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Do you agree that growing the arts in Bethel is good for the community and good for business?

We took a big bet on the arts in 2022. Here’s how it worked:

  • The Gem turned over its on-screen advertising program to BAAM ($16k of revenue).
  • BAAM used that revenue to host a year of programming at The Gem.
  • All events were “Pay What You Can,” ensuring that everyone had access.
  • BAAM recouped all ticket revenue ($13k).
  • The 2022 ticket revenue coupled with our projected 2023 on-screen advertising revenue creates a model where our programming budget grows this year and every year moving forward.

This past year, over 1000 people attended these 18 events!

2022 Programming:
Movie Premiere: The Tender Bar (featuring local actor Matthew Delamater)
Art on Screen: The Velvet Queen (nature photography in Tibet)
Art on Screen: New Worlds (featuring Bill Murray and Jan Vogler)
Comedy Night: with Maine Comedians Ian Stuart, Paul Hunt, and James Theberge
Live Music: Bearly Dead
Art on Screen: I Know A Man… Ashley Bryan
Live Music: Stranger Days (jazz quartet from Brooklyn)
Art on Screen: Ruth Stone’s Vast Library of the Female Mind (featuring a talk from the film’s director Nora
Jacobson)
Performance: Hypnotism Night with Ian Stuart
Live Music: Sandy River Ramblers (local bluegrass group)
Artist Talk: Jane Kim of Ink Dwell
Live Music: Jacob Jolliff Band (bluegrass band from Brooklyn)
Live Music: Bearly Dead
Artist Talk: Dianne Ballon “The Art of Sound: Recordings on the Coast of Maine” and a screening of “From
Stump to Ship”
Youth Open Stage: with special guest Buffalo Nichols
Live Music: Buffalo Nichols (blues musician from Milwaukee, WI).
Comedy Night: Ben Roy (from Denver, CO)
Live Music: A Charlie Brown Christmas with Heather Pierson Trio (from Lovell, ME and Gorham, NH)

BAAM is setting its sights high for the year ahead. We’re taking a risk that Bethel can become a regional destination for live music, comedy, performance, art films, and artist talks. And we’re all in. As a business sponsor of BAAM’s programming, you are investing in our creative economy and ensuring that all members of our community have access to our growing arts programming. Can we count you in for 2023?

Please reach out to Wade Kavanaugh, The Gem, wade@thegemtheater.com or Kate Webb, BAAM, coordinator@bethelareaartsandmusic.com if you are interested in finding out more and getting your advertising on the big screen!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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