Independent performing arts non-profits like ātac are endangered. Since 2020, hundreds of small-capacity venues have closed, leaving voids once filled with creativity, exploration, and connection. Surviving spaces struggle with shrinking audiences and increased costs, forcing higher ticket prices or lower artist payments, further reducing access and diminishing the economic resilience of our communities.

Small, independent art and music venues are a vital resource for our communities. They are foundational to fostering, retaining, and growing social and economic possibilities in our communities. They provide free and low-cost arts and culture access and are essential to audience building for emerging and working-class artists. Even small venues like ours drive a half-a-million-dollar impact on the regional economy!

ātac is responding to this crisis by increasing access to the arts. Through collaborations with local organizations, artists, and activists, we create low-cost shows and events that help meet our neighbors’ everyday needs for connection, family support, and even hunger relief with dignity and joy. ātac supports emerging local and touring artists with a transparent contracting process and tools like our online Contract Helper and Glossary; we connect artists to opportunities and each other with the MetroWest Artists List; and we provide local jobs for audio technicians and house managers through production positions and training.

We need your generous support to continue this important work. Can you help us keep atac accessible, innovative, and sustainable with a gift today? Your support provides the foundation for resourceful solutions necessary in a changing economy and arts and culture landscape. Your generosity brings professional musicians to Framingham, provides a platform for local artists, introduces a new generation to opportunities and ideas, and maintains the physical space that incubates creative solutions and brings our whole community together through the arts.

Small Spaces Make a Big Difference!