2007 Grant Awards: Access to Artistic Excellence

[ August 14, 2006 deadline ]

Dance | Design | Folk & Traditional Arts | Literature | Local Arts Agencies
Media Arts | Museum | Music | Musical Theater | Presenting | Theater
Visual Arts

Some details of the projects listed below are subject to change, contingent upon prior Endowment approval.

Theater

A Noise Within
Glendale, CA
$10,000
To support the Professional Internship Program. The apprentice-style program offers classroom study, performance, observation, and mentorship opportunities for classical actors in the early stages of their careers.

Actors' Gang, Inc.
Culver City, CA
$15,000
To support the adaptation and production of a classic play for the annual summer Children's Theatre Festival. Company members will collaboratively create a piece for family and student audiences based in the traditions of Commedia dell Arte using masks, puppetry, and music.

Alaska Junior Theater, Inc.
Anchorage, AK
$10,000
To support the presentation of touring productions for students and family audiences. Aesop Bops by David Gonzales and The Snow Dragon by the Tall Stores Theater of London will be presented in Anchorage and the Matanuska-Susitna Borough.

Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts
New York, NY
$25,000
To support the Inclusion Project, which encompasses Artist Files Online and the National Diversity Forum. The project is designed to assist nonprofit theaters in achieving greater diversity.

Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York, Inc. (aka A.R.T./New York)
New York, NY
$40,000
To support the William Randolph Hearst Theatrical Arts Education Program and the Harold and Mimi Steinberg Theatre Leadership Institute. The programs provide New York City's small and mid-size nonprofit theaters with technical assistance workshops, roundtables, and individual consultancies.

Appalshop, Inc. (aka WMMT-FM) (on behalf of Roadside Theater)
Whitesburg, KY
$20,000
To support community-based cultural development programming designed to strengthen rural communities in central Appalachian states. Roadside Theater activities will include performances, community residencies, professional theater training, and enrichment programs for Appalachian children.

Arizona Theatre Company (Consortium)
Tucson, AZ
$25,000
To support a theater access program for underserved youth in rural southern Arizona. In partnership with Young Audiences of Santa Cruz County, the theater will offer school-based workshops, mainstage student matinee performances, summer enrichment opportunities, and ticket vouchers.

Arkansas Repertory Theatre Company (aka The Rep)
Little Rock, AR
$20,000
To support the world premiere of a new play with music that explores the events surrounding the 1957 desegregation of Central High School in Little Rock. Tentatively titled The Legacy Project, the production will be part of a community-building, multi-year artistic and audience development program.

Associated Recreation Council (aka Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center)
Seattle, WA
$12,000
To support a production of the Obie Award-winning play Dinah Was by Oliver Goldstick at the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center. The play chronicles the life of African American musical icon Dinah Washington and the obstacles facing black artists in the turbulent years of the civil rights movement.

Autry National Center of the American West
Los Angeles, CA
$30,000
To support Native Voices at the Autry, a program dedicated to the development and presentation of new plays by Native American writers. New plays by participating writers will be developed through staged readings and workshop productions.

Barter Foundation, Incorporated State Theatre of Virginia (Consortium)
Abingdon, VA
$10,000
To support the development and production of Tradin' Paint, a new work by Catherine Bush about the world of stock car racing. In partnership with the Bristol VA/TN Chamber of Commerce, the production will be presented at Barter Theater's home in Abingdon, at the Paramount Center for the Arts in Bristol, and at the Bristol Motor Speedway during the late summer NASCAR race.

Bilingual Foundation of the Arts
Los Angeles, CA
$10,000
To support a Spanish-language production of Maria La O, a Cuban zarzuela written in 1930 by Ernesto Lecuona. The project will be targeted to the Hispanic community of Southern California, including underserved populations and high school students.

Black Women Playwrights' Group
Washington, DC
$10,000
To support the Annual Conference of new plays. The conference will be held in Chicago and will showcase the latest original works by emerging and established women playwrights of color.

