The Save Our Stages Act, recently passed as part of the COVID-19 Relief Bill, will provide financial assistance to independent venues and promoters like NIVA (National Independent Venue Association) member OFC Creations Theatre Center, that have been crushed by the pandemic’s shutdown. The Save Our Stages Act will enable these locally-owned businesses to hold on until it is safe to gather, reopen fully, and once again return to serve as economic engines for their communities.
OFC Creations Theatre Center, located in Brighton, is a venue focused on performing arts educational opportunities, mounting professional plays and musicals, presenting nationally-known entertainers, and forming partnerships with community groups to hold events. Since reopening OFC’s doors in July 2020, the theatre has been restricted to only holding educational programs for children learning acting, singing, and dance. With no shows, rentals, or audiences, OFC Creations Theatre Center has been waiting to reopen fully.
“It is certainly a challenging time for all venues, especially in Rochester where we are a community known for the arts,” said Eric Vaughn Johnson, Executive Director of OFC Creations. “Live events and performances were the first to close at the beginning of the pandemic, and we expect to be the last to reopen. This funding is critical for venues of all sizes, and we are very thankful to see the light at the end of the tunnel.”
OFC Creations is currently preparing for their Student Cabaret Night. The inaugural fundraiser will feature 20 OFC students performing solos and duets at the OFC Creations Theatre Center. The cabaret will be live streamed for families and the public can watch virtually from home. Virtual tickets can be purchased at www.OFCCreations.com
The Save Our Stages legislation provides critical help to shuttered live venues by providing a grant equal to 45 percent of gross revenue from 2019, with a cap of $10 million per entity. This grant funding will ensure recipients can stay afloat until reopening by helping with expenses like payroll and benefits, rent and mortgage, utilities, insurance, PPE, and other ordinary and necessary business expenses.
“This is the lifeline our industry so desperately needs to emerge from a devastating year,” said Dayna Frank, Board President of NIVA. “Without independent venues and promoters across the country working to engage their communities, staff, and artists, our voices would not have been heard – we are thankful for those tireless efforts. Careers came to a standstill overnight, and people continue to face personal hardships, which is why legislation like this and extending Pandemic Unemployment Assistance is essential.”
NIVA hopes to work with the Small Business Administration to ensure the emergency relief is dispersed as Congress intended, that the instructions and process to apply for grants ensures that only those organizations that fit the description in the law are funded, that there is a keen eye to protect against fraud, and that the process is implemented accurately and as expediently as possible.
Since it could take many weeks, even months for the funding to flow, the NIVA Emergency Relief Fund, with The Giving Back Fund as its 501(c)3 fiscal sponsor, continues to raise money to assist the venues at greatest risk of permanently going under as it waits for Save Our Stages Act to be implemented.
Provided information and photo
