2025 End of Year Letter

As 2025 comes to an end and we look to our new year ahead, I am filled with enormous gratitude to everyone who has helped make all that Clear Space has accomplished this year possible. 

2025 has been a year of incredible growth. Attendance continued to surge. Our gala inspired more generosity than any previous fundraising event in our history. We reached more young people in our Arts Institute than ever – and welcomed more on scholarship than ever as well.

We’ve also grown in ways that might be a little less visible, but in ways that will have a meaningful impact on our work in the years ahead. The size of our staff has increased to help support this increased scale of impact. (We now have a Production Manager, an Education and Administration Manager, and a Patron Stewardship Manager!) We developed a new strategic plan to guide us through the next five years. We received our first ever Longwood Foundation grant, which will enable us to expand the reach of our educational and theatrical programming in the years ahead, well before we move into a new building. And, of course, the story that has made the most headlines this year that will transform both Clear Space and our region in the many years to come… with enormous thanks to the staff and Board of Commissioners of the City of Rehoboth Beach, we have begun the framework for a public-private partnership with the city to build a new performing arts center for our entire region in the years ahead.

So much of what we’ve achieved has been made possible thanks to you and so many others like you. As audience members, as Arts Institute parents, as contributors, as volunteers, the Clear Space community is remarkable. Thank you for being there to cheer us on, for being our ambassadors, and for your continued generosity. Simply put: without you letting us know through your presence that our mission matters to you, we wouldn’t be where we are today.

Time and again in our lobby, I heard so many compliments from our audiences about the productions throughout the year. It is thanks to the talents of our artists that each show this year inspired laughter, joy, heartbreak, catharsis, and all the emotions that come with great theater. We are so lucky to have such amazingly talented local professional artists in Sussex County and so many amazing artists from across the country who more and more seek to invest their talents in our work at Clear Space. Whether they are working on stage, behind the scenes, or in our Arts Institute, those artists are the heartbeat of mission.

Our volunteers are also heroes of this year. From those who help provide an excellent front of house experience each night, to those who open up their homes for artist housing, to those who give of their time and talent on our board, producer’s circle, or a volunteer committee, those gifts make a profound difference over the course of the year.

And supporting our artists, our volunteers, our donors, and our audiences every day is our amazing staff. Without question, each and every one of them have gone above and beyond to make 2025 a success. Most of all, my gratitude extends to them for standing together day after day, week after week, to make sure live theater and arts based learning can make our community a better place. To Lara, Jadine, Candice, Justin, Jason, Kirk, Ashley, Brendan, David, Evan, and Gabby… thank you for all that you do each and every day.

This holiday week, we have been closed so that our wonderful staff can have a little R&R before stepping into 2026. But we look forward to bringing this next season of live theater and education programs to life for you starting January 2.

We can’t wait to see you in the new year!

Joe Gfaller, Managing Director