Friends of the Grove: Hopes and Dreams
Currently, dozens of groups from far and wide call the theater home. The theater receives approximately 20,000 visits per year via concerts, pageants, plays, summer camps, fund raisers, and much more. Stop by on a weekend and you might find anything from a ballet to a blues concert. We support everything from the Cub Scouts to the symphony to community suppers that bridge divides. The Grove Theater is well on its way to becoming a hub for the Arts, sciences, and education. We are a warm, welcoming environment for the countless children, youth, and adult populations that our community friends serve in this space.
Friends of the Grove Theater, Inc. exists to enhance and support the landmark facility and the many community partners who fill the theater with beautiful sights and sounds every week. In 2018, thanks to a special anonymous donation, gifts to the Grove Theater were matched, and by 2020, we are humbled to say that our facility became 100% free and clear of a mortgage debt.
As we continue to make improvements, we want everyone to know our hopes and dreams in all this….
We want to offer a high quality, functional Arts venue to the Oak Ridge Community, and to eventually be positioned to make investments in talented friends and neighbors who make this space their “home.” We hope that our investments one day reach beyond offering rent-free bricks and mortar space, because our heart is set on making deeper investments in people and groups who are bringing the community together.
We also want to create a living quarters at the Grove to support an “artist in residence,” a space where creatives can come and stay with little to no overhead so that they can record music, create a new dance, or write a play. We want to invest, even commission, new works of Art for East Tennessee and the world.
Finally, we want to be the first energy independent theater in the State of Tennessee. We dream of a fully operational theater powered by sun, wind, thermal or other energies that eliminate our dependence on fossil fuels. We believe that the technology will soon progress to make this dream a reality, and with concentrated effort, we believe we will get there.
We have a few more upgrades to go to reach this point, but we wanted to share our hearts with you!
You may support the Grove with an online tax deductible gift by clicking this secure link. Selecting Grove Theater from the options in the drop-down menu and your donation will become part of building this dream together.