Bond Street Theatre Coalition, Ltd.
New York, NY
$15,000
To support the production and tour of a play. In collaboration with the Exile Theatre of Kabul, Afghanistan, the company will produce and tour Beyond the Mirror to venues in Northern California.

California Shakespeare Theater (aka Cal Shakes)
Berkeley, CA
$20,000
To support the development and production of a play. The company will produce William Shakespeare's King Lear, and implement an educational outreach program for at-risk youth in collaboration with community development organizations.

Chicago Shakespeare Theater
Chicago, IL
$35,000
To support the Team Shakespeare program. The initiative offers performances and educational services to students and teachers in more than 500 Chicago-area schools.

Chicago Theatre Group, Inc. (aka Goodman Theatre)
Chicago, IL
$45,000
To support the production of a play at the Goodman Theatre. Mirror of the Invisible World by Mary Zimmerman will be directed by artistic director Robert Falls.

Civilians, Inc.
New York, NY
$10,000
To support a touring engagement of Gone Missing. The performance will be given at Duke University.

Connecticut Theatre Foundation (aka Westport Country Playhouse)
Westport, CT
$15,000
To support the production of a new play. Westport Country Playhouse will present Sedition by David Wiltse, with artistic director Tazewell Thompson coordinating the collaboration between the playwright, designers, and director.

Cornerstone Theater Company, Inc.
Los Angeles, CA
$35,000
To support the production of a play through the fourth annual Summer Residency Program. In collaboration with the Cornerstone Institute and community members, the company will develop and produce a new theater work that highlights the cultural challenges facing the town of Holtville, California.

Cornerstone Theater Company, Inc. (Consortium)
Los Angeles, CA
$45,000
To support the creation, development, and production of a new play. In partnership with Families to Amend California's Three Strikes, Inc. (FACTS), the company will produce a new play by KJ Sanchez titled Eye for Eye.

Dallas Theater Center
Dallas, TX
$10,000
To support the Project Discovery Young Patron Program. The program will provide access to the artistic process free-of-charge to students and teachers.

Drama League of New York, Inc.
New York, NY
$15,000
To support the Drama League Directors Project. The project is a national apprenticeship for young directors that will provide opportunities to work with professionals in off-Broadway or regional theaters.

East Los Angeles Classic Theatre
Los Angeles, CA
$25,000
To support the Literacy Engagement Performance Tour and associated workshops. Performances of culturally relevant adaptations of William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing and Romeo and Juliet will be presented in schools and community venues.

Eugene O'Neill Memorial Theater Center, Inc. (aka O'Neill Center)
Waterford, CT
$40,000
To support the National Playwrights Conference and the National Music Theater Conference. The project will include the creation and development of new plays and musical theater works.

Freehold Theatre Lab Studio
Seattle, WA
$15,000
To support the Engaged Theatre Program. The program brings theater and interactive workshops to underserved populations and will include residencies and a full production of Shakespeare's Cymbeline.

GALA Inc., Grupo de Artistas Latinoamericanos (aka GALA Hispanic Theatre)
Washington, DC
$35,000
To support a production of Bodas de Sangre (Blood Wedding) by Federico Garcia Lorca. GALA Hispanic Theatre's artistic director Hugo Medrano will direct.

Greenbrier Repertory Theatre Company (aka Greenbrier Valley Theatre)
Lewisburg, WV
$10,000
To support a production of A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams. The production will be accompanied by pre-show seminars, study guides for high school students, and post-show discussions.

Idaho Shakespeare Festival, Inc.
Boise, ID
$25,000
To support educational touring programs. An annual tour of the Idaho Theater for Youth will bring 50-minute contemporary plays to elementary schoolchildren, and the Shakespearience program will bring fully staged Shakespeare productions to middle and high school students.

Indiana Repertory Theatre, Inc. (Consortium)
Indianapolis, IN
$30,000
To support the development, production, and community outreach activities associated with the play Interpreting William by James Still. A partnership with the Conner Prairie Museum, the world premiere play will explore the life of mythic 19th-century frontiersman William Conner.

