How to Support the Arts: A conversation with Brian Spain of Enter Stage Right

Enter Stage Right is a nonprofit theater company located in Port Huron. The company produces nearly a dozen shows per year for the public, hosts classes and events, and provides a safe space for hundreds of artists to join the theater. We sat down with ESR Board Chair Brian Spain to discuss funding challenges and the value of the performance arts. 

This interview has been condensed and modified for clarity.  

Q: How is an organization like ESR funded?

Spain: So, we fund our operations in three buckets. We have earned revenue; we sell concessions and sell tickets. We have classes, and we do other things that people pay to come to. We have donations. And then there is the third category, which is grants. 

We don’t count on any of them being our mainstay for financial support because at any one time, our ticket sales could dive or grants could go away, or people could stop donating to us. So, if we’re working on all three revenue sources at any given time, at least one of them will be there for us. 

Q: What are some challenges to raising funds for small nonprofits and the arts?

Spain: I know it’s hard to look at all the needs right now, and there are so many great causes to donate to. And some of them are very basic needs, like people who don’t have water in their homes, or they don’t have food. I understand that it has to take precedence. 

Arts organizations should not try to spread themselves too thin and try to be both, but maybe look for arts folks who partner with those basic needs organizations. If we totally focused on basic needs and the economy, we’d be missing the spice that art brings. Art should be for everybody. 

Q: How does Enter Stage Right ensure it’s financially sustainable for the present and for the future?

Spain: We do a lot of things to make sure that we’re paying attention to the bottom line, including quarterly reports and financial documents for our board of directors. We work with a local accounting firm to do a financial review every three years. 

That’s part of our path to sustainability, which is to have permanent, full-time positions. So, we started two different funds. We started the endowed fund with the Community Foundation of St. Clair County and a non-endowed fund (both invested in the stock market). The non-endowed fund is actually our focus. We look at it as a savings vehicle, where we’re putting money and large donations. Because we know that buying a building isn’t something we’re going to walk out and do tomorrow, so that money can grow with the market. 

Q: What are the benefits of ESR, both for artists and for the wider community? 

Spain: We’ve had artists who were feeling isolated prior to ESR. Theater people, you will not find a more welcoming group of people. As long as you’re kind, theater people will welcome you in and call you a part of their family. People who are lost might find their way in this community. 

And, there is something to do in Port Huron. Come have a good time at one of our shows. We’re a form of entertainment. We do bring 4,000 people downtown. It’s hundreds of thousands of dollars they’re spending at other businesses. We’re part of the community, and we can help it grow, and we’re getting people out of their houses. 

Theater is a great leveler. You can come to a show, and you might be a Republican or you might be a Democrat. You might be 80, you might be 12. You might be super rich, you might not know where your next meal is coming from. You can sit in the audience, and you’re all experiencing the same thing. That kind of community building is a bridge community, where you get to know someone who is nothing like you. You never would have run into them, and theater and public art in general create those bridge communities. We’re creating it with our audiences and our artists.

Q: How can arts advocates and the community support ESR and public arts?

Spain: Attend events. Come to our shows. Take part. Get on our stage. Participate. 

In terms of advocating for public art, when you’re voting or when you talk to people running for office, make sure they know the idea of bridge communities and that you don’t want to live in a big gray box, so you need art. Make sure they know that it is important. 

To learn more about ESR’s upcoming shows or how to participate or donate, visit enterstageright.org/.