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High-school founders of Love Your Mother Co. ask Leesburg art commission for $1,500 sponsorship and advertising help
Summary
Cofounders of Love Your Mother Co., a volunteer-run art benefit that donates proceeds to Keep Loud and Beautiful, asked the Leesburg Commission on Public Art (COPPA) for a $1,500 sponsorship plus promotional support; COPPA members said the request will be considered as part of the commission's approved 2025 budget review.
Kirsten Ponicelli and Cecilia Stewart, cofounders of Love Your Mother Co., told the Leesburg Commission on Public Art (COPPA) on Jan. 6 that the volunteer-run art show is seeking a $1,500 sponsorship and advertising assistance for its 2025 event.
The women said Love Your Mother Co. began as a high-school community-service project in 2022 and has grown into an annual fundraiser that donates net proceeds to Keep Loud and Beautiful, a local environmental nonprofit. They described past activity at the Rust Manor venue, including gallery shows, volunteer trail cleanups and river cleanups, and said their group has raised more than $4,000 to date and organized about 40 volunteers who logged roughly 400 hours on conservation tasks.
The request to COPPA included two parts: a cash sponsorship the presenters initially described as $500 and, when later asked by a commission member, confirmed as a request to be treated the same as prior years' sponsorships at $1,500; and in-kind advertising support such as email or website posts and social-media reposts.
Why it matters: Love Your Mother Co. funnels proceeds to Keep Loud and Beautiful and recruits volunteers for trail and waterway cleanup in the Leesburg area; COPPA has funded the event in prior years, and the commission's budget decisions determine whether the group receives continued town-affiliated support and promotion.
Commission members asked practical questions about event logistics and costs: whether the show is limited to high-school artists (the presenters said there is no age limit and that the event has accepted writers, performers and returning and new visual artists), and what a table fee for artists might be (the presenters said venue staff recommended about $25 per table but the organizers were considering a lower charge).
COPPA members and staff also discussed how sponsorship payments fit into town fiscal years. COPPA staff said a prior payment to Love Your Mother made in 2024 was recorded in the 2023-24 fiscal year; the sponsorship being considered in the present budget cycle appeared in COPPA's draft 2025 budget as $1,400 for future events, and commissioners said they would clarify with finance whether the additional sponsorship the presenters requested would be paid from current or next fiscal-year funds.
The presenters left commission members with contact information and a request that COPPA repost event advertising to broaden artist recruitment. COPPA said members would consider the request as part of their upcoming budget review and notify the organizers after the commission's internal budget meeting later in the same session.
The presentation and Q&A took place during the public portion of COPPA's Jan. 6 meeting; the presenters left after their remarks and the commission proceeded with its budget deliberations.