Insight Out Theatre Collective
Portland, OR
$5,000
To support The Tempest/FOR:GIVE Project, featuring a multidisciplinary production of Shakespeare's The Tempest. The text will be interpreted through aerial choreography, heightened movement, dance, song, film, and sound.

International Arts Relations, Inc.
New York, NY
$20,000
To support the Hispanic Playwrights-in-Residence Laboratory. The project will serve emerging Latino playwrights by providing them with intensive writing sessions, readings of works-in-progress, and workshop production opportunities.

Irondale Productions, Inc. (aka Irondale Ensemble Project)
Brooklyn, NY
$15,000
To support the production of a new play. The Irondale Ensemble Project will develop and produce A People's History of Fort Greene, in collaboration playwright Jim Niesen.

Jungle Theatre
Minneapolis, MN
$15,000
To support the production of Shining City by Conor McPherson.

L. A. Public Theatre, Inc.
Auburn, ME
$15,000
To support student matinees, free theater programs, and youth internships. The project will provide access to theater presentations for diverse and underserved populations of children and adults in a rural and economically depressed region of Maine.

Los Angeles Poverty Department (aka LAPD)
Los Angeles, CA
$14,000
To support the production of a play. The company will present Utopia/Dystopia by Henriette Brouwers, with artistic director John Malpede coordinating the collaboration between playwright and designers.

Los Angeles Poverty Department (aka LAPD) (Consortium)
Los Angeles, CA
$15,000
To support the production of a play. In partnership with Echo Park United Methodist Church the company will present La Llorona, The Weeping Women of Echo Park.

Ma-Yi Filipino Theatre Ensemble, Inc. (aka Ma-Yi Theater Company) (Consortium)
New York, NY
$30,000
To support the first National Asian American Theater Festival. In partnership with Pan Asian Repertory Theatre, the festival will present new works and works-in-progress at venues in all five boroughs of New York City.

Magical Experiences Arts Company, Ltd.
Baltimore, MD
$8,250
To support the Wonder Program, a series of workshops and performances for children and adolescents with severe disabilities. The company will tour original works and provide interactive workshops for students residing at the Maryland School for the Blind.

Marin Shakespeare Company
San Rafael, CA
$10,000
To support the production of a play. William Shakespeare's Henry IV, Parts I and II will be directed by artistic director Robert Currier.

Metro Theater Company
St. Louis, MO
$25,000
To support the production and national tour of original works. The company will mount new plays for young audiences and will tour those works throughout Missouri, Illinois, and neighboring states.

Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum (Consortium)
Chicago, IL
$25,000
To support the presentation and tour of new plays through the Latino East/West Theater Exchange. In partnership with Teatro Visin, the project will include Karen Zacarias's world premiere adaptation of B. Traven's novel Macario and Pregones Theater's production of The Red Rose.

Montana State University (on behalf of Montana Shakespeare in the Parks)
Bozeman, MT
$25,000
To support a summer tour of classical theater productions. Montana Shakespeare in the Parks will tour plays to rural and underserved communities throughout Montana, northern Wyoming, and eastern Idaho.

National New Play Network, Ltd.
Philadelphia, PA
$12,000
To support The Continued Life of New Plays Fund. The project is an initiative providing production stipends to theaters that commit to participate in the sequential production of new plays.

New Repertory Theatre, Inc. (aka New Rep)
Watertown, MA
$15,000
To support New Rep On Tour. The program will bring adaptations of The Diary of Anne Frank by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett and Shakespeare's Hamlet to students in schools throughout Massachusetts.

New York Classical Theatre, Inc.
New York, NY
$12,000
To support free performances of George Farquhar's The Recruiting Officer in New York's Central Park. The production will be directed by Stephen Burdman and will be staged throughout a 12-acre area of the park.

New York Shakespeare Festival (aka The Public Theater) (Consortium)
New York, NY
$40,000
To support free community programs and performances conducted by artists in the Public Theater's Shakespeare Lab. In partnership with teaching artists from the Bronx-based theater company Mud/Bone, artists will offer workshops to local students and community members in preparation for free performances of a Shakespeare play.

