A Letter to Our Community
About COVID-19

Good morning, Piven community,

We are walking through uncertain times, and while we don’t yet know what the coming weeks will bring, we do know what the last (nearly) 50 years of Piven Theatre Workshop have taught us – we are nothing without our community. That being said, we want to keep the health and well-being of our students, teachers, artists, audiences, and friends at the very top of our list of priorities.

We are writing to update you about our current plan of operations during these early Illinois days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

We are finishing out our week with tomorrow’s classes, and then we are going on hiatus as an organization for the following two weeks.

We will be in session with our full line-up of classes tomorrow (3/14), but we will suspend classes for the following two weeks (including the next two Saturdays, 3/21 and 3/28), in keeping with decisions being made by our wider community. We will then extend the Winter/Spring term to May 2nd for most classes.

We will continue to accept registrations for summer camps and classes, as well as the next round of adult classes starting in April. 

We will plan on this schedule unless developing news about COVID-19 demands a different action.

We are making this decision in conjunction with a number of arts and non-profit organizations, and we’re all working together to try to make the safest possible plans for our collective student body of artists.

And here’s what we know. The arts community—our community—cares about one another. We WILL get through this by generating new ideas for connection, by sharing resources, and by supporting one another during this crisis.

We will keep you posted as we know more. Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions or concerns.

Thank you for reading and for being pillars of our community. More information is available from the CDC and the IL Department of Public  Health.

Warmly,
Your Piven Team