After A Disastrous Year Financially
Tullahoma Arts Receives Good News
September 22, 2011
The Tullahoma Fine Arts Center finally had a bit of good news to report this week. The center is now properly registered with Tennessee Department of State's Division of Charitable Solicitations and Gaming.
TFAC member Jamie Knight said she discovered that all was well, when she visited the division's website on Tuesday and saw the center listed.
In June of 2010, MiddleTennesseeArts.com had been led to believe that the Center had merely failed to renew its registration. TFAC Executive Director Lucy Hollis said that it was "something that slipped up on me."
However, a check with the Division of Charitable Solicitations and Gaming on Monday, June 14, revealed that Hollis had never bothered to register the center with the division as a charitable organization. Yet TFAC has continued to solicit money over the years for various events, such as prize money for the Tullahoma Fine Arts and Crafts Festival and the Duck River Regatta, during which children raced toy ducks. Both events were held in May, 2010.
According to a story published in The Sunday News on June 6, 2010, winners of the Regatta received a $100 educational savings account from The Tri-County Community Bank of Tullahoma, a $50 educational savings account from Traders Bank of Tullahoma and a $50 educational savings account from American City Bank in Tullahoma.
Hollis resigned in August 2010, and was replaced by a seven-member board, headed by Troy McFarland. The center did not apply for registration this year until last week, after McFarland was forced by the members to resign.
Approval by the state is needed in order to raise funds through solicitations, which the center is desperate to do. At the September TFAC board meeting, Knight revealed that the center owed $9,000 and had only $1,000 in the bank.
According to Knight, to file with the state, the center had to pay the $100 registration fee, and another $225 in late fees, for a total of $325. She said if they had failed again to apply, the center could have been fined up to $5,000.
Knight felt it was so important to the center's future that the matter be taken care of, she and TFAC Treasurer Becky Shelton "hand-carried the papers and met in person" with state officials in Nashville on Friday.
Since the center's paperwork is now in order, and an audit has been completed, TFAC will be able to launch a fundraising effort and can also seek grant money.
