It’s that time of year again. No, not the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. The Great Give, which seeks your online donations to specific area non-profits during a mammoth 36-hour fundraising marathon this Wednesday and Thursday, Oct. 2-3.
The Great Give is a new tradition, only four years old, but one which is so ballyhooed by so many groups, through events and emails and social media, that even if you’re just vaguely or tangentially involved with the New Haven arts community you’ll find it impossible to ignore or forget.
Overseen by the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, this annual fundraising region-wide event gauges donor support for local organizations, then awards grants to the groups which bring in the most money, or the most donors, or the most new donors, etc.
Of the nearly four dozen non-profits profiled in the “Support Arts & Culture” subcategory of the 2013 Great Give here, many are well-established theater organizations:
• Elm Shakespeare Company, which has been presenting shows in Edgerton Park every summer for nearly two decades.
• Long Wharf Theatre, the nearly half-century-old regional theater powerhouse.
• The Shubert Theater, which marks its 100th birthday next year, and may soon change from a city-owned enterprise to being owned by CAPA, the national arts organization which currently manages it.
• New Haven Ballet, the decades-old school which has done some bracing modern dance work amid the classical standards.
• Projects for a New Millennium, progressive outdoor-art multi-media spectacles realized by sculptor Joy Wulke, lighting designer Jamie Burnett and other artists.
• The New Haven International Festival of Arts & Ideas, founded in 1996 and responsible for bringing countless international artists to New Haven.
• Whitney Players, a community-based theater company and theater workshop for children which operates out of the Thornton Wilder Auditorium on Dixwell Avenue in Hamden.
• Arte, nearly a decade old and dedicated to spreading Latino culture more broadly in the New Haven arts scene.
• Neighborhood Music School, which has ongoing dance, theater and cabaret programs besides the “Music” of the school’s title.
• Center Stage Theatre, a community-based theater group and performance space in Shelton.
• Ball & Socket Arts, which hopes to transform a factory in Cheshire into an arts center.
Other organizations on the Great Give list, such as Artspace, Site Projects, Music Haven, New Haven Symphony Orchestra, Valley Arts Council, Institute Library, New Haven Chorale, Orchestra New England and Shoreline Arts Alliance regularly comingle with actors, directors or dramatic themes.
The online giving event starts at 8 a.m. October 2 and ends at 8 p.m. October 3.
Need we remind you to give generously?