North American Cultural Laboratory, Inc.
Highland Lake, NY
$10,000
To support the eighth international NACL Catskill Festival of New Theatre. The festival will present local, national, and international performances and educational programming to local and seasonal residents in Sullivan County, New York.

Odyssey Theatre Foundation (aka Odyssey Theatre Ensemble)
Los Angeles, CA
$15,000
To support a production of Bertolt Brecht's Mann Ist Mann with a new musical score by composer Randy Dreyfuss. The production will be developed and performed by the resident, process-oriented ensemble, the KOAN unit.

Old Creamery Theatre Company
Amana, IA
$10,000
To support an outreach initiative to expand the company's touring activities. Productions by the Young People's Touring Company will travel to an increased number of schools, and a new tour of works for adult audiences will be launched.

Pan Asian Repertory Theatre, Inc. (aka Pan Asian Rep)
New York, NY
$20,000
To support the development and production of Shogun Macbeth, adapted by John Briggs and directed by Ernest Abuba. Originally presented in the 1980s, the restaging will allow the theater to unite the talents of senior company artists with a new generation of Asian American artists.

Pendragon, Inc.
Saranac Lake, NY
$10,000
To support a tour of a classic drama to residents in northeastern New York. The production will travel to community centers, high school auditoriums, and other performance venues throughout the rural expanses of Adirondack Park.

Philadelphia Young Playwrights Program, Inc. (Consortium)
Philadelphia, PA
$15,000
To support the professional production of original student work from the Young Playwrights' Annual Playwriting Festival. The company will partner with Philadelphia Theatre Company to give the student plays fully mounted professional productions.

Portland Center Stage
Portland, OR
$20,000
To support the production of a play. Apollo, Part 2: Dark Side of the Moon by playwright/director Nancy Keystone will feature original music by composer/sound designer Randall Tico.

Portland Stage Company (Consortium)
Portland, ME
$12,000
To support the development and production of a new play. A partnership  with the Maine Historical Society, Longfellow: A Life in Words by Daniel Noel will be produced with artistic director Anita Stewart coordinating the collaboration between the playwright and visiting artists.

Quest: arts for everyone, Inc.
Lanham, MD
$10,000
To support the Wings Company Training Initiative. The project includes the development and production of theater works by deaf, hard-of-hearing, and hearing performers.

Regents of the University of California at San Diego (on behalf of TheatreForum, International Theatre Journal)
La Jolla, CA
$10,000
To support the publication and distribution of issues of TheatreForum. The journal documents and disseminates innovative theater works internationally.

Sandglass Center for Puppetry and Theater Research (aka Sandglass Theater)
Putney, VT
$10,000
To support the Voices of Community series. The project will bring multicultural ensembles from communities of color to a rural, culturally underserved area to inspire dialogue on issues of diversity and expand local knowledge of the arts.

Shakespeare - San Francisco (aka San Francisco Shakespeare Festival)
San Francisco, CA
$15,000
To support the Free Shakespeare in the Park tour. The project will provide diverse audiences in the San Francisco Bay Area access to productions of a Shakespeare play free-of-charge.

Shakespeare Festival/LA, Inc. (aka SFLA)
Los Angeles, CA
$22,000
To support the 22nd Annual Summer Festival. William Shakespeare's Hamlet will be directed by Ben Donenberg and will be presented free-of-charge in Los Angeles's downtown Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels.

Southwest Key Program, Inc.
Austin, TX
$10,000
To support the East Austin Student Theater Project. The program will offer theater training to middle and high school students from low-income and underserved Latino neighborhoods.

Spanish Theatre Repertory Company, Ltd. (aka Repertorio Español)
New York, NY
$35,000
To support the Teatro Acceso program. The company will present and tour classic and contemporary Spanish, Latin American, and U.S. Latino works to underserved schools and communities throughout the New York metropolitan area and the northeastern United States.

Teatro Avante, Inc.
Miami, FL
$35,000
To support the 22nd International Hispanic Theatre Festival. The festival presents audiences with multilingual theater productions of contemporary and classical works by acclaimed international companies from Latin America, Europe, Asia, and the United States.

