Photos: Go Inside IndieSpace's The Big Give At Chelsea Factory

On Tuesday, November 28th IndieSpace, an organization established to disrupt the ongoing displacement of small theaters and to create a new model for equitable funding for the indie theater community, hosted The Big Give at Chelsea Factory (547 W 26th St, New York, NY 10001) and handed out $1000 grant checks to 60 recipients of their annual Pay Your People Grants. Grantees were chosen by lottery from 291 eligible applicants. The event was attended by over 450 members of the indie theater community in-person and online, including Council Member Erik Bottcher.

See photos below! Photos courtesy of Brandon Morris. 

Boomerang Theatre Company, Broadway Inspirational Voices, Danza Espana, International Culture Lab, and Untitled Theater Company No. 61 were recipients of the Deep Roots Grant, which is awarded to companies that have been working in indie theater for more than 25 years.

Indie Theater Venue Grants were awarded to 14Y Theater, 16 Cowries Space, 3am Theater, El Barrio's Artspace PS 109, Episcopal Actors' Guild (EAG), FRIGID New York, Greenhouse Arts Center, IRT Theater, Latin American Intercultural Alliance, and WOW Cafe Theater.

Additional grants were awarded to After Work Theater, Ali Keller LLC, AnomalousCo, Brooklyn Tavern Theater, Dance Visions NY, Divine Riot, EPIC PLAYERS INC, Fresh Ground Pepper, Good Light Productions, H+ | The Hip-Hop Dance Conservatory, Hamlet Isn't Dead, Hit The Lights! Co., Home's Kitchen, Kitchen Sink Theatre Company, KPC - Keeping People Connected, Last Minute Applicant, Latinx Performance Ensemble, Lone Star Media, Meta-Phys Ed., Midnight Cowboy Radio, Mind The Gap Theatre, Monli International Company LLC, Moxie Arts NYC, Naked Angels Theater Company, New York Neo-Futurists, Okaeri Productions, LLC, Parity Productions, Permafrost Theatre Collective, Quail Bell, Quick Silver Theater Company, RadioHole, Random Access Theatre, Recent Cutbacks, Retro Productions, SheNYC Arts, Soft Brain Theatre Company, Sparklet Productions, STAGE AURORA NY, The Bailey Williams Self-Produced Productions Company, The Hess Collective, The Living Orchid, The Other Side of Silence (TOSOS), Trusty Sidekick Theater Company, Village Playwrights, and White Horse Theater Company.

IndieSpace was established in 2016 to disrupt the ongoing displacement of small theaters and to address systemic inequities in NYC real estate. In 2022, it merged with Indie Theater Fund, an organization focused on a new model for equitable funding for the indie theater community. By contributing a nickel per ticket from their shows to a pot of money for funding, the indie theater community could create a method of self-sustainability and could rethink philanthropy and the process of grant making. Through radically transparent and equitable grants, community resources and advocacy, the Fund supported hundreds of indie theater companies and thousands of individual artists. 

Since its founding, IndieSpace has: consulted with 90+ companies and venues making real estate decisions, including The Tank, FRIGID New York, The Chain, The Wild Project, Wooster Group, and Classical Theater of Harlem; helped 18 organizations sign new leases; saved seven theaters from being closed or repurposed; created four real estate operation partnerships; walked two venues through the purchase of their permanent homes. During Covid, IndieSpace supported over 50 venues navigating their leases by helping them stay open, and also provided over $1.7M in relief grants to the indie theater community. In 2023 IndieSpace opened the West Village Rehearsal Co-Op with HERE Arts Center, New Ohio and Rattlestick Playwrights Theater. This 99-year lease for $1 per year will serve over 1,500 artists per year. For service to the community, IndieSpace received the Ellen Stewart Award and a citation from the City Council of New York. www.indiespace.org