Every year during the Sisters Folk Festival (SFF), the backyard of the Sisters Art Works building transforms into a performance venue. But what festival-goers may not know is that this structure houses the festival headquarters year round and is also home to local artists and wellness workers.

On September 6, SFF will hold an invite-only event, the Connected by Creativity Celebration, to announce their plans to buy the red building at the corner of Adams Avenue and Ash Street. The acquisition was inspired by a generous offer from Frank and Kathy Deggendorfer to sell the building to SFF for $500,000, half its appraised value. SFF has improved the property behind the building over time, planting trees and grass and adding a small stage.

An additional $2.1 million must be raised to fully realize SFF’s vision, which includes plans for a performance and community events facility in place of the temporary tent erected every year at festival time. Donations for the capital campaign are being accepted at sistersfolkfestival.org/capital-campaign.

The capital campaign is called Connected by Creativity to emphasize that establishing a permanent home for the organization will allow SFF to expand programming and outreach into eve-ning classes for kids and adults and even-tually studio space, an upgraded modern art gallery, and a midsize, year-round center for music andarts to serve the com-munity’s need for high-quality meeting, perfor-mance, and rehearsal space.

“This vision is about much more than acquiring a building and reducing operating costs; it offers the freedom to better serve our community,” said Jay Wilkins, co-chair of the capital campaign committee and SFF board treasurer. Wilkins brings his experience with strategic management to the table. “We think there is an appetite for more programming, not just in Sisters, but from other towns in Central Oregon.”

As neighboring towns grow by the thousands every year, and new hotels seem to spring up overnight, the popularity of the region is impacting Sisters in mostly positive ways; its reputation as an artisanal center is reinforced by annual events and a growing community of artists and musicians. But both residents and organizations like SFF are motivated to keep the growth intentional, while serving the regional thirst for arts-related activities—quality musical performances, art lessons, studio space.

“Brad [Tisdel] gets calls all the time from artists who want to come play here in Sisters because they have heard it is such a friendly community,” said Steven Remington, SFF’s development director and campaign committee co-chair. “We envision a venue that would not only serve as a world-class performance space, but that could serve the community at other times.”

Plans for a 7,300-square-foot center for music and the arts have already been drawn up and estimated and would be a part of Phase II of the capital campaign, once the building has been purchased and improvements and upgrades completed. It is estimated that groundbreaking on the project would not begin until the summer of 2021.

“For SFF to have a permanent stake in the ground provides leverage to expand the great programming we do in the schools and offer more for adults as well,” said Tisdel, SFF’s creative director. “The programming is in the visionary stages right now. We’re actively looking for insight and support to allow us to serve the community better and more deeply.”