WOODSTOCK — So far in this pandemic year, Alita Wilson has taken advantage of nearly every form of federal and state aid available to Pentangle Arts, the Woodstock-based nonprofit arts agency she directs.
The new financial stimulus signed into law by President Donald Trump on Sunday after several days’ delay includes a new program that sets aside $15 billion for performing arts venues, movie theaters and museums.
Called the Save Our Stages Act, it is intended to help arts presenters, public and private, to avert the unthinkable, closing their doors for lack of income.
“We’ll be eager, eager, eager applicants,” Wilson said Monday of Save Our Stages.
U.S. Rep. Annie Kuster, D-N.H., pointed out in a news release last week that “Live music venues play an important role in downtowns and communities across the Granite State and around the country. These businesses were among the first to close due to the pandemic and will likely be among the last to reopen, making it very difficult for them to survive the current health crisis.”
The release cited Lebanon Opera House as an example. Since it was recommissioned as a performing arts venue in the 1990s, the opera house has been a key element of Lebanon’s downtown redevelopment, bringing people to concerts and therefore to restaurants and other businesses. It has also brought in other arts organizations, including Opera North, AVA Gallery and Art Center and the Upper Valley Music Center.
The opera house relies on ticket sales to provide 44% of its annual budget, Joe Clifford, executive director, wrote Monday in response to emailed questions. Funding from the Save Our Stages Act will help the opera house get closer to its eventual reopening, “at that moment when public health guidance and consumer confidence intersect,” Clifford said.
Federal funding has also kept Pentangle afloat, Wilson said. Founded in 1974, Pentangle is one of the oldest continuously operating arts presenters in the Upper Valley. The town of Woodstock funds it both in its budget and through a special appropriation at Town Meeting, and Pentangle rents space from the town for its programs.
But it is also heavily reliant on ticket sales. Fortunately, it had done very well presenting movies, concerts, camps and other programs in Town Hall Theatre over the past couple of years, so when the pandemic hit, the organization was in good financial shape, Wilson said.
So far, it has received $23,800 in Payroll Protection Program funding that was forgiven, about $17,600 in CARES Act funding and $7,500 from the Vermont Arts Council. Pentangle also received a loan of $150,000 through the federal Small Business Administration, which has gone largely unspent to avoid incurring interest costs, Wilson said.
Additional federal grant money will help to replace some of the $10,000 a month Pentangle takes in showing movies, and the $70,000 of lost income from the annual Wassail Weekend at Christmas.
Save Our Stages sets aside $2 billion for eligible businesses or nonprofits with fewer than 50 employees. Wilson said larger venues have it tougher than Pentangle.
“We’ll make it, because we can continue to pay the bills with what we have and what we get from the town,” she said.
Alex Hanson can be reached at ahanson@vnews.com or 603-737-3207.
