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The lunchtime theatre company which started in 1974 receives “about $95,000” from the foundation, according to Lang. Lunchbox also receives money from Calgary Arts Development and the Canada Council for the Arts, but the foundation grant is the largest. According to publicly available returns for Lunchbox on the Canada Revenue Agency’s website, government funding, $252,689, accounted for about 34 per cent of Lunchbox’s revenue in the 2017-18 season.

Lang said it’s also a possibility that the theatre might see a decrease in foundation funding after the provincial budget is released in the fall.

“We’re aware of it, as every other organization is,” he said. “Not just arts, across the board, I think everyone is steeling themselves, what can we do with five per cent or 10 per cent less? We’re in difficult times, but I think you’re going to start to hear a hue and cry from organizations, not necessarily just the arts, saying we are finding it more difficult to stay afloat, keep our heads above the water, so to speak.”

Despite Calgary Arts Development’s budget receiving an additional $5 million for this past year, Lang said that Lunchbox hasn’t seen any additional funding from the city’s arts development authority.

Patti Pon, president and CEO of Calgary Arts Development, said that she’s sorry to hear that Lunchbox is encountering difficulties, but that CADA is still in the process of assessing applications for the additional funds it received from the city. Lunchbox received $65,000 from CADA last year. This year, CADA distributed the same amount as it had last year to organizations, including Lunchbox, provided they had submitted the last year’s reporting materials and were in good standing. That amounted to $3.8 million in grants that it released in the spring. CADA is planning on finishing assessment on an additional $2.2 million in grants to arts organizations “fairly soon.”