Being an arts centre that thrives on bringing people together to celebrate the arts, the notion of a mass shutdown to our industry could have proven catastrophic. This shutdown could have not only affected the immediate time frame but future seasons very well could have been stalled and in need of revitalization; loss of artists, in need of renters, unengaged audiences. We were not about to let that happen to the BFAC, an entity that has grown into a community treasure over the past decade, touching the hearts, minds, and souls of tens of thousands of people each year. In fact, we used our time and resourses to not only maintain, but grow the BFAC. Here is how we have set ourselves up to grow by 4.6% in 2021-2022.
In March of 2021 with an expected brief three to eight week closure we calmly began rearranging our events and began engaging with artists and audiences in a virtual format. This format would be the beginning of our new format, BFAC on air. We worked with artists who were scheduled to perform, previous performance groups, and more, to continue bringing the arts to life in your homes. When May of 2020 rolled around we knew what we thought might be a couple of months would indeed be a much longer period of time and we immediately began designing a LIVE stream system with the ability to perpetuate the arts through the long haul of the pandemic both for our audiences and artists. This system was fully installed by the end of August 2020 and was immediately put to use.
Dance companies were able to resume rentals and perform to virtual audiences, actors were able to perform shows to audiences everywhere; ceremonies, meetings, and competitions pushed forward. Not only were local events able to bring their arts to the world, but we were also able to stream a FREE virtual series to our patrons in December of 2020 and January 2021. By working with agents from around the country we brought performances from around the world to the homes of our patrons. This brought a new awareness of the BFAC while fostering strong relationships in the industry while fully launching YOUR local arts streaming platform, BFAC on air, featuring both LIVE and On-Demand events.
By embracing where we were and acknowledging what we needed to do in order to fulfill our mission, we have set ourselves up to emerge stronger than ever from that short shutdown sixteen months ago. Welcome to 2021-2022- where events at the BFAC are up 4.6%. We can’t wait to welcome you to our seats here at BFAC or your seat at home with BFAC on air!