Arena Stage Launches Artists Marketplace Featuring Kate Baldwin, Marsha Mason and More

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater announces the launch of Artists Marketplace, a new model for regional theaters to connect art, artists and their artistry directly with patrons. Patrons will have the opportunity to commission or purchase a work of art from the artists and artisans who have graced Arena's stages.

"I dreamed up the Artists Marketplace when I realized that despite the pandemic, artists and audience exist, both still hungry for each other," shares Deputy Artistic Director Seema Sueko. "Our regular delivery system of "gather artists, gather audiences and mix" is broken, but we can create new delivery systems and new models for regional theaters to serve our communities and earn income for artists now, rather than wait until theaters produce again."

"95% of artists nationally have lost work-62% have lost all work," shares Arena Stage Artistic Director Molly Smith. "Guess which sector of the arts has lost all work? Yes - theater artists. Seema's brilliant brainstorm of an idea provides a way for audiences to support artists and for artists to earn money to live. We work with extraordinary artists - come aboard and help support them through purchasing their art through experiences and objects."

With traditional methods of commemorating special events on hold, the Artists Marketplace gives people meaningful ways to express gratitude to frontline workers, to grieve with one another and to convey love and support. Artists can make these occasions and sentiments memorable in new ways. The diverse and engaging offerings include personal concerts and greetings, original music compositions for a loved one, one-on-one acting and vocal coaching sessions, custom-made face masks, conflict resolution, custom-designed and performed puppet film of a person's life, cooking class and a song and a writing salon for you and your friends. Patrons also have the chance to own original, one-of-a-kind artwork and to transform an outdoor yard into a beautifully designed rock garden landscape.

To view and learn more about marketplace, visit arenastage.org/artistsmarketplace

Regional theaters hold deep relationships with our communities of artists and audience. Arena is proud to be the link between them, keeping these connections alive while closed. The Artists Marketplace will give audiences a new way to engage and build new audiences. For the artist, it is about maintaining their artistic livelihood and providing financial support.

Artists launching the Marketplace include actors Kate Baldwin, Lise Bruneau, Marsha Mason, Nicholas Rodriguez, Dawn Ursula, Kirsten Wyatt, musician Victor Simonson, designers Paige Hathaway, Ken MacDonald, Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew, writer Mary Hall Surface, Broadway Fight Master David S. Leong, Fight and Intimacy Choreographer Jenny Male, Voice and Dialect Coaches Lisa Nathans and Zach Campion and production department artisans and technicians Deborah Lynn Nash and Timothy M. Thompson. The Marketplace will be a dynamic space with new Arena Stage artists added over time.

Photo Credit: Jennifer Broski