PORTLAND, Ore. — The home of a decades-old theater company in Southwest Portland is a work in progress, and has been since 2018. With construction underway, Artists Repertory Theatre took its performances on tour, working in partnership with Portland Center Stage.
However, last month, ART announced the suspension of the 2023-24 season, to the disappointment of patrons. Now, the managing editor speaks out about why.
"Lawmakers did not approve House Bill 2459 in the last session, which would have released about $27 million to organizations statewide," said Aiyana Cunningham, "And we were quite literally banking on getting about $250,000 that would have trickled down through the Oregon Arts Commission to us. So, for us, that was sort of like the death nail in our budget coffin this year, and what really created us to plunge into an immediate crisis."
The pandemic made it difficult for all performing arts companies to exist and pull through, shutting down or limiting performances. At the end of the 2022-23 season, Cunningham explained that the company ultimately lost money, as they continue to see fewer patrons attending performances.
"And because we're renovating our theater space, the reserve funds that we had been sustaining are actually currently committed to pay the construction costs on our current phase of renovation," she said.
All of that led to the decision to suspend the 2023-24 season last month. Cunningham said the the money just wasn't there to pay staff, or produce the plays.
But, Cunningham stressed, this pause isn't permanent. During this time, her team will focus in on completing the next two phases of construction, hoping to partially move in as early as February.
"We'll be able to produce work and plays in that space as like a soft start, soft opening," she said, "and right now, fingers crossed, if some key donors come through, that's what our audiences can look forward to."