NEW YORK CITY: Theatre Communications Group (TCG) has introduced the recipients of RECOGNIZE grants as a part of the THRIVE! Uplifting Theatres of Color program. With $1,635,000 in assist from Doris Duke Charitable Foundation (DDCF), TCG is working in partnership with an Advisory Circle of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) to offer unrestricted funds for Black theatres, Indigenous theatres and Theatres of Color (BITOC) primarily based within the U.S. (together with Tribal Nations and U.S. Territories). In this inaugural spherical of this system, The Sheri and Les Biller Family Foundation has joined as a supporting companion for theatres in Western states.
The 22 theatres receiving RECOGNIZE grants embrace AlterTheater, Bindlestiff Studio, Breaking Wave Theatre Company, Eagle Project, East West Players, Golden Thread Productions, Hattiloo Theatre, Ikidowin Acting Ensemble, Junebug Productions, KC Melting Pot Theatre Productions, Last Call, Lower Depth Theatre, National Black Theatre, Native Voices on the Autry, New Native Theatre, Pangea World Theater, Penumbra, Safe Harbors NYC, San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Company (SFBATCO), Silk Road Rising, Su Teatro, and Teatro Vista.
“TCG is honored to provide unrestricted support to these visionary Theatres of Color and to learn with them through the REBUILD learning cohort,” stated Teresa Eyring, govt director and CEO of TCG, in a press release. “Thanks to our partnership with Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the THRIVE! program can play an important part in addressing the ongoing legacy of systemic racism in our theatre field by investing in the artistry and abundance of these theatres. We are pleased that The Sheri and Les Biller Family Foundation has also offered support for THRIVE!, and hope this will inspire similar support from funders around the country.”
RECOGNIZE recipients had been chosen by a aggressive evaluation course of by BIPOC theatre and neighborhood leaders. Selection standards included a deep stage of service to their chosen communities, a transparent imaginative and prescient guiding their ongoing and future work, and the best potential for the THRIVE! program to positively impression their group. The choice committee included Cole Alvis, chief, lemonTree creations, manidoons collective, and AdHoc Assembly; Brian Freeman, artist-in-residence, Booker T. Washington Center; Cynthia Fuhrman, vice chairman, govt search at Tom O’Connor Consulting Group, LLC; Tracy Francis, creative director, Boom Arts; Minita Gandhi, multi-hyphenate artist and cultural chief; Daniel Jaquez, theatremaker, translator, and co-founder of TuYo Theatre; and Erica Lauren Ortiz, director of fairness, variety, & inclusion for Ford’s Theatre Society.
“These vibrant theatres are deeply connecting with their chosen communities through authentic and significant partnerships,” stated Emilya Cachapero, TCG’s director of grantmaking packages in a press release. “An all-too-common narrative in the not-for-profit sector is the assumption that BITOC have only ‘needs’ and ‘challenges,’ and not solutions to larger field issues. Through the national spotlight of the THRIVE! program, we hope that others, both fellow grantmakers and theatre colleagues, will recognize their contributions and solutions to challenges and join in supporting the ingenuity and tenacity of these and many other vital BITOC.”
With few nationwide alternatives for BITOC to use for unrestricted funds, and with working finances minimums typically excluding smaller-budget BITOC, THRIVE! represents a extra inclusive, equitable mannequin of grantmaking. THRIVE! additionally breaks with the grantmaking norm of tying the award quantity to the dimensions of the theatre’s working finances. Theatres from all U.S. states and territories had been inspired to use, and THRIVE! marks the primary time TCG has awarded a grant to a Guam-based theatre (Breaking Wave Theatre Company).
“We are thrilled to be supporting the THRIVE! program and to lift up these vital Theatres of Color and their invaluable work,” stated Audrey Haberman, President and CEO of the Sheri & Les Biller Family Foundation in a press release. “We are grateful to the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and Theatre Communications Group for their leadership and I hope that other philanthropic organizations eager to support theatres of color and center efforts to address systemic racism in theatre will consider joining this important effort.”
During the grant program interval, RECOGNIZE grantees can even take part in REBUILD: A Learning Cohort, working with BIPOC consultants to strengthen their effectiveness in particular areas which can embrace monetary planning, disaster administration, state of affairs planning, and program analysis. Earlier within the yr, THRIVE! awarded $10,000 RESPOND grants, offering unrestricted funds to BITOC to deal with fast, time-sensitive challenges that forestall ongoing work with their neighborhood. TCG is seeking to companion with extra funders to additional increase the attain and impression of the THRIVE! program. Interested events ought to contact LaTeshia Ellerson for extra info.
“Although THRIVE! was launched during the pandemic, it is, in fact, a response to a challenge that has hindered realizing the full potential of the arts and culture sector for decades—the undercapitalization of BIPOC arts and culture organizations,” stated Maurine Knighton, program director for the humanities on the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation in a press release. “We’re excited to partner with TCG, and to welcome the additional support of The Sheri and Les Biller Family Foundation, to provide some of the critical tools that help address that issue, including general operating support, technical assistance, and visibility. The kind of holistic funding envisioned by the THRIVE! initiative is key to a healthy, vibrant cultural ecosystem, and we’re pleased to play a part in bringing it to life.”
Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the nationwide group for theatre and the writer of American Theatre journal, seeks to guide for a simply and thriving theatre ecology. As of 2020, TCG’s approximate finances was $7.8 million.
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