The National Endowment for the Arts has awarded the American Theatre Wing a total of $60,000 in its second round of funding in the 2017 fiscal year. The total comprises two grants: an Art Works award of $35,000 to fund the Wing’s SpringboardNYC and Theatre Intern Network initiatives, as well as a Media Arts grant totaling $25,000 for the Working in the Theatre docuseries.
The grants are two of 1,029 total distributed by the federal agency in its second roll out, which totals $84.06 million in support for arts organizations in all 50 states and U.S. jurisdictions.
The new wave of grant distribution from the NEA, which began in June, comes on the heels of the proposed elimination of the arts agency, as outlined in the Trump administration’s budget outline for the 2018 fiscal year. Since the news of the president’s intentions broke, myriad arts advocates and organizations have raised their voices to denounce these potential cuts.
“Since its founding, the National Endowment for the Arts has been integral to the development of all forms of art across this country,” said American Theatre Wing President Heather Hitchens in a statement. “The work that we do at the Wing, especially in the programs that were designated grants, helps to make theatre accessible to everyone across the country no matter their background. This is vital to the cultural fabric of our nation.” SpringboardNYC is an intensive program that offers college actors the opportunity to travel to New York City for a series of workshops, seminars, and master classes. Theatre Intern Network provides networking opportunity and career-building tools for young theatre professionals by connecting students to key players. The Wing’s Working in the Theatre series earned a 2017 Daytime Emmy nomination. The program, which began in 1976, highlights the various components of the theatre industry and its inner-workings.For more information on the National Endowment for the Arts, including a script to use when calling representatives to voice support, visit Playbill.com/NEA.
