Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

As far as local performing arts went, 2025 could be oddly charmed. New venues opened; huge, ambitious festivals took off like jetliners; halls filled up and sold out.

Those are small victories against a bleak national outlook. Arts organizations of every size must contend with the nearly overnight overhaul of the NEA and vanishing nonprofit support. The notion that the arts will regain pre-pandemic levels of support has never seemed more distant. Meanwhile, major blows to arts journalism this year robbed the industry of thoughtful advocacy and investigative attention right as it needs it most.

So, yes, celebrate the victories. There was, indeed, much to celebrate, some of it below. But the arts need your support — yes, yours — more than eve

See Full Page