A two-year project involving more than 20 organizations and designed to shape the future of Central Florida’s cultural scene drew to a close Friday — even as leaders warned that the real work is just beginning.
Arts leaders, philanthropists and government representatives came together at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts to share what they learned through the “Capacity Building: Central Florida” project — led by the DeVos Institute of Arts and Nonprofit Management, the DeVos Family Foundation and United Arts of Central Florida — and begin setting a course to navigate through the challenges ahead.
Among those challenges: affordable venue space for smaller organizations and developing marketing strategies that attract both new audience members and donors.
Julia Young, founder of the literacy-creative writing program Page 15, pointed out the irony of helping thousands of students tell their stories when her organization still is unknown to many. “Unfortunately,” she said, “we have done a very poor job of telling our own.”
Agreed Elizabeth Mukherjee of Enzian Theater: “It is not enough to do good work; we must be able to communicate our impact.”
Page 15 and Enzian were two of the organizations that participated in the program, which saw local cultural nonprofits including Orlando Shakes, Mead Botanical Garden, Timucua Arts Foundation, the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, Open Scene and the Orlando Science Center spend a year receiving leadership training from the DeVos Institute, based at the University of Maryland, followed by a year of assisted strategic planning.
“What we’ve learned through this process was at times clarifying, at times really validating and at times a little humbling,” Mukherjee said.
Enzian already has seen successes by implementing ideas gleaned during the two years of work, she said. The Maitland independent art-house cinema collected 36% more in donations in the 2024-25 United Arts Collaborative Campaign, the area’s largest cultural fundraiser, than in the previous year. And it was able to recoup $110,000 of $130,000 in funding cut by the state and federal government, Mukherjee said.
Local cultural leaders, supporters and representatives of philanthropic organizations gather Friday, Jan. 23, for the capstone event of “Capacity Building: Central Florida,” a 2-year program designed to strenghten the region’s cultural scene. (Courtesy United Arts of Central Florida)
Strong results
Enzian wasn’t alone in reporting good news.
Brett Egan, president of the DeVos Institute of Arts and Nonprofit Management, said Central Florida cultural organizations were situated far better then those in other parts of the nation.
He explained that while data showed a 25% decline in revenue for arts groups nationwide from 2020 to 2024, Orlando-area organizations bucked that trend, with a revenue increase of 25% among the 20 groups participating in the project.
“This community is outperforming national trends by a wide margin,” he said.
Jennifer Evins, president and CEO of United Arts of Central Florida, pointed out private philanthropic support of the arts had grown 70% locally over the past five years. Representatives of many of the region’s biggest donors — Dr. Phillips Charities, Duke Energy Foundation, the Pabst Steinmetz Foundation, the Ginsburg Family Foundation, Darden Restaurants, Massey Services and others — attended the presentation.
Julia Young, founder and executive director of Page 15, speaks during the final event of a 2-year program led by the DeVos Institute of Arts and Nonprofit Management, designed to strengthen the Central Florida cultural scene, on Jan. 23 at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts in Orlando. (Courtesy United Arts of Central Florida)
Chris Brown, executive director of Orlando Family Stage, said 10,000 people participated in a summer rubber-duck scavenger hunt to encourage community engagement, and he reported the theater had recently received its first gift of $250,000 from an individual.
OMA recovery
Cathryn Mattson, executive director and CEO of Orlando Museum of Art, detailed that organization’s recovery from the 2022 scandal over alleged Jean-Michel Basquiat works that led to a financial meltdown for the institution.
“What this crisis did was illuminate a lot of business issues we had to address going forward,” she said, saying “deficit spending” by museum leadership had become “a habit” before her arrival.
Now the museum is experiencing record attendance and social-media engagement, showing that public trust is slowly being restored, she said. She thanked the institute’s leadership for ensuring the museum “could recover with dignity and rejoin the community with our heads held high.”
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Other leaders spoke of what they learned through the intensive mentoring, touching on topics such as strengthening boards of directors and making long-term strategic planning a priority. Mead Botanical Garden hired a fund-raising staff member, Open Scene, which found great success in 2025 with its annual Latin Performing Arts Festival, discovered the value of a partnership with the Art & History Museums of Maitland.
“I had no idea of what I didn’t know” before the institute’s program, said Marianne Eggleston, founder and president of the Orlando Urban Film Festival. “Now we have a clear vision of where we are going and how to get there.”
Challenges ahead
Still, questions remain of how the arts sector’s upward trajectory can be kept on track to align with the Orlando and Orange County master plan and make the region a “global creative capital,” as Evins called it, by 2045.
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“Infrastructure is going to be an ongoing issue,” said Justin Muchoney, executive director of Central Florida Community Arts. Beyond stages, arts groups need offices and other facilities. “Where do you rehearse?” Muchoney asked. “Where do you build the sets?”
After Friday’s formal presentation, arts leaders broke into discussion groups to consider other challenges: strengthening partnerships with organizations outside the arts; more effectively raising funds; engaging new audience members; and supporting the artists and other professionals who work in the cultural sector.
Local cultural leaders gather for a group photo in the DeVos Family Room at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts on Jan. 23 after the capstone event of “Capacity Building: Central Florida,” a 2-year program designed to strenghten the region’s cultural scene. (Courtesy United Arts of Central Florida)
More help will come from the DeVos Family Foundation, which surprised arts leaders by announcing $150,000 in grants to cultural organizations who worked with the Institute.
The DeVos Family made its fortune in various endeavors, most notably through Amway, which the late Rich DeVos cofounded. The family currently owns the Orlando Magic, and Betsy DeVos served as U.S. secretary of education during President Donald Trump’s first term.
“Central Florida’s arts and culture scene is united in the shared long-term goal of making Central Florida’s creative sector the envy of the world,” said Betsy and husband Rich DeVos in a joint statement, “and today marks a significant step forward.”
Jason Zylstra, the DeVos Family Foundation’s senior vice president of philanthropy, cautioned that the surprise grants should be seen only as an incentive to continue the cultural sector’s positive momentum.
“That’s not going to solve your problems, the hope is it will accelerate your plans,” he said. “Your work is just beginning.”
Follow me at facebook.com/matthew.j.palm or email me at mpalm@orlandosentinel.com. Find more entertainment news and reviews at orlandosentinel.com/entertainment or sign up to receive our weekly emailed Entertainment newsletter.
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2026/01/24/united-arts-central-florida-future/
