Juneau Arts & Humanities Council and Perseverance Theatre Announce pARTnership

The Juneau Arts & Humanities Council officially announced the creation of a partnership with Perseverance Theatre to work together towards the creation of a new theatre complex for Alaska's capital city.

Officially established as "The pARTnership," the two entities have been meeting together with municipal and state officials, as well as potential funding sources about the idea for the new building, which will be an addition to the existing Juneau Arts and Culture Center building in Juneau's Willoughby neighborhood and is tentatively named the Willoughby Arts Complex. According to Nancy DeCherney, Executive Director of the Juneau Arts & Humanities Council, the shared vision is to have a building with all or most of the community's arts groups as partners. "It only makes sense to house as many of these organizations as possible - financially, as well as creatively. Imagine the 'cross-pollination' that could occur with the visual, musical, and theatrical arts all working under the same roof."

Art Rotch, Executive Artistic Director of Perseverance Theatre, concurs, which is one of the reasons the Theatre originally reached out to the Arts Council to explore the concept. Says Rotch, "Perseverance Theatre owns a building that was designed as temporary quarters more than 30 years ago. While it has served us well, we are now embarked on a strategic plan with the goal of securing a long-term future for our Alaskan, professional theater company. A shared facility with JAHC and the entire arts community is the most cost-effective means for us to improve upon PT's facilities, and fits our mission perfectly."

"The pARTnership" was announced by JAHC Board Chair Candy Behrends, DeCherney, and Rotch at Sunday's Wearable Arts show.

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