A wide array of exhibits in 2013 helped the Carnegie Arts Center financial future and established it as a premiere art center for the region.

The Center’s annual report shows it has expanded its revenue potential with facility rentals, traveling exhibits, and special events.

At the same time, the Carnegie Arts Center grew its audience base in 2013 by showcasing a variety of exhibits that ranged from a world-renown ceramics collection to stunning photographs of the area’s agricultural beauty.

In 2013 the Carnegie Arts Center brought in works from art world masters Edgar Degas and Pablo Picasso. The Center also featured contemporary showcases of the works of artist Joan Barnett and photographer Roman Loranc. New artistic voices were highlighter in the Carnegie Arts Center’s Spring Juried Art Show, the Yosemite Renaissance, and the Imaging the Real exhibit.

“We were really happy to be able to present a range and diversity of works to the public,” said Lisa McDermott, the Center’s interim executive director.

The Picasso ceramics exhibit in particular was a boon for the Carnegie Arts Center as it generated a large amount of publicity and was the only California stop for the exhibit.

In total, 7,500 people came to see the various exhibits at the Carnegie Arts Center, according to the annual report. Another 2,551 people participated in the Center’s programs, like the Family Friday events and the Sunday Lecture Series, and 225 people enrolled in classes, bringing the total number of individuals served by the Center to 10,276.

A large portion of the Carnegie Arts Center’s outreach program served the area’s children. The Center brought in more than 3,000 students for tours in 2013. The Center’s fundraising efforts paid for all the buses used during the field trips in 2013, with enough left over to fund this year as well, McDermott said.

The Carnegie Arts Center generated $494,532 in revenue for 2013 and had $346,063 in expenses. Upon its opening the Carnegie Arts Center was bestowed with $2 million in endowment pledges. To date the Center has received $1.3 million from the pledged donations, with more than $215,000 coming in 2013, according to the annual report.

Admissions and membership fees generated more than $67,000 for the year and facility rentals brought in more than $50,000, which is a 66 percent increase over the Center’s first 15 months in operation.

The largest expense for the Carnegie in 2013 was staffing, at a cost just over $99,000. The exhibition costs were more than $46,000.

The Carnegie Arts Center boasts an enrollment of 169 volunteers, 83 of whom contributed a total of 3,120 hours over 2013.