UNM Popejoy Hall awarded shuttered venue grant

The curtains will rise at UNM Popejoy Hall once again. The venue announced on July 21 that it was awarded nearly $3.4 million from the Small Business Administration's Shuttered Venue Operators Grant.

“This grant will ensure the safe reopening of Popejoy Hall. We are forever grateful to our extraordinary donors who also stepped up to support the organization and for all our patrons, old and new, who subscribed to the new season in record numbers," said Tom Tkach, director of UNM Popejoy Hall. "It is clear our community wants and needs live performing arts and we’re planning and hopeful for a reopening this fall.”

Tkach also said that much of the success in securing the grant came from the work of U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-New Mexico), as he supported the performing arts community in the state as well as co-sponsoring the Save Our Stages Act in 2020. The act added $1.2 billion in additional funding, resulting in the overall $16.2 billion awarded from the Shuttered Venues Act, according to the release.

“I fought to fund the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant program in the American Rescue Plan so that New Mexico’s arts and culture community can rebuild and thrive,” said Heinrich. “I’m proud to see UNM Popejoy Hall receive over $3 million in SVOG funding and can’t wait to attend their next performance.”

Popejoy Hall has been a staple in the New Mexico performing arts community for decades. With 1,985 available in seating, the venue has hosted some of the largest Broadway productions that have traveled through New Mexico. The venue will once again reopen its doors this fall, with full productions of Broadway favorites Mean Girls and Hamilton slated for later in the season.

The SBA's grant program allowed for a total of $16.2 billion in funding to venues who were forced to shut their doors entirely due to the pandemic, according to a news release. It was established as part of the Economic Aid to hard-Hit Small Businesses, Nonprofits, and Venues Act and amended by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.