The Arrowhead Arts Association, a non-profit organization, was formed in 1985 by a group of San Bernardino Mountain residents and businesses dedicated to providing a rich cultural life for the area. The goal of the Arrowhead Arts Association from its inception was to provide classical music and fine arts for the mountain communities by sponsoring special events that involved instruction, public performance and exhibition of visual and performing arts. The artistic studies and endeavors of area students have been supplemented and their talents supported by scholarships from the Arrowhead Arts Association. We remember with appreciation our founding members: Tom Akin, Elizabeth Hale, William Pettus, Pat Welsh and Cynthia Thomson-Altmeyer. Their great leadership and foresight are responsible for creating the Association.

Since 1985, the Arrowhead Arts Association has presented the Annual Fall Classical Music Festival, bringing a variety of classical music to the mountains. The Festival now includes a standing-room-only Sunday matinee performance by a symphony orchestra, as well as the Classics by the Lake, an intimate evening of fine music which is hosted in a beautiful setting of one of the mountain's lakefront homes. The First Annual Music Festival, a Bach Festival, was held in October of 1985. A weekend event presented by the Inland Empire Symphony under the direction of Don Thayer Jeager, it featured the symphony as well as other ensembles. Drew Struzen, renowned artist and Disney illustrator, created and donated a commemorative poster to mark this first event.

In addition to classical music, Arrowhead Arts Association supports and promotes various other musical events, among them the overwhelmingly successful production now known as the Annual Arrowhead Arts Music Festival. Ms. Patti Doyle of the Arrowhead Arts Association, Dr. Hugh Bialecki of the Blue Jay Business Association, and Mr. Simon Barley of the American Jazz Symposium were instrumental in its creation. This fine festival first showcased in the summer of 1991, offering four Thursday night concerts supported by donations, grant funding and merchant sponsorship. Because of the enthusiastic response of the community, the Arrowhead Arts Music Festival has been expanded from four to five performances.

The Arrowhead Arts Association has continued to increase the number and styles of performances offered to the mountain communities. Our offerings have included symphony orchestra concerts, piano recitals, chamber music concerts, choral performances, pop and jazz concerts, and youth enrichment programs.  Since 1998, the Youth Concert has featured the world class Pasadena Youth Symphony Orchestra.

The Arrowhead Arts Association Auxiliary, the brainchild of 1999 President Leona Kendrick, was established in 1993 as a major support group for the Association. Auxiliary volunteers are an integral part of all of our musical events. They administer an on-going youth enrichment program, raise funds through their participation as Mountain Thrift Shop volunteers, and serve as community service volunteers in cooperative support of the Lake Arrowhead Chamber of Commerce "Home Tour". The Association acknowledges with appreciation their important contributions in helping us achieve our goals.

The Association assisted in the formation of the Arrowhead Artists Guild and a theater group, The Lake Arrowhead Performing Arts Company. Both groups went on to become independent associations. The Arrowhead Arts Association was also instrumental in the establishment of the Rim of the World Arts Council which was the "umbrella" organization for all the artistic endeavors in the mountain community for several years.

It is through the generosity of our community, as well as of our major benefactors, that we have been able to provide so many musical opportunities for a wide segment of our mountain population and to fulfill our mission of promoting music in the mountains.