Midland Area Community Foundation Awards COVID Relief Grant to Midland Center for the Arts

As the doors to the Auditorium at Midland Center for the Arts continue to remain closed as a result of the International pandemic, the community and local foundations have stepped forward to support Midland’s cultural destination while opportunities to draw in normal revenue are extremely limited. Thanks to the leadership of the Midland Area Community Foundation, Midland Center is the latest recipient of a COVID Relief grant in the amount of $30,000 for their focus area, Enriching our Community.

“At the Center, we have experienced a near stoppage of earned revenue since March 2020, and that trend is expected to continue through at least the middle of 2021,” said Terri Trotter, Midland Center President & CEO. “Since the beginning of the pandemic, our anticipated revenues are down $2.3 million and we expect revenue from January through September of 2021 to be another $2M off what we would have expected.”

While the current realities are challenging, the Center continues to innovate, finding ways to engage the community while families remain at home and socially distant. The Center has employed new distance learning techniques to work with schools and teachers during this difficult time for students. They have also worked to engage individuals in the community in both online programs and in smaller programs in-person at and outside the Center. But, the lack of revenue from large-scale programming strains operations.

“This has been a particularly devastating time for arts and entertainment venues across the nation, requiring us to cancel our performances and temporarily close all indoor events to the public,” said Trotter. Since the early days of the pandemic, the Center has had to cancel over 100 performances and events, withdraw field trips for thousands of local students, abandon spring break visits from families during our busiest museum period, and postpone summer camps for hundreds of children.

The Center anticipates in-person gatherings for large audiences won’t be allowed until the Fall of 2021, and then only if a vaccine is distributed and the number of COVID-19 cases decreases. “Our industry was the first to close during this pandemic, and will be one of the last to be able to resume operations,” stated Trotter.

“We are so grateful to the Midland Area Community Foundation for seeing the need in our community, and for supporting the payroll of our staff and operations as we look ahead at another year with very little earned revenue, as we continue to provide educational, cultural and participatory engagement to Midlanders,” said Trotter. To learn more about how you can support the Center with a personal donation, please visit MidlandCenter.org/Donate.

The Midland Area Community Foundation provides philanthropic leadership to strengthen our community by fostering collaboration and giving today and in the future.