Dear Klamath Community,

We are reaching out with a heartfelt appeal and asking you to join us in safeguarding the Ross Ragland Theater to ensure its doors do not close for the 2025-26 season. The theater faces unprecedented challenges, and we are turning to our community for support.

Imagine the Klamath region without the Ross Ragland Theater. It has been a vibrant hub for our community for decades, from local productions and professional performances to operating more than eight educational programs for all ages. Without the Ross Ragland, more than 10,000 children a year would lose the opportunity to experience theater classes, camps, and highly anticipated field trips to the theater with their schools. The Ragland is the only establishment providing theatrical performing arts and cultural education to several of Oregon’s most rural communities. Some isolated and underserved communities in the Klamath Basin include Bonanza, Chiloquin, Malin, Merrill, Tulelake, Dorris, Lakeview, and Gilchrist. The closure of the Ragland would mean losing access to the performing arts and cultural experiences that enrich their lives.

Like many arts organizations nationwide, the Ross Ragland Theater faces financial uncertainty due to ongoing economic challenges. The financial strain on the theater is attributed mainly to the damaging impact of the pandemic. Though we were fortunate to receive grant funding from the government, enabling us to stay open while others closed, we spent one year and seven months without booking a touring or professional artist. Our non-profit theater depends greatly on live performances for income, so the prolonged lapse in shows depleted our government funding.

Following an in-depth financial and strategic planning review and a fiduciary restructuring of the organization, it has been determined that we need to raise one million dollars over the next year to ensure the theater's sustainability. The Ross Ragland Theater needs to raise $2,500 a day to operate. These operating expenses include (but are not limited to) supplies, artist deposits and fees, payroll, utilities, and facility maintenance. To achieve this goal, we will continue to host our annual fundraising events, but we need additional generous donations from the public. We will continue seeking and applying to funding agencies for 'general operating' support grants, but they have become highly competitive and difficult to obtain since the pandemic.

Amidst these challenges, we see this moment as a call to action—an opportunity for our community to unite and rally behind this important cause. In times like these, a community's true strength and spirit shine brightest. The 1980s served as proof of this when a determined group of civic leaders rallied together to transform the old Esquire movie theater into the Ross Ragland Performing Arts Center. In this spirit, we ask that you help us sustain and secure the Ragland's future. Our goal is, and always will be, to provide quality performing arts and educational experiences to our rural communities at an affordable price.

We firmly believe that with your continued support, we can overcome these obstacles and ensure that the Ross Ragland Theater survives and thrives for generations. Every donation, no matter the size, makes a significant difference. We are deeply grateful for the support you have shown us in the past and recognize the vital role you play in our theater's success. We look forward to your continued partnership in this critical endeavor to keep the beacon of our community, the Ross Ragland, open.

Ross Ragland Theater's Emergency Fundraising Campaign.

By Ross Ragland Theater

Ross Ragland Theater's Emergency Fundraising Campaign.

Donate to ensure that the theater remains open for the Klamath Community.