The curtain is rising again as the Northwest Indiana arts community begins to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I think people have reached their limit of at home entertainment, there’s only so much Netflix,” said Scot P.J. MacDonald, executive director of the Memorial Opera House in Valparaiso. “There’s nothing like that feeling of sitting in theater with somebody.”
The Memorial Opera House is among 19 Lake and Porter county nonprofit groups to receive $3,000 grants from the Indiana Arts Commission. Statewide, 278 nonprofit organizations shared $834,000 in funding.
Grants were distributed through the agency’s Arts Recovery Program with American Rescue Plan Act funds directly from the National Endowment for the Arts NEA with additional NEA funds through Arts Midwest, Indiana’s regional partner.
For most of the groups, the funding is a lifeline that allows them to pay artists, buy supplies and market their shows.
“As a self-sustaining organization, we don’t receive county money,” said MacDonald. “Having been closed for 18 months, there have been challenges to where are we going to come up with this money.”
His venue, at 104 E. Indiana Ave., actually kicked off its season in May with a Memorial Day concert. In the summer, it offered a production of “Clue the Musical.”
MacDonald said the theater is still catching up on canceled productions from 2020. It’s presenting “9 to 5 the Musical” on weekends, now through Oct. 3.
MacDonald said the new grant money will support salaries for performing arts and technical workers.
Since the state’s COVID-19 dashboard lists Porter County as yellow, masks for patrons are optional. If the county shifts to red or orange status, masks will be required. MacDonald advised patrons to check its website for updates.
He said the Opera House has been working with the Porter County Health Department and is following its guidelines. Cast and crew members have been encouraged, but not required, to get vaccinated.
MacDonald said the majority have been vaccinated because they’ve missed performing. “Everybody has been game,” he said.
In Gary, Alia Hawkins, artistic director of the Beachfront Dance School, the grant will enable it to market itself more to attract new students to its ballet studio at 427 S. Lake St.
“We’re getting a lot of little kids under 10,” said Hawkins who said the school’s fall session just began.
Beachfront Dance was one of the few venues that kept going with virtual classes during the pandemic last year as it marked its 17th anniversary.
Now, Hawkins said all of the instructors have been fully vaccinated and many, but not all, of the students over age 12 are vaccinated. Students and instructors still wear masks during classes, she said.
Hawkins said she noticed when COVID-19 restrictions lifted last year that students were eager to return.
“It became a safe haven,” she said.
Carole Carlson is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
Arts grant recipients
Porter County
North Coast Cultural Association
Regional Performing Arts Company
Sequenza Chamber Music Inc.
Art Barn School of Art Inc.
Association of Artists and Craftsmen of Porter County
Community Theatre Guild/Chicago Street Theatre
Memorial Opera House
Lake County
African American Achievers Youth Corps Inc.
L’arc en Ciel Theatre Group
Northwest Indiana Excellence in Theatre Foundation Inc.
Top 20 Inc.
Beachfront Dance School Inc.
Books, Brushes and Bands for Education
Indiana Ballet Theatre of Northwest Indiana Inc.
Miller Beach Arts & Creative District CDC Inc.
Northwest Indiana Symphony Society Inc.
South Shore Arts
South Shore Dance Alliance Inc.
Towle Performing Arts Company
Source: Indiana Arts Commission