Lawrence Arts Center joins international development program to improve digital systems, increase access to arts

As the Lawrence Arts Center joins the ranks of Bloomberg Philanthropies’ program participants, the organization looks toward a new era of digital accessibility and usability meant to increase the community’s access to the arts.

Exhibitions, dance recitals, musicals and ceramics classes — these are the alluring, flashy elements of running an arts organization like LAC. Yet the work behind the curtain in technology and content management systems is just as critical, if less glamorous.

LAC announced in late October it had been selected for the Bloomberg Philanthropies Digital Accelerator for Arts and Culture Program, a professional development cohort for cultural centers throughout the United States and United Kingdom.

Their pitch was to develop a new “Customer Relationship Management System (CRM) and website, making it easier for customers to enroll in classes, reserve tickets and purchase art,” according to a press release.

“Ease of access encourages community participation in the arts and helps us fulfill the mission that art is for everyone,” Interim Executive Director Ben Ahlvers said in the release.

The Digital Accelerator program has welcomed about 350 organizations into the fold since its founding in 2021. It was created when COVID-era arts nonprofits had to make critical changes to their digital systems, and quickly, to serve their increasingly remote audiences best.

Even as programming returns to the physical stage or classroom, technological innovation remains at the forefront of an organization’s capacity for reach and sustainability.

LAC is a rare chimera among its local arts center peers. With 50 years of operations and changing systems under its belt, LAC’s offerings encompass performing arts, education and exhibitions. People flock to LAC’s website to get show tickets, sign up for classes, purchase art, apply to exhibit work, donate and more. 

Longevity and breadth of mission are valuable yet technically challenging community assets. As Marlo Angell, LAC’s director of film, grants and special projects, would say, a one-size-fits-all digital solution isn’t realistic, but they can streamline.

“This will enable some ease of access for whichever way that you are engaging with the art center, and then hopefully open some doors to other access points, which you might just not be familiar with,” she said. “So if you’re taking a class, this will hopefully make it easier for you also to come to ‘The Nutcracker’ this weekend, because you’re automatically notified … and not having to do a cumbersome cross-data entry point.”

Alongside simpler account management, changes to the CRM will also allow students who prefer in-person communication or who face technological barriers to easily enroll in a class at the front desk.

Angell anticipates the overhaul will also move the needle on LAC’s financial aid program. Clearer access points for financial assistance can increase awareness of the program among those who need it, while putting it in front of interested donors.

“Having the education about financial aid, the access to it, and the ability to support it from the outside community, it’s critical, especially in today’s times,” she said.

The digital renovations will additionally be a boon to LAC’s employees, who have grown accustomed to many manual systems.

“I think it’s going to be game-changing and help us focus more on programming the art and less on the administrative tasks that might bog down (an employee),” she said.

LAC will work with Bloomberg for two years to roll out a five-year strategy. Angell said that patrons might start to see small changes by spring 2026, with bigger strides by the summer.

For Angell, increased access to the arts grows more critical as the community rides waves of societal and political change that can feed into isolation.

“Having places like the Arts Center, which are third spaces for connecting people from different parts of the community and getting together and creating and making and experiencing art … there’s nothing like that,” she said. 

Wulfe Wulfemeyer (they/them), reporter and news editor, has worked with The Lawrence Times since May 2025. They can be reached at wulfe@lawrencekstimes.com.

Read their complete bio here. Read their work for the Times here.

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