MISSION
Where the arts inspire and the community connects.
VISION
A community where the arts, and people, thrive for generations.
VALUES
Five values guide how MCPA pursues its mission and works toward its vision. They were developed through community engagement and reflect what is authentic to MCPA's organizational character.
DISCOVERY: We believe in the transformative power of curiosity and exploration.
JOY: We embrace the pleasure, delight, and celebration that the arts bring to life.
CURIOSITY: We nurture lifelong arts learners at every stage of life.
ACCESS: We create a universal welcome where everyone belongs.
STEWARDSHIP: We honor our responsibility to treat people right and do the right thing.
A PLAN GROUNDED IN COMMUNITY VOICE
Vision 2035 reflects a sustained listening process. The community survey reached 297 stakeholders across Northwest Ohio, with 99 percent reporting familiarity with MCPA and 94 percent having attended at least one event in the past year. Focus groups deepened that input with conversations among educators, civic leaders, artists, partner organizations, and patrons. Working group sessions translated themes into priorities, and the board provided strategic direction at each stage. Regional reach also emerged as a clear growth opportunity, with meaningful room to expand awareness of MCPA programming throughout the broader region.
PROGRAMMING VARIETY
Named musical theater and Broadway as a top programming preference. Popular music followed at 58%, with strong demand for theater, comedy, and family programming.
AFFORDABILITY BARRIER
Identified ticket affordability as a barrier to attendance. 72% rated affordable pricing as extremely or very important.
FACILITY STRENGTH
Rated cleanliness. sightlines, acoustics, comfort, and ticketing as excellent or good, providing a strong foundation for growth.
AN UNMET NEED
Focus group participants surfaced strong interest in workshops, classes, and lectures for adult learners, treated here as both a programming priority and a revenue stream.
FIVE STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES
The plan organizes MCPA's work in five strategic objecives. Each objective contains specific strategies, board engagement opportunities, and measurable outcomes detailed in the full strategic plan.
PROGRAMMING AND ARTISTIC EXCELLENCE
Deliver a diverse, high-quality season that balances Broadway and touring productions with locally produced work, popular music, family programming, and an expanded slate of arts education for children, youth, and adults. Adult arts learning is positioned as a standalone pillar, recognizing both its programmatic value and its earned-revenue potential.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND ACCESSIBILITY
Remove barriers to participation through tiered pricing strategies, expanded discount and access programs, partnerships with schools and community organizations, and targeted outreach to audiences MCPA does not yet reach. Strengthen the relationships that connect MCPA to the daily life of Hancock County and the surrounding region.
FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY AND REVENUE DIVERSIFICATION
Build diverse revenue streams that support programming excellence and long-term organizational stability. Strengthen the fundraising function, optimize ancillary revenue from rentals, concessions, and underutilized spaces, and advance the organization's endowment through future campaigns as conditions allow. Maintain a healthy balance between earned and contributed income across each implementation stage.
FACILITIES AND INFRASTRUCTURE
Protect and enhance the physical asset that the community values so highly. Address patron-identified accessibility priorities, modernize patron-facing technology, plan for capital needs over the ten-year horizon, and ensure that MCPA's spaces continue to support a growing range of programming and community uses.
ORGANIZATIONAL CAPACITY AND STAFFING
Develop the organizational structure, staffing levels, and workplace culture necessary to deliver on this plan. A multi-stage restructuring framework introduces senior operational leadership, integrates marketing and development under unified leadership, and progressively builds programming and communications capacity. Investments in professional development, board engagement, and HR infrastructure support staff at every level.
WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE IN 2035
By 2035, MCPA will be a thriving cultural anchor for Hancock County and a recognized regional destination for the performing arts. The community will see itself reflected on our stages, in our classrooms, and in the partnerships that connect MCPA to the daily life of Northwest Ohio.
Specifically, we envision an MCPA that:
01 Presents a robust season of Broadway, popular music, theater, and family programming alongside a thriving slate of arts education for learners of every age.
02 Has removed meaningful barriers to participation through tiered pricing, expanded access programs, and active outreach into active communities MCPA has not historically served.
03 Sustains operations on a diversified revenue base of approximately $4.2M, with healthy reserbes and a foundation for ongoing endowment growth.
04 Operated from a facility that meets the highest standards of accessibility, comfort, and patron experience, with technolgy and infrastructure that supports a wide range of programming.
05 Employs a staff and engages a board that together reflect best practices in arts leadership, with strong professional and development pathways and a culture of mutual respect and shared purpose.
WITH GRATITUDE & COMMITMENT
Vision 2035 is the product of many hands and many voices. We extend our gratitude to the survey respondents, focus group participants, working group members, board, staff, donors, partner organizations, and community members whose contributions shaped this plan.
Vision 2035 is intentionally designed to be revisited, refined, and adapted as conditions change. Annual review and progress reporting ensure that the plan remains a useful guide rather than a static document, and that MCPA can respond to opportunities and challenges that emerge over the coming decade.
The work ahead requires courage, creativity, and sustained commitment from all of us. We invite the community to remain engaged in the years to come, as audience members and donors, as volunteers and partners, as advocated and friends.