PUTNEY — Next Stage Arts Project, with the Putney Historical Society, was recently selected as one of 55 recipients nationwide to be awarded a $370,000 grant from ArtPlace America, a nonprofit collaboration of national foundations and the National Endowment for the Arts aimed at accelerating “creative placemaking” across the United States.
Next Stage's executive director, Maria Basescu, said that landing the highly competitive grant from such a major foundation - 1,300 applicants applied for it - “is really a thrilling validation of everybody who has ever worked for this organization.”
On hearing the news, Gov. Peter Shumlin, a Putney resident, lauded Next Stage:
“In just three short years, Next Stage Arts Project has been instrumental in reinvigorating the cultural and economic life in Putney, as well as other communities in southern Vermont. The project embodies the kind of creative collaboration and resourcefulness we are striving to encourage in the state of Vermont.”
Putney's town manager, Cynthia Stoddard, said happily, “This is great news. It's so exciting to see Putney Village come to life.”
In its announcement, ArtPlace said that leading national and regional foundations, banks, and federal agencies committed to accelerating creative placemaking recognized Next Stage as fulfilling ArtPlace's mission: to advance the field of creative placemaking in which art and culture play an explicit and central role in shaping communities' social, physical and economic futures.
And the money will be put to work. The bulk of the award, $320,000, is earmarked for capital improvements as part of a joint effort with the Historical Society to renovate this historic building at 15 Kimball Hill Rd. into a fully accessible, modern performing arts center.
Another $50,000 will further programming and school collaborations. An extra, un-asked-for $10,000 is for technical support, which Next Stage can use at its discretion.
Next Stage's capital campain aims to raise $860,000, of which $650,000 is now secure. That money includes other grants, several lead donations from community members, and a state tax credit of more than $110,000.
And the work is far from over. This new, major grant simply ends the “quiet” phase of Next Stage's capital campaign. A crucial public phase begins with “the opportunity to engage the community to bring the campaign home,” said Next Stage's chair and co-founder, Billy Straus.
Next State launched its first community appeal letter early this year, and the organization found it very successful. “It demonstrated the support we have for what we are trying to do here,” Basescu added.
The campaign is to fund a full accessibility upgrade, including the installation of an elevator; restoration of the historic ceiling; roof, facade and other exterior work; major upgrades to the performance space, such as seating, air handling, lighting, and sound; the addition of a green room; and renovation of the kitchen.
“Until we really upgrade the building - because we are right now not handicapped-accessible - we are excluded from many grants because of [requirements of] the Americans with Disabilities Act,” Basescu said.
Work on the building is slated to begin this season and wrap up by the fall of 2016.
“When all is said and done,” said Basescu, “this amazing grant from ArtPlace means that audiences and artists at Next Stage will be so enriched by a beautiful state of the art performing space.”
Dedicated to the arts
Next Stage was founded in 2010 with the backing of the Putney Historical Society as a nonprofit dedicated to the programming, development, and operation of the 180-seat Next Stage theater in the former United Church of Putney on Kimball Hill.
Its mission is to celebrate the diversity of artistic expression by fostering a collaborative environment for audiences, performers, and community as it works to revitalize the cultural and economic village center of Putney.
Basescu explained: “Focusing on the highest quality of artistic endeavors, Next Stage has taken a challenging space with a lot about it that is not ideal and made it work, operating from that old maxim, 'think globally, act locally.'”
Straus said the organization is honored to be among the projects selected for funding by ArtPlace America in this grant cycle:
“The affirmation that our small, rural project in southern Vermont is resonating with the larger, national dialogue around arts and community-building is very exciting to us.”
ArtPlace also noted Next Stage's role in helping the community emerge from “two major fires in the village center … to create a performing arts and community center that is already becoming the new anchor for Putney's re-emerging downtown.”
Sharing the credit
Basescu said she wanted to emphasize Straus's importance in pulling down this grant: “Billy is a real visionary, and he was the key person pursuing this tremendous opportunity.”
Straus, in turn, was modest. He explained that as one of Next Stage's co-founders he feels a strong connection to the project. For the first couple of years before the organization was able to hire a formal executive director, he said he worked “more or less in that role.”
With Basescu hired as executive director in January 2013, “I was able to shift my focus to the larger challenges and opportunities facing the organization, including helping to build out our wonderful working board of directors,” Straus said.
He said he also found more time to develop fundraising possibilities. He became aware of ArtPlace America in 2013 as a major, national funder of projects in which the arts play a pivotal role in enriching communities and stimulating vibrancy in those communities.
Because Next Stage Arts Project, at its core, is about collaboration, it seemed to Straus that the two might be a good fit. And so he reached out with a narrative.
“The most exciting aspect of this award - beyond the fact that it will help us make key accessibility and other improvements in the venue - is that it expands the collaboration to include other organizations and communities across the country who are working to achieve similar goals,” he said.
The grant expands Next Stage Arts Project's collaboration with the Putney Historical Society to embrace national partners and peer organizations - increasing visibility not only for Next Stage but also for southern Vermont.
Powerful competition and phenomenal success
Basescu told The Commons she knew the odds were against Next Stage when it applied for the grant.
“We were competing against powerful arts organizations in major cities. Looking over the awards ArtPlace [bestowed] this year, I did notice that there was some emphasis on rural communities. Nonetheless, our success is phenomenal.”
Next Stage's hopes were raised during a site visit from the funder, represented by a woman from Philadelphia. She was introduced to many of the people who make Next Stage happen, such as Stoddard, some of the artists involved with Next Stage, and the chair of the Putney School Board, with whom Next State often collaborates.
“We knew that one of the things ArtPlace was looking for was a community resource that works with schools. Next Stage has always done that whenever we can. We have workshops in the school, and whenever there's a tie-in with a performance we get schools involved,” Basescu explained.
During the site visit, Basescu and her team worked to impress on ArtPlace's representative the value of Next Stage to Putney's prosperity, both economic and cultural.
“We hoped to present Next Stage as an ideal, eclectic community resource, what ArtPlace calls creative placemaking,” Basescu explained.
“I think the [representative] was impressed by the degree of collaboration at Next Stage. We received an encouraging, supportive letter from her afterward.”
And impressed she must have been, as Next Stage got even more money than it asked for.
“The person who informed us about winning the grant had only been working at ArtPlace a couple of days when he called us,” said Basescu. “What a great job to have: getting to tell people they won a major grant.”