And so we, I mean, we, the gallery we stopped, and now we had decided that before COVID came along. Yeah. And then, of course, that just shut- Yeah ... that stuff down big time, so. Well, and often the artists can't get the, like, get the direct funding from the individuals because they're not the nonprofit. Right. Right. But you are getting that. So, um- Mm-hmm ... do you do annual fundraisers or events or? We do. Um, we, uh, usually try to, uh, reach out to people in the spring. We're, uh, set up to receive money through Gift for Good, you know, the Community Foundation, uh, which I think is early May. I, I forget what the date is this coming year, but- Mm-hmm ... we're set up to receive during that if, if people are interested. Just look for DeSoto Arts Council. Okay. And, uh- Great ... we're the only one in DeSoto. Here, there are, if you go look for us, uh, Facebook, Instagram, and online, there, there's a DeSoto Arts Council in southern Mississippi. Oh, wow. Okay. Yeah. So some people- Make sure to give to the right one [chuckles] ... I... Well, yeah. I don't think they'd show up on the local, uh, Northwest Louisiana Community Foundation list, though. But, uh, we do receive weird messages that are supposed to go to them- [laughs] ... sometimes. So, uh, I, I mean, it's, it's good that you receive individual f- and corporate giving so that, um, you have been impacted by the government. Um, I know that there is, um, a lot of arts organizations in other parts of North Louisiana that are impacted by those cuts and those fundings. Like, flow, the state funding- Yes ... flows through the local arts councils, um, and the arts are really vi-able, via, really important for providing, um, you know, the high quality of life. Mm-hmm. Um, and so, as I mentioned before the, we talked on the radio that I do research on the economic impact of nonprofits, and the arts is one of the ones that I show as an example because often times when people come to DeSoto for a festival or a show or to view an artist- Mm-hmm ... they're spending, um, a lot more money in the community, uh, through going to- Well, it definitely draws in people, yes. Yeah. Yeah. To restaurants or hotels and, and so, um, which is boosting the economy. Um, and so, you know, when we think about, you know, during this time when the high cost of living people are like, "Oh, well, I'm not gonna fund certain things," to perceived as frivolous, but in reality the arts are really fundamental. Well, they, they are. They're definitely fundamental. It's very important that people donate to them even when they can't do some other things because- Mm-hmm ... it does, it impacts the entire parish in the long run. Yeah. And the research shows that it, it's also, um, increases h- helps with mental health and, um, experiences-With, you know, children and, and you d- you took up pottery as a retiree, so [laughs] Yes. Well, kind of got back into it. Got back- I did a little bit- Oh, you had done it before ... a little bit in college- Yeah ... in high school. But- Yeah ... picked it back up four years ago. Yeah. My, my godmother growing up, it was always really cool 'cause she had a kiln in her house. She did pottery. Yeah. Um, so it was really special to get gifts of her, her work. [laughs] So that was, that was a part of my, my childhood is, um, seeing that, and that is really, really neat. Um, so I think that, you know, there's a lot of changes going on, and you've been involved with the nonprofit sector for a few year. So what are some of the challenges that you've encountered as, uh, a funder, um, you know, funding the arts in the last few years? Um, it's surprising how few people actually ask for the money. Oh, okay. Um, we put out that we have this available. I mean- Mm ... and it's not a, it's not a great amount that we have. We allot... Of course, we're, we're small, and we, we do rely on the local people to donate. At the, at present, we have $4,000 available for each of those grants. Okay. The community arts grant and the scholastic arts grant, and we try to spread that out as best we can. I mean, hopefully, uh, as word gets out and this grows and we can get more, more donations and funding- Yeah ... we can- Expand ... up that amount- Mm-hmm ... and, and help even more people. So, um, but you have more that apply than you can give, right? Um, thus far, no. Okay. Surprisingly. Wow. That's, uh... We've been doing these grants now I, um, I think since 2020, if I remember correctly, and we've given out about $27,000. Okay. Um, but there's years that we've... Well, for example, this, this past year we got no- Okay ... requests for the scholastic art grant. Okay. Well, so do they have to, they have to be located in DeSoto Parish, right? Um, the artist, yes. The, uh, and the stu- the students in DeSoto Parish. Mm-hmm. Artists that operate or live in the parish. Mm-hmm. You know, if they have a little gallery or their studio's in the parish- Mm-hmm ... if they didn't live here, that would be okay. But, uh, we concentrate on DeSoto Parish because as you said, there are other, other monies that come around through, uh... Locally, it comes down through SRAC to go out to the other parishes, to the- Yeah ... outlying parishes. Mm-hmm, okay. Well, hopefully this will raise more awareness for getting artists that- Well, hopefully. Um, yeah ... um, future artists to, to want to apply for funding. [laughs] Well, it's just surprising when they don't. Yeah. You know, it's not that difficult. We have a little one-page form- Yeah ... that they fill out. Okay. [laughs] So. Um, so what are some of the positives that you've seen of, of being able to be a board chair and work with the board and... Uh, just getting to, to see how we can impact some of these, the individuals especially. Yeah. Um, they're, they're always very grateful and, uh, of course it, it... I don't know. That's the biggest reward, I think, is- Uh-huh ... is just seeing how they're impacted. Yeah. But that's still a, a good amount of money that you've been able to give out since 2020, so. [laughs] Well, I, I know it's... Yes, I, I think so. [laughs] I, I... It was a big change from what we were doing, I, I think, and I, I see it as a big positive. Now, um, over the years, have you seen, um, more artists or less artists in your region, or as a profession? As a profession, I, I mean there's quite a few photographers down there. Mm-hmm. And there are several people who are, are excellent artists that, uh... But some of them don't really do commercially. Mm. You know, they'll, they do sell a few things maybe- Mm-hmm ... but they'll do it for themselves. For... Yeah. And, uh, they'll, you know, might set up at a craft fair or something like that- Mm-hmm ... to, to sell some things. But, um... Yeah, I know there's other arts organizations like Bossier Arts Council that, that helps with the entrepreneurship side. They do, yes, they do. Um, and they're set up, uh, and, and pretty active in, in spreading out and getting word and they, and they have studio spaces available and stuff I believe too. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And Knoll, uh, Community Arts just opened their, their art house. I went- They did, yes. My daughter did a summer camp there. Okay. So it was really fun. Um, so and we've, we've, we know the Revel folks pretty well. [laughs] Oh, yeah. Yeah. It's really impressive, their festival, and how many artists they bring to- Yeah ... participate in that. Um, met some emerging artists, um, this year and everything. So, um, so yeah. Uh, so is there any opportunity, uh... Okay, so people can donate. Um, can they volunteer at all? They can. I mean, if they would... We, we always need some board members. We're kind of- Yeah ... spare on our board members. Okay. Um, we could use a few more board members, and they can come volunteer, and they could help at some of the festivals that we do support. Uh, we've been asked to, to come and be there and hand out stuff, and we don't always have people with time to do that. Yeah. And that, that would be something to- That's great. That's awesome opportunity. I was talking to my students, uh, yesterday about importance of board members and, and bringing in new people and p- p-perspectives. So, um, so if you're listening in DeSoto and want to volunteer. [laughs] Yes. Uh, so if you could tell me, uh, uh, you mentioned, I think you said Facebook, right? Facebook, DeSoto Arts Council on Facebook. We have Instagram and a website. Okay. Awesome. Um, desoto-arts-council-of-la.org. All right. [laughs] Well, thank you so much for being on the show. I really appreciate it. Um, you've been listening to Mark Poole, board president of the DeSoto Arts Council. I'm Heather Carpenter, executive director of the Institute for Nonprofit Administration Research, and you've been listening to Community Connection. Production of this program is made possible in part by Willis-Knighton Health and by a grant from the Community Foundation of North Louisiana. [outro music]