John Baumann, President and CEO of Colony Brands, Inc., announced a $700,000 Monroe Arts Center Challenge on Sunday, November 12.  The announcement took place at a reception at the MAC after a concert by the Wingra Wind Quintet. 

The challenge is straightforward.  If the Monroe Arts Center raises $100,000 for capital and if the Monroe Arts Center Foundation raises $100,000 for endowment, Colony Brands will give the Monroe Arts Center $700,000.  The deadline to raise the $200,000 is March 31, 2018. 

"Colony Brands is an avid supporter of community arts and the Monroe Arts Center," Baumann said.  "A thriving arts center that engages patrons of all ages, from the very young to the more senior, is essential for the long-term health and growth of our community." 

Raising the $100,000 for capital not only helps meet the Colony Challenge, but fully meets the match of the State of Wisconsin budget line item grant, which provides for $100,000.  So if MAC can meet the two challenges, the total from all sources is $1 million. 

State Representative Todd Novak received the gratitude of the MAC leadership at the reception. "Representative Novak's success in securing a $100,000 matching grant in the State budget is welcomed and perfectly timed," says MAC President Kevin Callahan.  About the State matching grant and the Colony Challenge, Novak responded, "I like to see the State grant and the Colony Challenge as a public-private partnership.  I am extremely pleased to be part of this effort to complete the arts campus in Monroe." 

Completing the Monroe Arts Center campus entails rehabilitating the lower level of the church, including restoring fellowship hall, and either rehabbing Wesley Hall, a 1950s addition on the west side of the church, or demolishing it and installing a parking lot. 

MAC Foundation President Chuck Wellington claims, "This is not only an extraordinary opportunity to complete the arts campus, which will mean so much to the Monroe community, it will help secure the financial future of the Monroe Arts Center."  The MAC Foundation's permanent endowment provides for an annual distribution to MAC for operating expenses.  The Foundation is half way to its goal of $1 million by 2019.