The A&B Amphitheater crowd cheers as stars line the stage at the Concert for Our Lives at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center in March 2018. After surviving a year without its marquee in-person concerts and performances, the MACC is making a return to in-person shows and will soon reopen its art galleries. — The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo
Despite going from 1,700 events a year to virtually none and “hemorrhaging money” over the past year, the nonprofit Maui Arts & Cultural Center has managed to stay afloat — long enough to bring back a live and in-person music event for the first time in 15 months.
Uncertainty, financial strain, unemployment, and health and safety restrictions were common symptoms of 2020, but CEO Art Vento said on Wednesday afternoon that the MACC’s priority was to be a message of “hope and happiness” through times of difficulty.
“It’s been a real challenge, but you find a way to make the best of it, and in the best of scenarios, make it a positive thing, and I think we’ve been very successful at doing exactly that,” Vento said.
The MACC temporarily closed its doors on March 13, 2020, and shortly after, many staff members were let go or furloughed while some essential workers were put on a reduced-hour and reduced-pay schedule.
“It broke my heart to have to furlough some employees and event staff who had been here 20-plus years, who had given their life to the MACC,” he said. “But intellectually, they understand and we understand that if there’s no events, there’s no income and if there’s no income, there’s no possibility of having event staff.”
Maui Arts & Cultural Center President and CEO Art Vento. — The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo
The performing arts facility in Kahului, which has indoor and outdoor stages, an art gallery, meeting rooms and dance studios, went from hosting about 1,700 events a year to virtually zero at the dawn of the pandemic.
From 2018-19, 238,257 people visited the MACC for concerts, art exhibits, arts educational programs, cultural programs and other events.
During the months of the pandemic that “felt like years,” many of the events were cancelled or hosted online to meet COVID-19 health and safety protocols.
“Nobody knew how long this thing was going to last, but what we did know is that we needed to maintain a connection to the community, to the people who have supported the MACC, to the people who have enjoyed the MACC, people that have always been a part of the MACC ohana,” Vento said. “We needed to stay connected with everybody.”
The MACC gradually developed three layers of programs to provide virtual entertainment every week, beginning with MACC @ Home, where artists recorded their performances remotely from their living rooms.
Andrea Stancu of Romania is bathed in color as she poses during the Color Festival Hawaii held at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center’s Events Lawn in April 2019. — The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo
Running a nonprofit requires optimism and hope, Vento said, and “challenging times require creative solutions.”
Later, as the pandemic prolonged, MACC flashBACK became available, sharing 60-second to 2-minute clips from past performances, art mixes, fundraising events and other memories to not only reminisce, but to show that “we will enjoy all these things again,” Vento said.
Eventually, the nonprofit launched Live @ the MACC in November, offering outdoor drive-in concerts and movies, which was “intended to bring 60 minutes of joy and hope to the community through safe and live in-person events,” he added. The events were also livestreamed for those who wished to remain at home.
Vento said that the MACC was “hemorrhaging money” this past year trying to keep the arts and music events available during the COVID-19 pandemic. The organization continued to pay its performers, tech workers, program coordinators and others while keeping the virtual and drive-in entertainment free for the public.
And though “we continue to be negative,” he assures that there will be a time when residents, visitors and artists can return to a regular schedule filled with large indoor and outdoor events.
Maui Arts & Cultural Center President and CEO Art Vento sits next to a statue of the center’s founding chairman, Pundy Yokouchi, Wednesday afternoon as he discusses the trials and tribulations posed by the pandemic. — The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo
“We will reemerge and the first step of that is beginning this weekend,” he said. “We look forward to it, it’s been a long time coming.”
For the first time in 15 months, a live and in-person music event — allowing people to openly gather with space between groups, instead of sitting in their cars — will be returning to the Maui Arts & Cultural Center from 4 to 7:30 p.m. Sunday in the A&B Amphitheater.
The 30th annual Ki Ho’alu Festival is free and will showcase slack key guitar players performing Hawaiian music; the event will be livestreamed too.
“It’s laidback and just a wonderful vibe,” he said. “I’m excited for this weekend and I’m excited for the month of July, and I’m excited for the staff and excited for Maui to be finally emerging in a safe and positive environment.”
More live events are being planned for next month and will be announced in the coming weeks. Art galleries will be reopening in July.
As the performing arts gradually return, so will MACC employees.
“I’m really excited to see some faces that I haven’t seen in a very long time,” Vento said.
Even though Valley Isle organizations are still struggling with the impacts of the pandemic, Vento said that “we would not have made it through to the other side” without the staff and board members who remained flexible, committed and hardworking; donors and MACC members who continued to support the nonprofit; and Maui County funding provided through the federal CARES Act.
“The MACC is an economic engine during the best of times, but it’s also an important emotional piece of everybody’s daily life,” he said. “I’m really, really proud of how we’ve been able to weather the storm, the partnerships that have been developed, and all of the above, in order to stabilize and move forward, and moving forward in this case is how is it that we can be a presence in the community for joy and happiness.”
* Dakota Grossman can be reached at dgrossman@mauinews.com.
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