Sudbury Performance Group understands how important community support is to their ongoing success in the arts and culture scene, and now, they want to give other organizations the same support.
“It was the next logical step in the forward movement of our organization,” said Mark Mannisto, president of Sudbury Performance Group (SPG), who said they’ve been extremely busy this summer doing just that.
Recently, SPG has been engaging in several different outreach initiatives within the Sudbury community to support other local arts, entertainment organizations and cultural events in Sudbury. Mannisto said that when they were starting out, they could’ve used more support to get off the ground and find their place, so they know how important community support means to any organization.
In recent years, they’ve been fortunate in receiving immense support from the community, and making it a point to ensure the money raised from their productions goes back into supporting the artists who make Sudbury a rich and vibrant community. Now, Mannisto said, they want to do more to elevate and the arts scene in Sudbury.
“We are always asking our members and our community that they should come and support SPG, where 100 per cent of the funds they spend taking in a show or attending one of our concerts is invested directly into our community,” he said. “However, if we’re preaching that people need to support SPG, we need to show that we’re supporting others.”
Recently, they partnered with Porchlight Theatre Company for their upcoming theatre production of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. They are helping to share the costs and resources to ensure their next production comes to fruition. A new organization based out of Hanmer, Mannisto said Porchlight holds a lot of the same values that SPG does, and will be providing similar types of offerings to Sudbury audiences.
Unlike in previous years when some arts organizations were not as forthcoming with supporting new or younger arts groups, Mannisto said things are slowly changing, but everyone has to do their part. “I believe that in Sudbury we need to foster those changes and if we can do that by working with Porchlight as a catalyst, I think that’s going to be a good thing for everybody in Sudbury,” he said.
Another exciting sponsorship SPG was recently involved in was The Northern Lights Festival Boreal, Canada’s longest running folk festival for the past 51 years. A cultural staple in Sudbury, the festival showcases a mix of local and international music, and sees a wide variety of cultures and backgrounds represented in the talent, staff, volunteers, and festival goers.
Mannisto said, Tessa Balaz, the festival’s new executive director, has performed in several SPG events, and because of the nature of the event, and in support of Balaz, it was a no-brainer for SPG to want to sponsor the event. “Tessa is a visionary in the community and a champion of diversity and equity in the music industry,” he said. “She’s a strong advocate for cultural change and we echo that wholeheartedly, so once we new Tessa was on board at Festival Boreal, and we knew what her vision was, we decided that we wanted to play a major part in the festival.”
On behalf of SPG, Mannisto volunteered as a Pride Marshall at the recent Fierte Sudbury Pride Festival helping to keep pride-goers safe. He said it was an amazing event, and beautiful to see all the families- opposite and same sex families-come together in a fun and welcoming environment.
“It was important for me to volunteer with this group as this was our way to show support for the LGBTQI+ community, many of whom are members of the SPG team,” he said.
Mannisto said they’re planning to continue to do outreach, partnering with and supporting other organizations, and encourage others to do the same. He said if everyone supports each other, they can all work together towards an even more vibrant arts and culture scene in Sudbury, which is paramount.
SPG has more outreach plans in store. If you are an arts and culture organization and want to get involved, call 705-662-8518, contact or check out their Facebook page to learn more!