Playing with fire

In the corner office on the ground floor of the old Bogan Fire Station downtown, Fairleigh Cook Jackson sits alone. A faded group photograph of Baton Rouge Red Cross workers from 1927 hangs behind her. As the campaign director of the Community Fund for the Arts—and its only employee other than active boards, committees and new cabinet chair Stevie Toups—Jackson does much of her work alone.

Look back to that photo, and it’s easy to imagine that faded crowd as her co-workers or beneficiaries. Maybe they’re really a cast from Baton Rouge Little Theater, Playmakers of Baton Rouge or Swine Palace.

Herself a firefighter of sorts, Jackson is in her second year at CFA and trying to help save and support the arts and humanities in Baton Rouge. Since 1986, CFA has drummed up funds with an annual campaign for tax-deductible donations that are distributed to its member organizations. “United Way takes care of the social services agencies,” summarizes Mary Terrell Joseph, CFA donor, cabinet member and chair of the employee giving campaign at McGlinchey Stafford. “CFA takes care of the arts and cultural agencies.”

In addition to the three listed above, CFA’s member organizations include the Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge, Baton Rouge Ballet Theatre, Baton Rouge Gallery, Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra, The DeBose Foundation, Foundation for Historical Louisiana, Friends of Magnolia Mound Plantation, Louisiana Art & Science Museum, Louisiana Sinfonietta, Of Moving Colors Productions and WRKF.

Raised through individual and corporate solicitations, grants from foundations and workplace giving contributions, CFA funds are designated as core operating funds.

The organizations can spend the money on anything from projects to support for a performance to keeping the lights on. Though no member organization relies entirely on CFA, Jackson says, “It would be a huge blow for them to lose CFA—and a bigger blow to some than others, for sure.”

Pressured by the threat of arts funding cuts by local and state governments, Jackson’s job is that of fire-starter. Essentially, she must use her passion for the arts as fuel to spark others to start donating, continue donating or return to donating once again. With glowing red hair, a tireless smile and the patient endurance that years of creating ceramics have taught her, Jackson is armed well for the job. “A delight, effective, professional, personable, grounded in the arts and humanities, passionate,” says Carolyn Bennett, executive director of Foundation for Historical Louisiana.

“How could any potential donor tell her no?” asks Derek Gordon, executive director of the Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge. “Fairleigh has a tremendous energy and excitement that she brings to the effort—in fact, I might add a youthful excitement,” he says. “I think year two will be the year she will really, really shine for us.”

Jackson is a dedicated, compassionate firecracker. Hesitant to speak about herself, she gushes about CFA’s member organizations. “Every organization is amazing,” she says. “Every time you turn around, one of them is doing something wonderful.”

With such great pride and purpose, Jackson takes hard any reduction in support, and she plagues herself with what-ifs about starting earlier, asking more, pushing harder. “There’s a large sense of responsibility,” she explains. “When you’re turning out those allocation checks, and they’re not as much as they were the year before, that makes your heart hurt.”

Despite these challenges, Jackson remains optimistic. A look at the donor list tells her people are coming back. “When the leadership isn’t supporting the arts and culture, it becomes the job of the community to support it. People are recognizing that. That’s what keeps me excited.” brcfa.org