Westmoreland Cultural Trust launches ‘Keep the Arts Alive’ campaign, projects $500K in pandemic-related losses
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Between The Palace Theatre and the Greensburg Garden & Civic Center, more than 350 concerts and events have been canceled since March, lending much more weight to the name of the Westmoreland Cultural Trust’s “Keep the Arts Alive” fundraising campaign.
“As an organization whose mission is to bring people together to celebrate the arts, the pandemic has been devastating,” said trust CEO April Kopas. “It’s not only our organization that is suffering, but also local businesses, restaurants and lodging partners who rely on our arts patrons to infuse more than $12 million annually into the local economy.”
The trust is continuing to promoting the arts in as many ways as possible, including featuring local bands on social media, hosting the Thank Goodness It’s Summer outdoor concert series with appropriate health and safety measures and collecting donations for both the WCT Artists Fund and the Westmoreland County Food Bank.
With support from the Richard King Mellon Foundation, the trust launched a livestreaming bundle of services providing subsidies to nonprofits like the Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra and River City Brass and offering virtual concerts from The Palace Theatre.
Even so, WCT Chairman Terry Reese said the lack of events is expected to result in the loss of a half-million dollars in revenue, and that the financial ripples it creates show the Palace is critical to the community in multiple ways.
“One is economic,” he said. “It’s money that helps enrich the entire community. And, frankly, our community can’t afford to lose that engine. But, while it’s critical to our wallet, it’s also critical to our soul. The cultural fabric of the community is what knits us together. It’s what makes us neighbors, as opposed to people who live down the street.”
Trust officials are hoping the ticket-buyers who attend those events are willing to contribute in hopes of seeing them again.
“We know that with the community’s support, the curtain will rise once again, and The Palace marquee will welcome patrons back to the cultural district to celebrate the arts together,” Kopas said.
See WestmorelandCulturalTrust.org for more, or to donate to the “Keep the Arts Alive” campaign.