Venice Theatre passes $20M donation milestone in rebuilding effort

After the Venice Theatre’s facility was damaged by Hurricane Ian in 2022, the community theater organization launched a $25 million campaign to rebuild. With a recent boost from a local family, the state, city, community and an anonymous donor, the organization reports it has now passed the $20 million mark.

The latest major gift was a $250,000 donation from the Pinkerton family, in memory of Yvonne “Pinky” Pinkerton, who died in 2020 and founded the education and outreach department for the Venice Theatre. Scott Pinkerton, one of her children, owns financial firm FourThought Private Wealth in Venice. The family is asking the community to match its donation by August.

“The Pinkerton family’s gift reflects the strength of our community and a strong belief in the value Venice Theatre brings to this region,” Venice Theatre Executive Director Kristofer Geddie says in a statement.

When it reopens, the Venice Theatre’s facility will have a nearly $50 million annual impact on the community, the organization says, citing a report from the Economic Development Corporation of Sarasota County.

More than 2,000 donors have contributed so far to the campaign to rebuild the Venice Theatre’s facility, known as Jervey Theatre, according to the statement. Among them are the state of Florida, which appropriated $350,000 in the state budget for the project. In addition, the city of Venice pledged $125,000 to the effort in February, which has since been matched by community contributions. An anonymous donor also recently contributed $2 million, according to the Venice Theatre, which reports it is more than 80% of the way to its fundraising goal.

“This incredible support reminds us that the arts truly belong to everyone,” Geddie says in the statement. “From elected leaders to students with piggy banks, our entire community came together to make this happen. We look forward to welcoming everyone back into a space built by and for the people of Venice, and we’re not slowing down now.”

Sarasota-based Magnum Builders is handling construction as the Jervey Theatre is rebuilt, from flooring to seats to lighting to the roof.

The time frame for construction is dependent on meeting the $25 million fundraising goal. In June 2026, the Venice Theatre is hosting WorldFest, a weeklong theater festival that draws troupes and thousands of visitors from around the globe, in partnership with the American Association of Community Theaters. The event is "creating some urgency...to reach the finish line with fundraising" so the organization can focus on construction, a spokesperson for the Venice Theatre says.

Since it was founded in 1950, the Venice Theatre has grown to become the second largest community theater in the United States, based on predominantly its budget and the number of volunteers, officials with the organization say. It has a budget of $4.3 million annually and has more than 1,300 volunteers.

When the Jervey Theatre is rebuilt, it will serve more than 65,000 patrons a year, according to the Venice Theatre.