Peninsula Players Theatre is thrilled to be a recipient of a Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act Grant from the Wisconsin Arts Board (WAB). Peninsula Players received $8,000, the maximum amount an organization can receive. The WAB CARES grant is made possible with additional CARES Act funding from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). As a form of emergency support, it recognizes the extreme difficulties that arts organizations are facing due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In April 2020, the Wisconsin Arts Board created an emergency relief program for Wisconsin nonprofit arts organizations that canceled exhibitions, concerts, plays, readings, films, educational outreach and critical fundraising events. Many of these organizations are expecting a decline in charitable contributions from corporations, foundations and individual donors.
“The cancellation of these events meant the loss of earned revenue not only for Peninsula Players Theatre but for many not-for-profit organizations throughout the state,” said Managing Director Brian Kelsey. “A majority of the operating revenue for Peninsula Players is generated by ticket sales to our productions. For the safety and health of our patrons, company members, volunteers and community, we canceled our entire 2020 season. We are very grateful to the Wisconsin Arts Board and the National Endowment for the Arts for assisting cultural organizations throughout the state during this time of crisis, a time when the arts are more important than ever.”
Cultural organizations aide in the mental health, physical and emotional well being of communities throughout Wisconsin. Wisconsin’s arts and cultural organizations are anchor institutions that enhance the social and economic well-being of their communities. The arts are significant participants to Wisconsin’s economy, providing more than $657 million to the economy annually and support 26,695 full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs. (Source: Americans for the Arts, Arts and Economic Prosperity 5, 2015 data)
The Wisconsin Arts Board, supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, with additional support from Arts Midwest, a nonprofit regional arts organization serving the nine states of the Upper Midwest, was able to create the CARES grant to ensure many other cultural resources like Peninsula Players Theatre will continue to be integral to the quality of life in Wisconsin.
The Wisconsin Arts Board is the state agency which nurtures creativity, cultivates expression, promotes the arts, supports the arts in education, stimulates community and economic development and serves as a resource for people of every culture and heritage.
The Wisconsin Arts Board’s grants to arts and community organizations across the state help to make programs available to broad audiences and supports groups that undertake innovative programming, support creativity, artistic quality, community engagement, inspires curiosity as well as audience and patron development.
Peninsula Players Theatre, America’s Oldest Professional Resident Summer Theatre, traditionally produces a five-show season of Broadway-quality comedies, dramas and musicals, but canceled its 85th season in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Learn more about Peninsula Players at www.peninsulaplayers.com.