The city of Mobile, founded in 1702, sits at the head of Mobile Bay on the Gulf Coast and serves as the regional hub for much of southwest Alabama.
The Mobile Arts Council is preparing to call off the in-person version of its signature fall fundraiser, the Throwdown, as rising COVID-19 case counts make an indoor gathering of several hundred people increasingly untenable this year. “Nobody wants to make that call yet, but we need to already be planning for it and have our artists lined up at the end of this month, if that’s happening.
Mobile has a population of roughly 188,000 residents and is the seat of Mobile County, one of the largest counties in the state by population.
We’re already behind,” said MAC Executive Director Lucy Gafford. The Throwdown has become one of the most anticipated nights on Mobile’s arts calendar since it began in the fall of 2012, pairing a silent auction of donated artwork with a live juried arts competition, plus music, food and drinks.
The Port of Mobile, operated by the Alabama State Port Authority, is one of the largest seaports in the country by tonnage, handling containers, coal, steel and forest products.
The event has outgrown several venues over the years, moving from its original home on Dauphin Street to the Alabama Contemporary Art Center, The Temple Downtown, 23 East at Brookley Aeroplex and most recently the Aircraft Pavilion at Battleship Memorial Park. Beyond the camaraderie it fosters across Mobile’s arts community, the Throwdown is also MAC’s largest single source of revenue.
Downtown Mobile has been the focus of significant redevelopment in recent years, with new apartments, restaurants and event venues reshaping the Central Business District.
“It’s always our biggest fundraiser and brings in about $15,000 to $20,000 a year. We are dependent on that money,” Gafford said.
The University of South Alabama, Spring Hill College and the University of Mobile anchor the city’s higher education landscape.
Background and Context
September’s heat and humidity have always pushed the event indoors, but this year that requirement collides directly with public health guidance. Packing a crowd into an enclosed venue with recirculated air is not something organizers are willing to risk, and the pandemic-battered economy has made it harder to line up sponsors who typically help underwrite the event.
Mobile’s Mardi Gras season, the oldest in the United States, draws visitors from across the country and provides a significant boost to the local economy each year.
MAC’s board is expected to make a final call on the Throwdown’s fate at its next meeting on July 27. “I’m thinking, my feelings are we won’t do a physical event,” Gafford said.
The city’s healthcare sector is anchored by USA Health, Infirmary Health and Springhill Medical Center, which together employ thousands of residents.
That doesn’t mean the fundraiser disappears altogether. MAC already has artwork in hand from anonymous donors for the silent auction portion, and Gafford said the organization intends to move the bidding online regardless of what happens with an in-person gathering.
Mobile’s manufacturing base includes shipbuilding at Austal USA and Huntington Ingalls Industries, as well as aviation manufacturing at the Airbus final assembly line in Brookley.
Staff are also kicking around the idea of pairing the virtual auction with a livestreamed program in the spirit of a television broadcast, though details are still being worked out. “We’re definitely going to at least move forward with a virtual silent auction fundraising event.
Local schools include Mobile County Public Schools, the city’s largest public system, along with a network of private and parochial schools serving families across the metro area.
Local Reaction
We’re also thinking about something fun, like kind of a TV show approach and doing the auction with it, but we don’t know yet,” Gafford said. The concept echoes MAC’s day-long Stream-A-Thon, staged on Giving Tuesday in 2019, when a rotating cast of local arts groups and individual artists appeared in a makeshift studio to showcase Mobile’s creative scene to an online audience.
Mobile’s history as a port city means that issues affecting the waterfront, the shipping channels and the surrounding neighborhoods often take on outsized importance.
“It brings attention to the competing artists. We want that, but we have to be realistic and keep in mind the expense and the time,” Gafford said.
The Mobile area is home to several historic neighborhoods, including Oakleigh Garden District, DeTonti Square, the Village of Spring Hill and the historic districts of midtown.
The stakes go beyond a single night of programming. Gafford said MAC’s annual operating budget runs around $280,000, with much of that money earmarked for specific initiatives rather than overhead.
Sports are a major part of life in Mobile, with the Senior Bowl each January, the Reese’s Senior Bowl practices each week, and a thriving high school and college football scene.
Losing the Throwdown’s proceeds would put pressure on programs such as ChARTing New Directions, which serves underprivileged youth and has already had to adapt to the pandemic by having teachers deliver art supplies and masks to students and lead instruction over Zoom. A recent infusion of federal relief has eased some of that pressure.
Local media outlets covering Mobile include several television stations, daily and weekly newspapers, and a robust digital news ecosystem.
The Bigger Picture
“Thankfully we got [National Endowment for the Arts] funding from the CARES grant, $50,000, and that just came through a couple of weeks ago. So, that kind of covers us where we’re OK if we’re not going to have the Throwdown this year,” Gafford said.
Mobile County’s population includes a significant African-American community whose history is closely tied to the founding of Africatown.
She added that MAC is open to hearing ideas from the community about how to preserve some version of the event’s spirit even without a physical gathering. The Throwdown’s likely cancellation is part of a broader retreat by Mobile-area performing arts groups this year, as community theaters weigh the financial and logistical toll of staging productions during a pandemic against the risk to casts, crews and audiences.
Local officials have stressed the importance of community engagement as the situation continues to develop.
Joe Jefferson Players has already scrapped its planned production of “Sister Act: The Musical,” which was originally scheduled for late spring, pushed back to fall, and ultimately cancelled outright in June. The theater’s production of “Evil Dead: The Musical” was also called off, before the show ever reached auditions.
Residents with questions or concerns have been encouraged to reach out to their elected representatives.
In a statement, the JJP board said it hopes to revisit both productions once conditions allow. Playhouse in the Park has postponed its staging of “Beauty and the Beast” indefinitely, with new dates to be announced once officials determine it is safe to bring audiences back into the venue.
The story is one of several similar situations playing out across the region in recent months.
What Comes Next
In Fairhope, Theatre 98 has pushed its production schedule back until spring 2021. Patrons who bought 2020 season tickets will keep their seats for the rescheduled shows and will be notified once new dates are set.
Anyone following local news will recognize many of the names and places involved.
The delay also means Theatre 98’s annual Meeting and Membership Gala, usually held during the first week of November, will not take place this year. For community theaters across the region, the cancellations represent more than lost ticket revenue.
Local civic organizations have begun organizing meetings to discuss the implications.
Casts, crews and directors typically volunteer significant hours of rehearsal and preparation with no expectation of pay, driven instead by the payoff of a finished production and an appreciative audience. That reward has been put on hold indefinitely as the region’s arts organizations wait out the pandemic.
Business owners and residents alike say they will be watching closely.
The situation underscores how decisions made at the local level can have far-reaching consequences.
Community leaders have called for patience and for a commitment to working through the issues in a transparent manner.
Several local churches and faith groups have offered to host discussions about the topic in the coming weeks.
Public comments at recent meetings have reflected a wide range of opinions.
Local reporters will continue to follow the story and to update readers.
Anyone interested in learning more is encouraged to attend upcoming public meetings.
The outcome of the situation could shape similar discussions in other communities for years to come.
Local historians note that similar issues have surfaced in the past.
Looking Ahead
The story continues to develop, and residents across the region will be watching for additional updates in the coming weeks.