ORLANDO, Fla. The Orlando Performing Arts Center (OPAC), a nonprofit corporation, recently established a fundraising study advisory committee to oversee a feasibility and planning study process. In conjunction with OPAC, the study will be conducted by fundraising consultant Community Counselling Service Co. (CCS). The purpose of the study is to gather the reaction, advice, opinions, and counsel of a number of business, philanthropic, civic leaders, and lovers of the arts in the Central Florida area on potential funding for a performing arts center in downtown Orlando. The results of the study will help guide the future decisions and actions in planning for the center.

Members of the OPAC fundraising study advisory committee include Committee Advisor and Rollins College President Emerita Dr. Rita Bornstein; Three Thirty-Three Media CEO and OPAC Board of Directors Member Sherman Brown;
Orlando Ballet Board of Directors Immediate Past President and OPAC Board of Directors Member Tricia Earl; United Arts of Central Florida President and CEO Margot Knight; Festival of Orchestras Executive Director Dr. Susan CohnLackman; Orlando Ballet President Linda Landman-Gonzalez; Florida Theatrical Association Executive Director Ron Legler; OPAC Executive Director Kathy Ramsberger; Orlando Philharmonic Executive Director David Schillhammer; Orlando Opera General Director and CEO Robert Swedberg; Bank of America Central Florida President and OPAC Executive Committee Member Edmund C. Timberlake, Jr.; and Dennik Skeels and William Epke of CCS.
CCS is a comprehensive fundraising firm that has provided professional counsel to over 8,000 nonprofit institutions worldwide, raising billions of dollars for colleges and universities, hospitals and medical centers, religious institutions, civic and cultural organizations, associations, and service organizations.

CCS' recent arts-related experience includes providing counsel and advice for the capital campaigns of the American Ballet Theater, the New York City Opera, and the Michigan Opera Theater. CCS is headquartered in New York and has offices in Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Miami, San
Francisco, Seattle, Washington, D.C., Toronto, Dublin, and London.

The Orlando Performing Arts Center, a 501(C)3 nonprofit corporation, is responsible for determining the feasibility of the arts center complex. The vision of OPAC is to build a destination that elevates the arts, provides the best arts education, generates urban renewal, and most importantly, is programmed to be fiscally responsible in construction and operations. For more information about the OPAC initiative and community involvement opportunities, please visit www.orlandopac.org.