U.S. Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) was in Burlington on Wednesday to acknowledge the value of Vermont's nonprofit theaters and the continued struggle they face to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. He pledged his support in the form of a bill that would provide $1 billion to the industry annually for five years.

Theaters, he said during a press conference in the lobby of the Flynn, were among the first institutions to close when the pandemic hit. "And then they were the last, in many ways, to come back" because many prospective audience members didn't feel comfortable returning. Welch was a lead sponsor in the U.S. House of the Save Our Stages Act in 2020, which helped keep performing arts organizations afloat during the pandemic.

Earlier this month, Welch introduced the Supporting Theater and the Arts to Galvanize the Economy (STAGE) Act of 2024 with U.S. Sens. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) and Jack Reed (D-R.I.). U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) have signed on as cosponsors, and U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-Ore.) introduced a companion bill in the House of Representatives.



The grants, Welch told the handful of Vermont nonprofit theater representatives in attendance on Wednesday, would "help make certain that you get to the other side of this because you're still struggling, through no fault of your own."

His appearance came just days after White River Junction- and New York City-based JAG Productions announced its closure, citing those very same post-pandemic pressures.

Joining Welch on Wednesday were Flynn executive director Jay Wahl, Vermont Secretary of Commerce and Community Development Lindsay Kurrle, Vermont Arts Council executive director Susan Evans McClure and Northern Stage producing artistic director Carol Dunne.

While several spoke of the intrinsic value of the arts — Wahl called them "the oxygen of humanity" — Kurrle attached numbers to their economic impact.

Citing a national report by the nonprofit Americans for the Arts, Kurrle said that in 2022, 1.4 million people attended arts and culture events put on by nonprofits in Vermont. One million of those were state residents.
"When looking at spending by patrons," Kurrle continued, "the breakdown shows Vermonters attending cultural events spent $36 million in addition to the cost of admission." Out-of-staters spend more per capita than Vermonters, Kurrle said.

More than 10,000 Vermonters worked in the arts and culture sector in 2022 — a figure from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis that includes for-profit employers, Kurrle said. "That same study found the creative sector contributed ... $1.1 billion to the Vermont economy, which is almost 3 percent of our state's GDP."

Nationwide, the nonprofit arts sector generated $151.7 billion in direct spending by organizations and attendees in 2022 and $29.1 billion in tax revenue, according to a statement from Welch's office. It supported 2.6 million jobs.

Northern Stage director Dunne noted the growth of her White River Junction theater. It started in 1998 with $5,000, she said, "and maybe 100 people came to see seven plays." The budget grew to $4 million, Dunne said, and in 2019, more than 50,000 people attended Northern Stage productions.

COVID-19 caused a decline in donations and a 40 percent drop in ticket sales. "We've asked ourselves over the past couple of years in the theater: Is this an existential crisis facing us? Are we going to go out of existence? Or is this where we need a longer runway for our emergence?"

Because of support she sees, including, potentially, from the STAGE Act, Dunne said she has concluded, "This is a runway issue."

"I have to say that being in the lobby of our company this year, there is a new hunger," Dunne continued. "People want live performance more, and I can see it in their eyes. And I can feel it because they will not leave the theater when we all want to go home and lock the doors."

If approved, STAGE Act grants would be administered by the Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration. Grants could be used to pay rent and payroll, employ artists and support professional personnel, attract new audiences, invest in industry workforce development, and study how to best sustain the long-term success of the industry.