Teatro del Pueblo, Inc.
St. Paul, MN
$10,000
To support the seventh annual Political Theatre Festival. The project will present plays that explore the politics of Latin America and the political issues affecting Latinos in the United States.

Ten Thousand Things
Minneapolis, MN
$18,000
To support the production and tour of William Shakespeare's King Richard III. Free performances will be targeted to low-income audiences in prisons, shelters, and housing projects.

That Uppity Theatre Company
St. Louis, MO
$10,000
To support the DisAbility Project, an ensemble of performers who create and tour original works about the culture of disability to schools and public venues. The project comprises individuals from diverse backgrounds with and without physical and/or cognitive disabilities.

The Other Side of The Hill Productions Inc. (aka The Road Theatre Company)
North Hollywood, CA
$10,000
To support the Los Angeles premiere of The Glory of Living by Rebecca Gilman. The Road Theatre Company production will be directed by Mark St. Amant.

Theater By The Blind Corp.
New York, NY
$12,000
To support a production of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Ike Schambelan will direct a cast and crew composed of both blind and sighted theater artists.

Theatre Bay Area
San Francisco, CA
$10,000
To support an audience development initiative designed to help Bay Area theater companies increase attendance and diversify audiences. Components will include improvements to existing audience development services and the pilot phases of new initiatives.

Theatre Communications Group, Inc. (aka TCG)
New York, NY
$125,000
To support the 2006 TCG National Conference, professional development programs, field research, and publication resources for the staff and trustees of professional, nonprofit theaters nationwide. Conferences and training programs are designed to increase management expertise and organizational efficiency, and ongoing industry research provides the field with benchmarks and data to assist member theaters in measuring their performance.

Theatre Communications Group, Inc. (aka TCG) (Consortium)
New York, NY
$30,000
To support the Free Night of Theater audience development initiative and public awareness campaign. In partnership with Theatre Bay Area, TCG will coordinate the launch of the initiative by its member theaters in more than 15 major markets throughout the United States.

Theatre Development Fund, Inc. (aka TDF)
New York, NY
$25,000
To support the Interpreting for the Theatre initiative. The program is an intensive one-week institute for theater sign-language interpreters.

Tulane University (aka Adminstrators of the Tulane Educational Fund) (on behalf of Shakespeare Festival at Tulane)
New Orleans, LA
$20,000
To support a production of Shakespeare's Coriolanus. Artistic director Ron Gural will direct the production.

UNIMA-USA
Atlanta, GA
$10,000
To support the publication and distribution of Puppetry International Magazine and the Puppetry Yellow Pages, and the expansion of Web site services. The project documents puppet theater works, provides technical assistance to puppet artists, and promotes the international visibility of American puppeteers.

Utopian Theatre Asylum
Chicago, IL
$12,000
To support the production of a play. It's Only the End of the World by Jean Luc LaGarce will be directed by artistic director Zeljko Djukich.

Victory Gardens Theater
Chicago, IL
$20,000
To support the production of a new play. I Sailed with Magellan, by ensemble member Claudia Allen, will be directed by Sandy Skinner.

Walnut Street Theatre Corporation
Philadelphia, PA
$10,000
To support the Touring Outreach Company. The initiative will offer students in grades 6-12 workshops and matinee performances of fully produced plays reflective of the curriculum of area schools.

Weston Playhouse Theatre
Weston, VT
$25,000
To support the production and tour of Master Harold...and the Boys. Productions will take place through the education and outreach programs for intergenerational, rural, and underserved audiences.

Williamstown Theatre Festival
Williamstown, MA
$10,000
To support youth-oriented community outreach programs designed to include the local Williamstown community with the festival's annual operations. The project will include the Free Theatre Series, the Kid's Night Program, and the Greylock Theatre Project.

Working Theatre Company, Inc.
New York, NY
$10,000
To support the TheaterWorks project. The initiative offers artist residencies and workshops to low-income working people at three New York City unions.

National Endowment for the Arts · an independent federal agency
1100 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20506