In 2013, we acquired 15 W. Patrick St. (now STAGES), with the intent to revitalize the building into a functional performing arts center, featuring a 250-seat state-of-the-art black box theater. This building is uniquely positioned in the heart of the Theatre District alongside the Weinberg Center and the MET and just celebrated its grand opening in January 2019. Three years later, in 2016, we purchased 115 E. Church St. (now STUDIOS) with the intention of providing additional arts classroom and rehearsal space.

It was always our intention that these entities become self-sustaining and structured our funding to reflect a draw-down of support over time. This is the same approach we used to make the Frederick Speaker Series so successful in a few short years and is one of the hallmarks of our philanthropic ideology.

Both the YMCA and NSA are governed by strong, diverse volunteer boards with significant backgrounds in business, banking, accounting, retail, education, the arts, development, real estate, nonprofit management and numerous other complementary skill sets. I am both confident and excited that this partnership represents a fiscally responsible solution that will continue to provide high-quality arts education in our community for years to come.

As a leader in philanthropy, AFF has learned that avoiding the duplication of resources, and having the recognized leader run programs will maximize the impact of our giving.

For the record, despite your “widespread firings” headline, one part-time and two full-time positions were eliminated due to overlap with existing YMCA positions. Though it’s never an easy task to eliminate jobs, the New Spire Arts board took this necessary action in order to move the planned strategic partnership with the YMCA forward. Nonprofits simply cannot afford to maintain unnecessary staff — in fact, many area nonprofits lean heavily on volunteers and board members to fill in the gaps that exist due to lean staffing. New Spire Arts is no different.

Combining the YMCA’s unparalleled infrastructure and expertise in educational programming with New Spire Arts’ vision will result in a huge win for both organizations. This will enable a broader array of arts education for the Frederick community, and allow New Spire Arts, a startup organization, to focus solely on ensuring their black box theater is recognized as one of the premier presenting organizations in the metropolitan area.

It’s our intent to fulfill the initial vision that the 115 E. Church St. (STUDIOS) building will be used to provide performing arts education to the community. In the case of both properties, a monthly $10 long-term lease has been offered to the nonprofit occupying the space, and AFF is still committed to renovating some of 115 E. Church St.

I sincerely hope this demystifies the speculation surrounding the planned management of arts education at 115 E. Church St. as it transitions from NSA to the YMCA.

And more so, I hope you come and enjoy a performance at New Spire Arts STAGES and help support Frederick’s phenomenal new addition to the Theatre District.