Benefactor Susan Naylor has pledged $2.5 million to the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts to benefit its Charlie’s Seats program, which provides free event tickets to student groups and nonprofit community organizations serving under-resourced students in Bexar County.
The major gift will expand the initial five-year program that began in 2018 and extend it in perpetuity, said Christopher Novosad, the Tobin Center’s vice president of brand engagement. It will also create an umbrella program to bring together the center’s other ticket accessibility programs, he added.
Those programs, including Tobin Heroes, Tobin Teachers, Tobin First Tix, and Arts for All — which benefit first responders, active and retired military, educators and SNAP recipients interested in attending Tobin Center events — will now all be part of the Charlie’s Seats program. A new program called Friends of Charlie will launch in July to serve student groups.
“This program has been an incredible launching point for equitable access of the arts,” Novosad said of Naylor’s Charlie’s Seats initiative, which inspired the Tobin’s other accessibility programs.
So far, the Charlie’s Seats program has gifted tickets to students through the Children’s Shelter, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Boys & Girls Clubs of San Antonio, Grupo Folklorico de Bendiciones, high schools throughout Bexar County and other groups.
The program also provides free tickets for parents, guardians and nonprofit staff attending Tobin Center performances with qualifying children.
Naylor named the program in memory of her son Charlie Naylor Moulton, a lover of the arts who died in 2016.
“Charlie loved live music and the arts and enjoyed sharing that love with his friends. My hope is that this program will serve as a legacy of Charlie’s passion and provide that experience for generations to come. It’s something Charlie would have loved doing,” Naylor said in a media announcement from the Tobin Center.
During the program’s first six years, 2,400 tickets have been provided to students, Novosad said, with an additional 1,832 free or discounted tickets given away under the two years of the newer programs for first responders and military, teachers and SNAP recipients.
With Naylor’s gift, the Tobin Center plans to expand the number of free tickets for each group, and will create additional groups serving seniors and college students, Novosad said.
Overall, “We expect the impact to double,” he said.
Anyone eligible for Charlie’s Seats programs can register online through the Tobin Center website to receive notices when tickets are available. You can also sign up at the Tobin Center’s box office, open Monday-Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
