A conversation with Allied Arts’ Sunny Cearley: an Oklahoma City love story

VeloCityOKC: What drew you to your role? Did you ever imagine your career leading you here today?

Sunny Cearley: What drew me toward the role is my work at the Chamber, my love of art and my love of Oklahoma City. Allied Arts was founded in the Chamber in 1971, so in that way, this job feels like the most natural progression for me. It's continuing my work in economic development, in placemaking and in making Oklahoma City a place where talent and businesses want to be. When I left The Journal Record to come to the Chamber, it was clear that it was the right thing for me to do. It felt like such the right next step that I had tunnel vision about it. “Everybody out of my way, I'm going to make this happen, I have to be at the Chamber.”

I really didn't think that the next time I made a career move my next step would be just as clear. I thought I had been just tremendously lucky that everything in my life, everything in my passions, everything in my background and skill, drew me so directly to the Chamber, and I didn't think it would happen like that again. But it happened exactly like that again, and I feel so grateful. It was so painful to leave the work that I loved, to leave the people that I loved, to leave the membership department, but this was the right thing to do, and it was so clearly the right thing to do that I was able to take that step.

"If I look back at what I thought I would do, I would've advanced my career in journalism or PR. But I fell in love with Oklahoma City and that has been the guiding force in my career."

Now, backing up, did I think at the beginning of my career I would be the president and CEO of Allied Arts almost 18 years later? No, I did not. I came to Oklahoma City for my first job out of graduate school to be the event manager at The Journal Record. I really thought, with my two journalism degrees, that I'd work there a couple, three years, get my career started, and then I would move back to Dallas, because that's where most of my friends from college were. It was kind of the expectation, coming from rural Texas, that I eventually might end up in Dallas or Houston.

I could tell in probably six months that was not going to be my path because it was so easy to get involved with things here. You just had to raise your hand and say, “Hey, I want to help with that,” and they let you. And that was very much not the experience that my friends from college and friends I'd grown up with were having in Dallas. I also could see how much more opportunity there was for me to have an impact and to make a name for myself here. I didn't expect that when I moved to Oklahoma City in 2005. After I graduated from North Texas, I had this career path where I was interested in events, PR and journalism, and I thought that would lead me back to where I was from. But I came here, and I fell in love with Oklahoma City, and that has been such a clear path for me. Now to be here at Allied Arts feels like exactly what I was meant to do.

That's amazing. You had your mind set one way and then, kind of serendipitously, it led you here.

It's the magic of Oklahoma City. It's what the Chamber has been building for decades: To make it a place where a young person from Dallas would be able to see the opportunity. It was so amazing. I've been in downtown or the core of the city for all these years. I started out in Rick Dowell's building that's across the park from the Chamber for just a couple of months, and then The Journal Record moved down to Corporate Tower closer to the Myriad Gardens. There was so much development down here even then that you could just feel the momentum, like you were going to get to be part of what it was becoming and not try to integrate yourself into what it already was. That was incredibly appealing to me and turns out it has been the right thing for my career.

The story of your career is so encouraging because everyone asks, “What's your five-year plan?” But so many don’t know, and it really is okay to roll with it and see what happens.

I think that it's so hard, and that idea that you should have it all planned out puts so much pressure on people. That's not fair. If I look back at what I thought I would do, I would've advanced my career in journalism or PR. But I fell in love with Oklahoma City and that has been the guiding force in my career. So rather than saying, “I want to be this when I grow up,” what has happened for me is that I found a thing I loved and I have been blessed to find roles at the right times when I was ready, and when they were ready for me, to foster that love and continue to invest in that love of the community.

"It's the magic of Oklahoma City."

You’ve been leading Allied Arts for four months now, what has surprised you about the role and organization?

The thing that surprised me the most should not have surprised me! It's how many of our staff here at Allied Arts are artists! On a team of 13, we have two percussionists. We have someone with a master's degree in viola performance who also plays the violin and gigs with the largest mariachi group in town. We have a ballroom dancer, a vocalist in Canterbury, a visual artist and an intern who's working on a degree in dramaturgy. So many people on this team are actively engaged as artists. Now, it seems so obvious that they would convene here. When they talk about our work, when they ask for money to support the practice of the arts, it means something really special to them because it's their practice, it's their art, and that's incredibly meaningful. I feel so much gratitude to get to support them furthering their passion and what they love.

What strategic initiatives is the organization planning next year?

