Five Reasons to Support the Arts in the Summer by Marisa Valent

With summer here, SPARE's busiest time of the year is upon us. More and more, we're sending out the call for help and patronage at our many summer fundraisers. Now comes the time you may start asking yourself, "Well, what does all that have to do with me?"

In return, we offer you: Five Reasons to Support The Arts This Summer!

1. Art groups like SPARE Productions are always pairing up with locally-owned business and sites to put on their shows and fundraisers. When you support SPARE, you also get the chance to support places like Hatala Orthodontics, Superior Print on Demand, the Cider Mill Playhouse, and more. Supporting the arts also helps support local business!

2. The arts can be an amazing teaching opportunity for younger people in the community. Students get the chance not only to learn skills in their chosen art, but skills in areas like team work, organization, and public speaking. Supporting the arts is a great way to support the youth in your community

3. Arts can bring a sense of community to a city. In the past few years, the Binghamton area has really rallied around the First Friday tradition, featuring artists, singers, actors, and other art groups in the downtown area. Supporting local artists can help a community thrive and grow through new ideas and mediums. 

4. The arts can become an escape from every day life. They offer performers and audience alike a chance to step away from the day to day grind and enter different worlds. Supporting artists makes these worlds more lifelike and creates a better experience for all who participate. 

5. For many of SPARE's members, community theater is the gateway to "bigger and better things." Supporting local theater means giving aspiring actors, set designers, costumers, and others the chance to practice and hone their skills so they can dream big. The more support they have, the better chance they have for making it big time.

Thank YOU for supporting local arts!

Marisa Valent
President, SPARE Productions