YOUNGSTOWN - U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) will join local arts leaders at Youngstown Playhouse to show how Shuttered Venue Operators Grants (SVOG) have helped local cultural and entertainment businesses survive the pandemic and reopen.

Youngstown Playhouse will be open for holiday performances for the first time in two years.

Sen. Brown was a cosponsor of the Save Our Stages legislation that established the SVOG grants, and helped pass the American Rescue Plan that expanded the program.

The program awarded nearly 400 Ohio venues more than $350 million in initial and supplemental rounds of funding – ranking the state eighth for most amount of money received.

Youngstown Playhouse received more than $100,000 in SVOG funds.

Brown will be joined at the event by local arts leaders who will speak on what the investment means for the community.