Oldest arts organization on BI in financial crisis

One of Bainbridge Island’s oldest arts organizations has hit rough waters – and if its ship never comes in, it may sink or need a lifesaver.

Bainbridge Arts and Crafts, a 76-year-old nonprofit art gallery and educational hub, is facing a financial crisis due to dwindling savings, low revenue and high overhead. It won’t close tomorrow, BAC executive director Debra Ruzinsky said, but it will have to cut costs drastically, and its board is considering a merger with another BI organization.

“We’re going to have no cushion left,” she said. “Absorption may be a solution down the road, as long as we can keep our identity and core mission. If we went away, I hate to think of what the island would lose — the number of artists, workshops with schools and senior centers – things that the public may not be aware of.”

BAC is the oldest visual arts organization on BI and one of the first in the state. Its gallery on Winslow Way exhibits up to 250 artists per year, but the majority of its work is outreach. BAC hosts over 100 free workshops a year, offers a college scholarship for high school graduates going into the arts, supplements art supplies and resources for teachers, hosts professional artist talks and teach-ins, and offers awards for up-and-coming young artists.

“An important facet of our work is to encourage careers in the arts,” Ruzinsky said. “This exposure has a significant impact on their livelihoods. We can amplify art that provokes conversation.”

BAC has no plans to cut staff or programming so far. Cost-saving strategies include minimizing printing and contractor fees, like reducing custodial hours. Because programming is essential, Ruzinsky said she would “fight tooth and nail” to save it.

Ruzinsky said that since she joined BAC in 2020, the organization’s finances have been volatile. Historically, the organization relied on art sales and fundraising to pay for rent for the gallery space and staff salaries. However, by the time she arrived, the nonprofit’s income was not replenishing expenses, and the organization had begun to rely more heavily on savings.

“In the time I’ve been here, I’ve been trying to find what’s normal,” Ruzinsky said. “We have a great support system, but the combination of new audiences, drained savings and high expenses have created challenges for us.”

Art buyer’s habits also became an unpredictable source of income: a successful online auction in 2022 followed a relatively dry year in 2023, then a “good” live auction in 2024. Ruzinsky speculated that newcomers are buying less art from galleries. Additionally, the proliferation of arts nonprofits throughout Kitsap County has made state grants more competitive and spread private donations thin, she said.

Grant funds also have dwindled. BAC garnered $11,900 from the ArtsFund Community Accelerator Grant in 2023, then $2,500 in 2024. It received $4,000 from the state initiative ArtsWA in 2023. Other funding sources include almost $40,000 from the state Department of Commerce and $120,000 in PPP loans, which became grants in 2021.

Local foundations and private grants have helped fill the gaps. Since 2018, BAC has received grants from city-funded arts initiatives, and Bainbridge Community Foundation to support its operating costs, which were $890,000 in 2018 but have since been reduced to as low as $600,000 in 2024, Ruzinsky said.

Other local nonprofits are seeing a different story. The BI Museum of Art, founded in 2013, has seen steady grants from both ArtsWA and ArtsFund since 2021; the Bainbridge Artisan Resource Network has received at least $20,000 annually from the city of BI since 2018; and just since 2022, Arts and Humanities Bainbridge has won at least $57,000 from the state, ArtsFund and city combined.

Patty Bell, AHB board president, said that while the nonprofit is “financially comfortable,” funding is always a hustle.

“It’s the same kind of stress we’ve had. We’re always working hard, in the arts,” Bell said. “We know and are aware of [BAC], and we try to be supportive. We’re hoping they can hang on. We feel comfortable, and we value them. Our [situation] is not as dire as theirs, but we’re doing things more — we’re trying to emphasize grants more than individual donors.”

Bell said she hopes that a culture of support between smaller nonprofits may develop on BI, but not likely as a merger between BAC and AHB. Both directors agreed that distinct identities between each organization are a strength.

BIMA director Sheila Hughes echoed their statement. The organizations are only superficially similar, Hughes said. She quoted Greg Falls, founder of Seattle’s ACT Theatre: “[Falls] used to say, ‘Theaters are like grapes, they grow best in bunches.’ I think the same is true for all arts organizations,” Hughes said.

“In my opinion, there is no such thing as too much spotlight on the artists of the Puget Sound. The breadth and depth of talent here is astounding,” Hughes added. “Cultivating a thriving community of diverse and vibrant arts organizations is in the best interest of all of us – artists, residents and visitors.”

Ruzinsky shared that a merger with another BI group may be ready to be announced in the coming weeks. “We’re trying to envision a reality where we go forward delivering the high-quality work and services that we exhibit, where we can right the ship,” Ruzinsky said.