Jasper Arts: Next Act meets first goal

The Next Act, Inc., the nonprofit formed to purchase the Astra Theatre and create an endowment for its upkeep, announced they have reached their first goal of raising enough money to create the endowent for the theatre.

“We received the matching funds for the Dubois County Community Foundation grant. So we were able to secure the funding that we needed to get that grant,” Jasper Arts Commission board member Selena Vonderheide said. “We are not yet completed in our endowment phase, which is where we want to be in order to purchase and endow the theatre.”

Vonderheide is also a board member for The Next Act.

The group’s plans include raising $465,000 to purchase the theatre and create an endowment to pay for its operational costs. Before those two goals are met, the group will not move forward with the purchase.

The Dubois County Community Foundation pledged a $100,000 matching grant to the group if they raised $200,000. They set a goal to have that accomplished by March and were able to hit that mark to create the $300,000 endowment.

Now they are working on the final $165,000 necessary to purchase the theatre.

Vonderheide reported that the excitement is still high for the future plans for the facility and she is grateful for the support in the community on the expansion of the arts for the public.

Also in Monday’s meeting, Arts Director Kit Miracle announced that changes were made to the recently approved 2015-16 Performing Arts Series.

“Right after the last board meeting where I got approval for the lineup, two days later I had several changes,” she explained.

According to Miracle, the entire ‘Young Frankenstein’ tour was recently cancelled. Additionally, they were informed that John Lithgow, who was scheduled for a fall show has committed to filming a TV program,  he’s not available.

His appearance is now moved to spring of 2016.

To replace Lithgow, Miracle landed upon a show called “Time Jumpers” featuring Vince Gill and Kenny Sears. Time Jumpers is an old school bluegrass and folk group with a touch of improvisational music.

Miracle says that it’s the 40th anniversary of the JCAC and so they want to have a very special year.