A Personal Letter From Lori

Photo by Ellery Berenger

This isn’t our usual Directors Update from GCA – it is a personal message from me. Because of Covid-19, today, July 3, is our last day open to the public for the foreseeable future. This pandemic has shaken our world and we have no choice but to go into hibernation until it is safe for everyone to congregate again.

I woke today enormously sad and filled with gratitude. The last 9 years have been focused on fulfilling a dream and creating an ever evolving center in Holyoke. Vitek and I have worked 6-7 days a week and given our heart, creativity, funds and sweat to create Gateway. It has been a time of amazing excitement, pride, disappointment and tons of work. I just want to say a heartfelt thank you to ALL the staff that have been with us from when we started. We began with people volunteering because they believed in our vision and grew to have more staff than we ever imagined. Over the years, like other businesses, we have had challenges with some staff, with vendors, contractors, etc. BUT we always maintained our vision, sense of humor and our desire to create a place for all people to enjoy each other. A welcoming place to congregate whether for live music, food, businesses, art, creating, celebrating and learning. If something we tried didn’t work, we moved onto something else. Throughout it all we have had an incredible staff- dedicated, loving and fun. And we have had a wonderful supportive community. We feel it and see it in the response to the GoFundMe campaign, but we knew it before that.

So in these challenging, insane and scary times I just want to say thanks to everyone who was involved in creating and supporting Gateway City Arts until now. The future is unclear but we are still here even if we aren’t open to the public. We will be brainstorming different strategies and will keep you posted. We plan to reopen when it is possible.

My goal here is just to say how much I appreciate all of you, for joining us on this wild ride, and to thank you for making GCA a success.

PLEASE stay safe and take care of each other-

See you on the other side!

With deep gratitude,

Lori