Two arts groups to share space

Next month, a local theater group, Enter Stage Left, and the Cultural Arts Alliance will begin operating out of the alliance’s 19th-century farmhouse on Hayden Rowe Street.

While the nonprofit entities will remain independent, the move will allow them to share administrative, utility, outreach, and rental costs, and kick off a united effort to raise funds to finish converting the property’s dairy barn into teaching, event, and gallery space.

The new arrangement is also encouraging an expanded vision for the property to include a fully equipped theater off the back of the barn, with the complex to be named the Hopkinton Center for the Arts.

“We really want to see this as a focal point for the community with everything under one roof,’’ said Kelly Grill, Enter Stage Left’s executive director and cofounder. “With two really strong arts organizations in town, it just made sense to pool our resources and work together.’’

Ultimately, the expanded facilities should allow for increased programming, organizers said.

The alliance offers visual arts classes for youths and adults, as well as gallery shows, music lessons, and occasional performances. It hopes to build on those offerings and to install a pottery studio. Enter Stage Left produces 12 stage shows per year and runs numerous theater, voice, and improvisational performance classes for youths. It aims to ex pand its offerings for adults. Both groups also see an opportunity to increase workshop programs during school vacation weeks.

“Eventually, we really want it to be a prominent arts center in MetroWest. When people want to take an arts class or see a show, we want it to be first and foremost in people’s minds,’’ said Kate Heyd, who shares the executive director’s role at the Cultural Arts Alliance with Sandra Livis.

Meeting the need for youth arts opportunities is also a priority. “Schools are cutting back on art and music and people are looking outside of the schools for that now. So we need to offer more and bigger and better things to the area,’’ said Heyd. “Our location is ideal for that. We’re across the street from the high school and the middle school, and down the street from the elementary school. Kids can walk from school to take classes.’’

The two organizations have jointly hired a fund-raising consultant to seek grants and donations. An architect is revising renovation plans to include the theater. Their first goal is to complete minor renovations to the farmhouse by September. Next, they will work on the barn. The third phase will be to fund and build the theater. Ideally, the project will be finished in roughly five years.

“That’s just an estimate. We realize we have a long way to go,’’ said Livis, who also serves as president of the alliance’s board of directors. “But we have such a good energy now. The enthusiasm of Enter Stage Left will really be a boost and their productions are quite popular. So they don’t just bring new energy, they bring a following.’’

The barn has already been partially renovated, with the help of a $200,000 Community Preservation Act grant and more than $60,000 in Cultural Arts Alliance funds. The work included lifting the barn and pouring a new foundation, moving a silo, and installing supports. Granite slabs from the old foundation were used to create seats for an amphitheater on the property.

“The barn is very stable now. It’s not going anywhere. But it doesn’t have an occupancy code. We need to put in everything: electricity, plumbing, fire protection,’’ said Livis. “So for now, we’re focused on making the farmhouse more active and usable while we raise funds for the barn.’’

Grant-giving trends may dovetail with their decision to collaborate. “A lot of arts grants are calling for this kind of joint effort,’’ said Grill. “It’s a really big year for organizations like ours to find ways to share resources with other arts organizations.’’

By combining mailing lists, the groups expect to save on printing and mailing costs. Bills for utilities, from telephone and Internet to electricity and heating oil, will be shared. Dividing administrative duties will not only save money, but free up staff for new creative efforts. Combined fund-raising should yield cost savings, and, they hope, greater success.

With the merged mailing lists, Grill said, “this gives us both a whole new database. We hope to do a lot of cross-marketing between the groups. Because they are strongest in the visual arts and we’re strongest in the performance arts, we are each opening up new communities for each other.’’

Enter Stage Left will leave the 30 Main St. building it’s occupied the past four years, but its open mike nights will stay in downtown Hopkinton, at a new location: Ciao Time Catering. Classes will shift to the farmhouse, but performances will continue to be held at area schools until the work is completed on the 2,500-square-foot barn, and ultimately the separate theater. Cultural Arts Alliance classes will continue as usual at the farmhouse.

“A lot of articles have been written lately on how creative people need to get creative to make it work for us in a time when it’s financially tough for everybody,’’ said Grill. “So this is our creative way to make it move forward.’’

Denise Taylor can be reached at westarts@globe.com.