Five Merced County nonprofits teaming up to raise funds for arts during pandemic

Although the COVID pandemic drastically impacted Merced County’s arts community and how public events are held, local nonprofits have been finding creative ways to help the arts survive locally.

The latest effort is an event fundraiser scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday called “Heart for Art.”

Sponsored by Merced Shakespearefest, Merced Symphony, Multicultural Arts Center, Playhouse Merced, and Merced Theatre, the event can be streamed virtually on Playhouse Merced’s Youtube channel.

Viewers can expect to see short film episodes, monologues and creative performances. While the event is free, participants encourage donations of $5 to support the nonprofits. Donations can be made at https://bit.ly/HeartForArtGive.

The idea came after the arts organizations decided to put on an event “to celebrate their resilience,” amid the pandemic, although they still cannot perform for live audiences, said Heike Hambley, founder and director of Merced Shakespearefest.

“One (question) is how do we financially survive? And the other is how do we artistically survive? And the other is how do we creatively artistically survive? Because when you’re an artist, you want to do your art and theater people need an audience,” she said.

The funds from the event will be distributed among the various organizations that support arts in Merced County.

“We do not want to be forgotten,” she said. “Here are the arts organizations and we’re trying so hard to find things to entertain and inspire, and we really hope that lots of people see what we’re all doing, all of us have our little niche. So I really hope our arts can survive in Merced as they are,” she said.

This story was originally published March 22, 2021 at 11:49 AM.