A Holiday Letter & 40th Anniversary Ornament

Happy Holidays from the TCA,

December 2020 has finally arrived and what a year it’s been. The theater’s 40th season looks much differently than we had anticipated. Tecumseh Center for the Arts, like you and many other organizations, have seen its ups and downs this year. It’s been a year of stress and worry as well as love and compassion. 

The Arts continue to be an essential component in our community, regardless of the circumstances around us. Many of us find comfort and strength from the Arts whether in the form of music, dance, visual or performing arts. In Tecumseh, we are blessed to be part of a giving and collaborative community. 

Even though the theater has remained closed most of 2020, we have celebrated some shining moments. First, we dreamt big this year, creating and installing the new TCA Street Art Trail. The community-inspired art murals continue to lift our spirits as we hope to expand the art trail in 2021. In addition, we announced plans for the new Mary Jo Mensing Sculpture Garden to be unveiled during the summer of 2021. Finally, we received a donation from a local family to update the dressing rooms and sound booth. We are thrilled to see these projects come to life in the coming months. The theater is also busy working on the boiler and air conditioning units. We spent most of 2020 developing a plan with a Mechanical Engineer. Thanks to grant awards by the Elizabeth Ruthruff Wilson Foundation and Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs (MCACA), we hope to begin the project this coming spring.  

Despite these positive steps forward, the theater is still unfortunately closed. Though we have eliminated many expenses due to not having events, we still have the cost of utilities and ongoing maintenance at the theater. This season, we are looking for creative ways to replace lost income from canceled shows. Right now, patrons can purchase an engraved nameplate to be installed on an auditorium seat from now through Christmas. The campaign called “40 Seats in 40 Days” runs from November 16 through Christmas. Seats can be purchased for a discounted price of $100. If interested, please contact us and we will help you select your seat. 

We are also offering a special, limited-edition 40th anniversary ornament this year! Available to the first 25 individuals to donate $100 or more this season, we hope you will love this handmade anniversary ornament, created by local artists Debi Bailey and Gregorio Perez of Quiet Heron Studio, as much as we do. Donations can be made online through our website at www.thetca.org/donations. We hope to mail out all ornaments before Christmas this year. 

The TCA staff hopes to open our doors once again very soon and looks forward to the day we can welcome each of you back to the TCA. Blessings to each of you for a happy and healthy holiday season! 

Cheers, 

Kelly Jo Gilmore
Director | Tecumseh Center for the Arts | [email protected]