More Edmonton arts organizations are allowing their patrons to choose what they want to pay for admission in a bid to make art more accessible and convince audiences to return after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pay-What-You-Can (PWYC) performances are not new — the Citadel Theatre has offered them for 25 years, for example — but some arts professionals say the idea is gaining ground.
Thou Art Here Theatre produced Civil Blood: A Treaty Story this summer, an immersive, Indigenized reimagining of Romeo and Juliet set in the Old Fort at Fort Edmonton Park. The entire run was PWYC, and patrons were not required to pay to enter Fort Edmonton Park.
Thou Art Here's artistic leadership mentee Dayna Lea Hoffmann told Taproot many interested in attending plays struggle to afford tickets and PWYC is one way independents are addressing that. "I'm noticing a really large shift for indie companies," Hoffmann said. "Most indie companies are offering either a select amount of pay-what-you-can tickets, or all tickets (as) pay-what-you-can."
The Kaleido Family Arts Festival, which runs on Alberta Avenue from Sept. 13 to 15, is fully PWYC, with no admission gates. When the festival started 19 years ago, organizers charged $5 to enter. "What we realized was that we were eliminating probably 50% of our community," said Christy Morin, executive director of Arts on the Ave, Kaleido's parent organization. "I stood there watching and running after them, saying, 'Come back, come on in.' I did that over and over again, and finally, I said to our volunteer, 'Just let them in.'"
Kaleido shifted to a PWYC model shortly after the first festival.
Grants from organizations such as the Edmonton Arts Council, Alberta Foundation for the Arts, and the Canada Council for the Arts almost entirely fund Thou Art Here's shows, and are instrumental to allow the company to offer PWYC admission, Hoffmann said. "We have all of the funding necessary to secure the location, the tools necessary to put on the show, and the fees and wages that (the cast and crew are) entitled to," Hoffmann said. "Ticket sales are just a bonus for the company."
Kaleido costs about $300,000 annually to produce, Morin said. "We have leaned strongly on grants, donations, fundraising throughout the year, 50-50 (raffles), and it is a continual race," she said. "There's not ever a finish line to this." Morin said the festival used to have donation tubes and would collect about $2,000 throughout the festival, and now sells souvenirs and admission to inflatable obstacle courses to help raise money.
Meanwhile, the Citadel's well-attended PWYC program is supported by the Alberta Blue Cross, executive director Jessie van Rijn said. Tickets for the theatre's next show, A Streetcar Named Desire, are about $100 each. The theatre typically receives between $7 to $10 from each patron during its PWYC performances and usually offers PWYC tickets for two shows per production.
"PWYC performances have a tremendous impact on community building and expanding our programming to audiences who might not otherwise have the opportunity to experience the magic of live theatre," van Rijn said.
Patrons pose for a photo at the Kaleido Family Arts Festival, which allows entry by donation, or pay-what-you-can. (Kaleido Family Arts Festival)
Morin said festival organizers have calculated that the average Kaleido attendee experiences about $120 worth of programming, but erecting ticket gates would fundamentally change the festival. Still, she said she hopes those who can afford it will consider donating to the festival.
"When people see the words 'by donation' or 'free,', they think that their fare has been covered," Morin said. "Actually, someone is paying for it somewhere and it's the organization that carries that burden of that fee per person. And so for those that can give, we ask them to give … to take in a whole weekend of incredible arts, whether it's music or dance or theatre, we're asking people, please do donate."
Thou Art Here also funds productions through community support. It has a tiered membership program with benefits. It is also holding a fundraising event ahead of its next show, Cycle by Andrew Ritchie. Thou Art Here will hold a spin class and use the proceeds to fund the performance, which is a one-person show that details the playwright's experience with active transportation and cycle culture across Canada.
The Rozsa Foundation commissioned Stone-Olafson to study the post-pandemic behaviour of arts audiences. The second wave of the study found Albertans rank arts organization low on their priority list for charitable donations. Albertans are more likely to support food banks, health care organizations, animal shelters, and homeless-serving organizations. Only 14% of Albertans donate to arts organizations, the study found. Another wave of the study found that 75% of Edmontonians feel they can't afford to attend arts events following the COVID-19 pandemic.
"After COVID, we lost so much audience retention, everyone did," Hoffmann said. "Everyone still feels it, and (PWYC) is a way of bringing that community back, but also making it so that not everyone needs to shell out $40 to see a show."