Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff
The BU Theatre, currently home to the Huntington Theatre Company, is up for sale.
Boston-area arts and culture organizations are banding together in an online campaign to support the Huntington Theatre Company’s bid to retain its home on Huntington Avenue.
Organized by ArtsBoston, StageSource, the Fenway Alliance, and MASSCreative, the #HuntingtonOnHuntington campaign asks supporters to add their names to a statement that reads, in part, “I support keeping the Huntington Theatre Company in its home on Huntington Avenue. Let’s keep the #HuntingtonOnHuntington.”
“The potential loss of the Huntington Theatre Company’s longtime artistic home is not the only issue facing the arts community in the city. But it is arguably the most important in its potential to negatively impact the cultural landscape of Boston,” Matt Wilson, executive director of the arts advocacy group MASSCreative, said in a statement. “We look forward to the city continuing its efforts to keep the Huntington Theatre Company in its home on Huntington Avenue.”
The campaign comes following revelations in the Globe last Sunday that an investment group, led by local developer John Matteson, has emerged as the front-runner to purchase the .76-acre property that includes the BU Theatre, which is owned by Boston University. The Globe noted that members of the investment group had met with BU as well as representatives of the Huntington and the mayor’s office regarding the sale. Huntington managing director Michael Maso described the meetings as “productive.”
Organizers of the hashtag campaign, which launched Wednesday morning and had more than 200 signatures by 10 a.m., described the Huntington as a “critical” part of Boston’s arts landscape.
Catherine Peterson, executive director of ArtsBoston, called the Huntington “a terrific partner” in the arts community, citing both its main-stage productions at the BU Theatre and its creation of the Calderwood Pavilion, which provides performance space to numerous small and mid-size theater companies in the South End.
“The Huntington is not just a theatre company,” Julie Hennrikus, executive director of StageSource, said in a statement. “It is a cornerstone of our community.”
Some of the tweets:
Add your name to support keeping the #HuntingtonOnHuntington! ? https://t.co/7KbGS5ZJ0R pic.twitter.com/Q9k7axv8EC
— MASSCreative (@MASSCreative) January 20, 2016Keep #HuntingtonOnHuntington! https://t.co/3V985dxUuG
— Janice Williams (@artstudio99) January 20, 2016We support the #HuntingtonOnHuntington campaign! Add your name to keep major #BosArts player @huntington in its home https://t.co/OHYaZZ2bwX
— J Arts Collaborative (@JArtsBoston) January 20, 2016.@huntington may lose its home on the Avenue of the Arts! Add your name to help keep the #HuntingtonOnHuntington!? https://t.co/UBTbtNQaib
— ArtsBoston & BosTix (@artsboston) January 20, 2016