Supporting The Arts
With a mission to support individual artists and small and midsize arts organizations in the Midwest and beyond, North Shore Arts Consulting brings decades of experience and a deep passion for the arts to every project. The work is grounded in belief in the transformative power of creativity to inspire, connect, and enrich communities, with a dedication to helping organizations and individual artists build sustainable systems and thrive.
Services
1
Grant Writing and Development
Write compelling grant proposals tailored to funding opportunities. Manage all aspects of the grant lifecycle, from research to reporting. Secure funding through federal, state, private foundation, and corporate grants.
2
Board Development
Support recruitment and retention of board members aligned with organizational goals. Assess and enhance board structures, roles, and responsibilities. Facilitate training, retreats, and strategic planning sessions for boards.
3
Strategic Planning
Facilitate the development of organizational roadmaps for long-term success. Conduct SWOT analyses to identify opportunities for growth and improvement. Guide organizations in aligning their vision with actionable and measurable goals.
4
Donor Cultivation and Management
Create and implement donor stewardship and engagement plans. Develop and execute targeted campaigns to increase individual giving. Manage donor databases (CRM systems) for analysis, reporting, and relationship-building.
5
Marketing and Audience Development
Develop and execute marketing plans to grow audience engagement.
Create impactful messaging and branding strategies that resonate with communities. Leverage digital marketing, social media, and content creation to increase visibility. Build relationships between arts organizations and key community stakeholders, including businesses, donors, and government entities.
6
501c3 Formation
Support organizations through the process of becoming a tax-exempt nonprofit. Prepare all necessary IRS applications for 501(c)(3) status. Help draft critical documents such as bylaws and articles of incorporation.
About
My name is Amber Rogers
I founded North Shore Arts Consulting in 2024 to help small and midsize arts organizations build community programs that last, along with the funding and operations to sustain them. With nearly three decades of experience in the arts industry, I’ve worked as a violist, educator, executive director, festival founder, grant writer, producer, and labor leader. I know this work from every side of the stage, and I bring that experience to organizations across Northeast Ohio and beyond.
Current Collaborations
Through North Shore Arts Consulting, I serve as Director of Development and Operations for Work and Song Productions, the nonprofit sister organization of the Cleveland ensemble Alla Boara. I support the financial health of Open Tone Music’s programming, including the Rubber City Jazz and Blues Festival, Amistad, the Jazz Heritage Orchestra, and the Hingetown Jazz Festival, which I co-founded, co-direct and produce. I also lead industry and career-development workshops for performing artists through community arts organizations.
Recent clients also include the Cleveland Chamber Symphony, Warren Philharmonic, and Wyoming Symphony Orchestra. On the for-profit side, I built the launch plan and operating systems for Visible Voice Stages, the performance venue in Visible Voice’s new location-expansion bookstore and café complex in Ohio City. In the same complex, I developed the market analysis and grand opening marketing plan for Guitar Riot, a boutique guitar shop.
Onstage
As a professional violist, I'm frequently onstage performing in chamber ensembles, as a pit musician, and in symphony orchestras throughout the region. Locally, I often perform as a section violist with the Cleveland Chamber Symphony, Cleveland Pops, Canton Symphony, and Akron Symphony. I hold principal or guest-principal positions with Opera Western Reserve, Ballet Western Reserve, Baldwin Wallace Bach Festival, and the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra. As a player, my greatest joy comes from performing chamber music and working with composers in developing and premiering their work. Regionally, I have performed on programs presented by the Tuesday Musical Association, Cleveland Composers Guild, Urban Troubadour and the Children’s Concert Society of Akron, and dozens of beautiful independent projects and series across the region. I've had the extraodinary opportunity to work with composers both nationally and internationally, premiering hundreds of new works as a soloist, chamber musician and symphonic player throughout my career.
Leadership and service
I founded North Shore Arts Consulting in 2024 to help small and midsize arts organizations build community programs that last, along with the funding and operations to sustain them. With nearly three decades of experience in the arts industry, I’ve worked as a violist, educator, executive director, festival founder, grant writer, producer, and labor leader. I know this work from every side of the stage, and I bring that experience to organizations across Northeast Ohio and beyond.
Background
As Executive Director of the Local 4 Music Fund from 2019 to 2024, I launched She Scores, a series spotlighting living women and non-binary composers across the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic. When the pandemic shut down live performance, I designed and co-produced the Music Relief Fund Livestream Series and Grant Program. Through the Cleveland Federation of Musicians Local 4 and the Local 4 Music Fund, it produced livestream concerts to support performers whose livelihoods had been decimated by the pandemic. I also wrote safety protocols for the return to live performance, which informed the policies of the Cleveland Federation of Musicians, the State of Ohio, and performing arts organizations nationwide.
For much of my career I taught privately and in community and school programs, most recently as co-director of Sistema Orchestras Shaker Heights (SOS), a Title I after-school program. I organized and secured funding for masterclass residencies for grades 7–12 through Beachwood City Schools and the Music Performance Trust Fund. I also consulted on and developed programming for the Community Arts Program at Disciples Christian Church in East Cleveland. Today, I work with young musicians as a guest artist, coach, and masterclass leader for youth classical music programs throughout the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic, and East Coast.
I was honored as a 2025 Jazz Hero by the Jazz Journalists Association and as a 2022 Unsung Hero of the Labor Movement by the United Labor Agency.
