Allied Arts has hit the midway point of its 2025 campaign, and it has raised roughly half of its $3.9 million goal, according to president and CEO Sunny Cearley. The funds raised go to support more than 40 arts and culture organizations and agencies across Oklahoma.
“Three-point-nine million is a big number,” Cearley said. “I think about it every night when I’m getting ready for bed. We have 25 member agencies, and Allied Arts’ contributions are as much as 15 percent of their annual budgets, and there are another 20-plus organizations and agencies we help fund as well. But we have a rockstar campaign team, and that gives me confidence that we’ll make it happen!”
The campaign team features chairs Sally and Jeff Starling and honorary chairs Christian Keesee and Larry Keigwin.
“I feel so lucky to have this team,” Cearley said. “Sally has raised millions for nonprofits through her efforts, and Christian is one of the great philanthropists for the arts in the history of the arts. They’ll be a great face of Allied Arts this year.”
The campaign kicked off Jan. 28 at Science Museum Oklahoma, 2020 Remington Place, a partner organization where Jeff Starling has recently served on the board. It will conclude June 3 with a celebration party at Oklahoma City Ballet’s Susan E. Brackett Dance Center, 6800 N. Classen Blvd., where Sally Starling was president of the board of trustees for seven years and remains a member at large for the board of trustees executive committee.
“We like to have our kickoff and celebration in venues associated with our partner organizations,” Cearley said.
The museum and ballet are two of the flagship organizations Allied Arts supports, but it also provides funding to many much smaller agencies and organizations.
“The ability to help the smaller organizations is really what attracted Jeff and me,” Sally Starling said. “Raising $3.9 million is a huge undertaking, so we’re counting on the support of the entire community to make it happen.”
To facilitate that, the Starlings and honorary chairs work with a network of volunteers that begins with a cabinet of volunteers of sorts. Representative members of various business communities — architects, engineers, attorneys, physicians, etc. — reach out to members of their community to generate support. It’s been that way since Allied Arts began in 1971.
“When it started, Allied Arts was part of the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce,” Cearley said. “The business leaders at the time recognized that for a city to grow and prosper, they needed to invest in arts and culture, and it was obviously a great investment, because we’re now the 20th largest city in the U.S. The fundraising then was all relational; the business leaders reached out to others in their fields and friend groups to donate.”
The grassroots component of Allied Arts’ fundraising is still an important component. Starling notes that suggested donations begin at $60, an amount that earns the giver an OKCityCard that gives the bearer discounts at hundreds of businesses around Central Oklahoma.
“We have two other fundraising initiatives: OPUS and Artini,” Cearley said. “OPUS is our biennial cabaret with dinner, dancing and drinks. Artini is an annual event with a martini tasting featuring bartenders from local restaurants, entertainment and an art auction. Both these events are fun and great outreach for Allied Arts, but our signature fundraising initiative is still the campaign.”
The campaign relies heavily on the more than 20 volunteers comprising the cabinet.
“We look for people who have special knowledge or connections within a business community,” Cearley said. “It’s incredible that it’s still relational at that level after 50-plus years. Many of our volunteers become enthusiastic supporters for decades. I like to tell people about James Pickel.”
Pickel was half of Smith & Pickel before selling the company — now Quad Construction — in 2013. He opted for farm life and has been instrumental in the success of Prairie Earth Gardens, but he’s also been volunteering with Allied Arts for 30 years.
“He just keeps finding us good people and great contributions every year,” Cearley said. “We can’t do what we do without volunteers like James.”
Golden partners
The 25 member agencies that benefit from the campaign include flagships like Oklahoma City Ballet and Science Museum Oklahoma and other well-known organizations like the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, Oklahoma City Museum of Art and Oklahoma City Philharmonic, but also smaller, lesser-known groups that enrich our state, like Prairie Dance Theatre, Firehouse Art Center and Ambassadors Concert Choir.
The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum uses the donations to help fund multiple programs. It sent a brief statement about how the funds are used: “The Museum utilizes allocations to support a diverse range of temporary exhibitions and engaging programs. The 2024 exhibition lineup included a celebration of indigenous WWII veterans through Nations at War! Field Sketches of a Pawnee Warrior, a community co-curated exploration of the history, art, and reconciliation involving the experiences of the Cheyenne Ledger Artists of Fort Marion, and an examination of identity and artistic symbolism through Lighting Pathways: Matriarchs of Oklahoma Native Art, which featured seven indigenous female artists. These powerful representations of the West create an impressive lineup of special exhibitions, complemented by program offerings for local families that present a comprehensive mosaic of both the history and contemporary stories of the West.”
Beyond the partner agencies, Cearley said Allied Arts provides support to another 20-plus organizations to help with education, outreach and capacity building, and she noted that many of the flagship organizations have smaller initiatives that also benefit from the campaign.
“I love the Golden Swans,” she said. “It’s a program through Oklahoma City Ballet that provides dance classes to people who consider themselves ‘golden.’ The classes for seniors help with movement and mobility issues, but it’s also a great place to socialize and interact with peers. Similar is the Dance for Parkinson’s, also a program of the ballet. Dance has been proven to help with mobility and control over our bodies, two things that are critical for people suffering with Parkinson’s Disease. The ballet offers movement and dance classes three times a week, and many people show up for every class!”
The list of agencies and programs helped by Allied Arts is as diverse as Oklahoma itself, and many of the small organizations provide important services and programs to niche communities, meaning all Oklahomans are represented in the beneficiaries of the campaign.
“It’s a big task, but we have fun doing this!” Cearley said. “I was a donor for 12 years before taking this job, and one of my favorite parts of the job now is that we get to share in the thrill of being successful in achieving a huge goal every year.”
Visit alliedartsokc.com.
This article appears in Alcoholmanac 2025.