The main effort of Allied Arts every year is the execution of a large-scale community campaign where we raise funds that are then disbursed to agencies through an allocations process. We also make grants to educational outreach and capacity building efforts. That is the strategic initiative at Allied Arts every year: to raise money that goes out to these carefully vetted, top-performing arts agencies who are using donors’ money really, really well. In this first year while I'm learning the work, while I'm learning the people, and while the people are getting to know me, our board chair and I have made a strategic decision to not make any changes regarding our strategic plan.

Something that is very much in the front of my mind 120 days in is that without the agencies we help to fund, Allied Arts doesn't exist. So, as we go through this next year, my first year, it is of utmost importance to me to do everything I can to build relationships with those agencies, and that we as an organization have a very close ear to the needs of those agencies. How can we promote them more? How can we support them more? We're always doing everything we can to try and fund them more. Last year, the City of Oklahoma City allocated $1 million in ARPA funds to the arts, and Allied Arts implemented the disbursement of that funding. I helped take those checks to the agencies and got to see the impact the funding had on them. From a tiny agency that received a $5,000 check, to one of the big names in the community that got a $100,000 check, every one of them needed what they got. And the need is not shrinking.

The past few years have had such an impact on arts agencies, on their ability to hold live performances and their ability to host fundraising events. So, there is still a tremendous need to support those agencies above and beyond right now. Allied Arts, Arts Alliance Tulsa and the Oklahoma Arts Council had a $10 million request to the state when allocating their ARPA funds. That bill passed unanimously out of the working group, passed overwhelmingly out of the House and the Senate, and then was vetoed on the very last day of the special session. It is very important to me that we do everything we can to bring that bill back when the Legislature reconvenes, because I can promise you these agencies still desperately need that money.

How can the community support Allied Arts? What opportunities are available for them to get involved?

The way to help that is probably the most familiar to the Chamber audience is through the workplace campaign! Allied Arts runs this tremendous workplace giving campaign every year. Shannon or Enid from our team, both former band directors and percussionists, will come to your workplace, talk about the important work that these agencies do, and even bring in some of those incredible agencies for you to meet. If you're interested, they'll have you participate in a creative arts activity, which is so much fun! It is a great way to engage your employees in team building. It's a really great way for companies to position themselves as employers of choice because they celebrate fun, they celebrate creativity and they support the community. So, if you haven't already signed up for your workplace campaign, sign up today!

"But I came here, and I fell in love with Oklahoma City, and that has been such a clear path for me."

The holiday season brings a lot of opportunities to support the arts in Oklahoma City. How can the public learn more about what’s going on?

For everyone who is a donor and signed up on Allied Arts mailing list, there are two different ways they could have just gotten information on all the really great things that are happening in the holiday season here. One is an email newsletter called Allied Arts Supports. It goes out once a month and lists everything our agencies have told us they're doing. Lyric Theater is doing their last year of “A Christmas Carol” at the Harn Homestead. The OKC Ballet is likely to have their largest “Nutcracker” audience ever this year. The Opry Heritage Foundation hosts a New Year's Eve Eve country-and-western music event on Dec. 30 that's phenomenal. So, you can find out about that and lots of other programming in the Supports email. You can also find out about events in the quarterly newsletter that Allied Art sends out. For the most up-to-date information on what’s happening in the arts in OKC, follow our Allied Arts social media. The bulk of the content that you'll see on our Instagram is about what our amazing agencies are doing. They do a great job with their individual social media and then we really work to promote them and push that information out. We're @AlliedArtsOKC on most platforms.

What excites you about the future of Allied Arts and Oklahoma City?

I'm excited just to be here. I'm excited to work with this team that cares so much about our work and to see what we are able to do together. I'm excited about these agencies and everything that they've got in mind and the big ideas that they have. We've really put Oklahoma City on the national scene in the arts in the last few years. We've been in USA Today as the number one place for street art for two years in a row. That's incredible! Just a couple of years ago we got to cut the ribbon on a world-class contemporary arts facility, Oklahoma Contemporary — that was more than a $30 million capital campaign to be able to open a world class facility here. So, I feel like we're just on the verge of being at that next level for arts and culture in Oklahoma City.

And I know from the work that I did at the Chamber what an important role that plays in placemaking, in economic development, and in talent attraction and retention. In many ways, I feel a lot like I did when I came downtown almost 18 years ago — you could feel the momentum that was happening here. I've been so lucky to get to be part of that momentum for this whole first part of my career, and I feel like now as I embark on my career in the arts, the arts sector has that same kind of momentum right now. I'm going to get to be part of it! And that is so incredibly exciting to me.