Website
Nonprofit
A nonprofit arts center website built around the next show
The Norris Cultural Arts Center has brought music, art exhibitions, and community events to St. Charles, IL, since 1978. We designed and built their new website so visitors can find a show or an exhibit in a few taps, and so staff can keep events, art, and news easily updated.
Showtime
At a glance
Client
The Dellora A. Norris Cultural Arts Center
What they do
Performances, gallery exhibitions, and community events
What we did
Website design and build, online art shop, events calendar, hosting move, and SEO
Built on
WordPress with Divi, The Events Calendar Pro, and a WooCommerce art shop
What changed
Upcoming shows fill the calendar automatically and are easily viewed for more infromation.
Staff can add a whole show of art for sale from one sheet, with stock tracked for every piece.
Every page and event has its own search title and description, so shows are easier to find in search.
Before and after
Here’s the old Norris homepage next to the new one. Drag the slider to see the next show and the gallery move up front.
A walk through the new site
The Norris has decades of shows and exhibits behind it. These are three stops a visitor makes on the new site, and the reason each one looks the way it does.
Stop 1: the events calendar
Featured events pull onto the homepage on their own, and the full calendar switches between month and list views, with each category in its own color.
Why it matters: Visitors find something to do this weekend in seconds, and staff never have to update the homepage by hand.
Stop 2: the gallery and the shop
The gallery sits next to live shows in the main menu, with a featured art show that rotates with each exhibition and a shop where visitors can buy the work.
Why it matters: Exhibits get the same spotlight as performances, and new shows swap in without breaking old links.
Stop 3: the media library
Norris has filmed concerts, gallery walkthroughs, holiday festivals, and artists talking through their work. The media library brings it all into one place, sorted for easy viewing.
Why it matters: People can watch a show or walk the gallery from home, and the work the team is proud of has a place to be seen.
How we built it
An arts center has two audiences: the people buying tickets and the staff keeping it all running. We planned every page for both, then walked the team through the finished site before launch so they knew how to keep it current.
01
Research
We listened to what the team wanted, which was better usability and a gallery as prominent as the shows, and looked at other arts sites they liked and didn’t.
02
Sitemap
We organized the site around Live Shows, Gallery, and News, and moved volunteering under the gallery, where it fits best.
03
Design
Event categories got their own branding, site colors got more defined, and the history became more prominent, really sharing Dellora's story.
04
Launch
We trained the team on site updates, events, the art shop, and bulk product imports, then moved the site to the new hosting.
Under the hood
How it works, for the technically curious
Questions about this project
Can our nonprofit staff update events without a developer?
Can we sell art online from our website?
Do you design websites for nonprofits and arts organizations?
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Ready to fill the seats?
Tell us about your season, your gallery, and the team keeping it all running.