This story was adapted from a September 2026 update by Julie Seitel, Treasurer of Verge Theater in Bozeman. It is one example of how disruptions in federal funding have affected Montana nonprofits.
In 2025, Verge Theater lost $42,500 in federal funding from the National Endowment for the Arts. All of it was meant to bring theater to community members who might not otherwise have access to it.
Verge was one of just 112 organizations chosen from more than 4,000 applicants nationwide for a two-year, $65,000 ArtsHERE grant, designed to expand arts participation in underserved communities. Verge received and spent the first $32,500 as planned. Then in May 2025, the NEA terminated the entire ArtsHERE program, and the remaining $32,500 was gone. Earlier that year, a $10,000 Challenge America grant Verge had been recommended for was cancelled when the NEA eliminated that program in February. Both programs ended when the NEA redirected its funding to the Administration’s new priorities.
Programs built on access
Accessibility is Verge Theater’s north star. Its Pause & Effect program brings three theater classes each week to incarcerated community members inside the Gallatin County Detention Center. Its Pay What You Wish program works to eliminate financial barriers by letting patrons pay any price for tickets and by offering full class scholarships on request, with no questions asked and no proof of income required. Verge’s classes for kids and teens have consistently given young people a safe and welcoming space to explore who they are and what they believe in.
From surplus to layoffs
By its mid-year 2025 financial review, Verge had gone from a projected $14,000 surplus to a projected $32,700 loss. The Board of Directors determined that the only way to keep Verge alive was to eliminate payroll costs, and made what Seitel called “the excruciatingly painful decision” to lay off the organization’s staff member, who was supporting a large family.
Verge has had no paid staff since. For a full year, a small group of highly dedicated board members has done the work staff used to do. Seitel stepped in as pro bono Executive Director alongside her role as Treasurer, and consistently works 30 to 40 hours a week or more “to keep Verge’s wheels on the bus.”
What changed for the community
Verge fully protected Pause & Effect and is now expanding it with Play & Effect, theater classes outside the jail that include Pause & Effect alumni to help them reintegrate and build new community connections.
Other programs have had to contract to fit the resources available:
- Pay What You Wish once applied to any ticket. It now applies only to tickets not sold in advance, which are released one hour before the show.
- Class scholarships were once available to everyone who asked. They are now capped at one or two per class.
- Classes for kids and teens have been substantially reduced, because serving young people well requires a level of specialized training that board members don’t have. Seitel called this perhaps the most heartbreaking change.
Looking ahead
Verge’s board continues to work tirelessly to keep community members on its stage, in its audience, running lights and sound, and taking classes when they can be offered. The organization has established a reserve fund so it can get through future funding crises without layoffs. “The impact of laying off our staff was absolutely devastating,” Seitel wrote.
Verge expects it will be at least another year, and possibly longer, before it can afford to hire staff again.