Dear Arts Patrons, Aficionados and Supporters,
Summer is coming and the arts organizations are hitting the ground running with exhibitions, productions, openings, concerts and so much more. Check out our updated Calendar of Events, as well as tips on how to keep the arts thriving in this latest issue of the Update.
2022 Arlington Arts Groups Performances and Events
Calendar of Live Events (Subject to Change)
June – August
4/15-6/18 – “SOLOS 2022,” Arlington Arts Center, Info here.
4/26-6/12 – “The Upstairs Department,” Signature Theatre, Info and tickets here.
4/30-6/19 – “Peace is Every Step,” MasPaz Exhibition, Fred Schnider Gallery of Art, Info here.
5/25-6/18 – “Suddenly Last Summer,” Avant Bard Theatre Company, Gunston Arts Center, Info here.
5/31-6/24 – “Destruction, Arlington Artists Alliance, Gallery Underground, Info here.
6/3-6/12 – “Annie,” Encore Stage & Studio, Tickets here.
6/3-6/17 – “To Gather Paradise” exhibit, Cody Gallery, Marymount University Info here.
6/10 – “Signature Under the Stars,” Signature Theatre, Lubber Run Amphitheater, Info here.
6/11 – “Blue True Dream of Sky Concert,” Arlington Chorale, Unitarian Universalist Church, Info here.
6/17 – Arlington Collective Art Walk (several Arlington art galleries participating), Info here.
6/18 – “25th Columbia Pike Blues Festival,” Columbia Pike Partnership, Info here.
6/24 – “Broadway in the Park, Signature Theatre, Info here.
6/26 – “Pops in the Park,” Arlington Philharmonic, Lubber Run Amphitheater, Info here.
6/30-7/2 – “We Shall Someday Concert,” Signature Theatre, Info here.
7/1-7/10 – “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, The Arlington Players, Info and tickets here.
7/5-7/17 – “Hotter Than July: Stevie Wonder,” Cabaret Series, Signature Theatre, Info and tickets here.
7/9-7/31 – “tick, tick, BOOM,” Monumental Theatre Company, Tickets here.
7/30 – “Blue Tapestry,” VERONNEAU, Lubber Run Amphitheater, Info here.
7/31 – “A Sidewalk Stroll,” Encore Stage & Studio, Lubber Run Amphitheater, Info here.
8/1-8/26 – “Courage in Color,” Juried Show, Gallery Underground, Info here.
8/5-8/7 – Collaborative Event featuring Encore Stage & Studio, Dominion Theater, The Arlington Players and Avant Bard Theater, Lubber Run Amphitheater, Info here.
8/12 – Summer concert, National Chamber Ensemble, Lubber Run Amphitheater, Info here.
8/16-10/9 – “The Color Purple,” Signature Theatre, Info and tickets here.
8/30-10/16 – “No Place to Go,” Signature Theatre, Info and tickets here.
To view the entire calendar, click here.
Let’s Work Together to Help Live Theater Thrive
Yes, live performances at our regional theaters have begun again. Good news for patrons, good news for actors and crews, and good news for the industry overall, right? Well, yes and no as COVID is proving to be tenacious and a powerful enemy against these important cultural entities. “The show must go on” is still the mantra – unless a cast or crew member tests positive. Then the curtain must fall for about a week – incurring huge financial losses for theaters.
In January 2022 alone, more than a third of the scheduled productions in the DC region were cancelled or postponed. For those cancelled shows, theaters with contracted casts and crew members still paid these professionals while at the same time they refunded those who had purchased tickets. In addition, the costs of opening a show had already been incurred – further exacerbating the financial picture. These costs also now include the added expense of purchasing testing equipment which can run into tens of thousands of dollars each month for the larger theaters around town.
Yet theater leaders and professionals are united in their excitement to be offering live performances again and providing a respite from the virus for patrons throughout the DMV. They know the arts overall, and theater in particular, are vital to our community as we reemerge from our COVID isolations. We are overwhelmingly thankful to these professionals for letting us back into their spaces to escape and heal. So how can we best help them continue to keep their doors open?
Go see a show and urge others to do the same! Theaters throughout the DMV are extremely cognizant and respectful of their responsibility to keep us all safe and healthy. Patrons must present proof of vaccination or a recent negative test, as well as their IDs before entering any venue. They also must keep their masks on during the entire show. Patrons, staffs and actors can feel safe inside these theater walls.
