By Marty Sklar, Founder, Past President, Chairman Leadership Council

By Marty Sklar, Founder, Past President, Chairman Leadership Council

Leah and I are frequent attendees at performances of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. The music, under the baton of the brilliant Gustavo Dudamel, is always a treat. But what I look forward to as eagerly when it’s our night at the Walt Disney Concert Hall is the inspirational design of architect Frank Gehry.

Excerpt from the Chronicle of Philanthropy:

Sharon D. Lund Foundation

$1 million to Ryman Arts, which provides free arts education to talented teens in Orange and Los Angeles counties. $500,000 will be used to provide operational support over the next several years and the remaining $500,000 will be set aside as a challenge to be matched by the local community.

"Ryman Arts, a non-profit organization that provides free arts education to talented teens throughout Orange and Los Angeles counties, has received a $1 million gift from the Sharon D. Lund Foundation to fund the organization’s artistic programs and its next generation of young artists.

“The Sharon D. Lund Foundation has been a longtime supporter of Ryman Arts, and this gift will further our ability to continue to offer individualized, high-quality art classes that are free of charge to students and their families,” explains Ryman Arts Executive Director Diane Brigham.

By Marty Sklar, Founder, Past President, Chairman Leadership Council

As 2016 begins, it’s a time of transition for Ryman Arts. The best Boards of Directors, we are told by experts who study Board service, now operate with Term Limits for individual Board members. Ryman Arts has instituted that refinement.

By Marty Sklar, Founder, Past President, Chairman Leadership Council

A few weeks ago, I started thinking about the meaning of Thanksgiving, 2015 to Ryman Arts. To focus on the holiday itself, I discovered that the first official Thanksgiving in America was created in 1789 by our first President, George Washington. But it was not until 1863 that President Abraham Lincoln established Thanksgiving as a National Holiday. (Don’t you dare tell anyone you never learned anything in “art school”!)

The Sharon D. Lund Foundation’s generous gift includes $500,000 to strengthen endowment as a matching challenge.    

The Sharon D. Lund Foundation’s long-time support helped build this organization to its present capacity.  Sharon Lund co-founded Ryman Arts 25 years ago, along with Anne and Buzz Price, Lucille Ryman Carroll, and Leah and Marty Sklar.  It is hard to believe it all started with a dozen kids in a warehouse studio, and Sharon helping founding executive director and sole employee Marshall Ayers to acquire a computer!

By Marty Sklar, Founder, Past Board President, Chairman Leadership Council

I’m very proud that as part of the Ryman Arts career program in the Spring semester, my colleagues at Ryman Arts – President Wayne Hunt, fellow Board members, Executive Director Diane Brigham and Education Manager Rebecca Tuynman – have chosen to provide each of our 300 high school artists with their own copy of my new book, One Little Spark! – Mickey’s Ten Commandments and The Road to Imagineering.