Bloomington is home to a diverse theater scene, but many of its local theaters are preparing for some potential shifts in funding and facilities.

The Buskirk-Chumley Theater (BCT) has relied on collaboration between sponsors, donors and city funding to bring a diverse range of programming to their stage each year. Danielle McClelland, BCT Executive Director, says because of changes at the state level, the theater will no longer receive city funding for operations.

“That’s going to put the theater at risk of being accessible to all these different ideas and all of these different areas of the community to be able to get into this space,” McClelland says.

She says they are actively looking for people to become involved as donors and sponsors and are hoping the city can find a solution to the funding problems.

Paul Daily, Artistic Director of the Ivy Tech John Waldron Arts Center, says the mayoral election in Bloomington will provide the opportunity to put pressure on the city and find out what elected officials will do to support the arts.

The Waldron will host a community arts award ceremony on March 7 to honor the people who are doing what they can for the arts in the community. Nominations are now open on their website and the ceremony will include awards for Arts in Business, Arts in Education, Arts Advocate and Special Citation.

“It’s important to recognize the people who are affecting change in the arts in our community and keeping it alive,” Daily says.

Cardinal Stage Company is the only professional, regional theater. The company rents spaces such as the Waldron or BCT for their performances.

However, Randy White, founder and Artistic Director of Cardinal Stage Company, says the cost of rental is significant and they end up spending a lot of money that could be invested in their company. The lack of a performance space also presents branding and storage issues.

He says they have outgrown their current location, which has rehearsal space, offices and their box office.

“When we look at the comprehensive future for Cardinal, it’s got to include something to do with space,” White says. “We don’t know where we’re going yet, we don’t know what we’re doing but we’re just opening up the door to the question of where are we going to be in a couple years that’s going to make sense for us because we have outgrown what works for us on the physical side.”