Donate if you can! No donation is too small OR too large to keep these critical entities open, vibrant and successful. Unlike in 2020 and 2021, arts entities are no longer able to take advantage of several grants and federal funding to help pay their actors, staffs and expenses that were available during the shutdown. These funding sources are now expired and yet theaters are still being adversely impacted to a huge extent with every new variant or spike in positive cases.
Volunteer! Front end staff members have also been hit hard by the virus. Check with your favorite theaters and see if they need ushers, ticket takers, or other volunteers to help with a show.
Reconsider Refunds! If you bought a ticket for a show that unfortunately has to be cancelled, consider either donating the refund back to the theater or taking a credit for a future show in lieu of receiving a refund directly. This action will greatly help theaters with their cash flows during times of cancelled show weeks.
And remember – a successful arts and theater industry translates into more economic activity overall, increased sales for our restaurants, and healthier seniors, students, Veterans and so many others who benefit from exposure to the arts.
Corporate Sponsors of the Month
This month we are honoring two of our generous sponsors who have supported our work for four years in a row! The first is Natalie Roy/Bicycling Realty. With more than 30 years of professional environmental experience and local civic activism, Natalie is a strong advocate and works tirelessly for her clients. As a longtime member of the Arlington community, she specializes in Arlington, particularly the neighborhoods of Lyon Park & Ashton Heights, and the Ballston/Clarendon/Rosslyn Orange Line corridor. In addition to VA, she is also licensed in MD and DC. Natalie has her Military Relocation Professional certification and designation as a Seller Representative and Senior Real Estate Specialist. She has been voted the top 2018 residential real estate agent by Arlington Sun Gazette readers and has been recognized as a top 2018 agent in Northern VA Magazine, Arlington Magazine and the Washingtonian. As a biking enthusiast, Natalie offers a new unique service – bicycling house hunting. If biking is not an option, she is happy to help you house hunt by car, foot or metro too!
Our second honored corporate sponsor is the Ballston BID. Ballston is a 25-block neighborhood of commercial and residential properties known as an epicenter for scientific research and discovery. With over 8.3 million square feet of office space, 1 million square feet of retail space and 8,000 residential units, Ballston offers a range of exciting options for both working and living. It is our blend of urban sophistication and neighborhood charm that is unique to this region. Ballston is home to top universities, Fortune 500 companies, the Washington Capitals ice rink and practice facility, upscale hotels, green space and over 60 restaurants – all accessible via metro and a host of other transportation choices.
“Embracing Arlington Arts Talks” Podcast:
Our May podcasts were full of interesting talent, new faces, and exciting news. First, we welcomed the Artistic Director of Ballet Nova Matthew Powell back to the show who was thrilled to announce that after a 2.5 year hiatus the company would finally be presenting “The Sleeping Beauty.” The next week Visual Artist Victoria Truhn gave us a very interesting “tutorial” on ceramics making using a wheel.
Next, we were very excited to meet Alissa Maru, Exhibition and Program Manager at the new Mason Exhibitions Arlington gallery who gave us all the details about this exciting new venue and flexible space that will feature not only visual art, but also dance, music, film, etc. We ended the month by having Josephine Reed, the Media Producer for the National Endowment for the Arts, sit on the other side of the microphone and tell us about her podcast “Art Works.”
To listen to any of our interviews, follow this link. And if you have not already done so, please follow us on Apple Podcast, Spotify, GooglePodcast, or Amazon Music so you don’t miss any episodes.
Media Hits:
Arlington arts organizations also continued publishing Community Post columns in ArlNow. Ballet Nova was able to expound on the podcast and write about their production of “The Sleeping Beauty.” Then the Educational Theatre Company (ETC) wrote about all the many benefits of theater camp for children.
If you would like to support the work of Embracing Arlington Arts by making a donation, here’s how:
* Make tax-deductible contributions online.
* Tax-deductible contributions by check: check made out to Embracing Arlington Arts and send it to Embracing Arlington Arts, 754 North Vermont Street, Arlington, VA 22203
* Make Embracing Arlington Arts your AmazonSmile charity and shop with this link.
Every dollar helps us help artists and arts organizations in so many ways.
Thank you in advance!
Embracing Arlington Arts 