Stella Adler Studio Receives Grant from Pierre and Tana Matisse Foundation

The Stella Adler Studio of Acting has been awarded a $150,000 Grant for Arts and Arts Education by The Pierre and Tana Matisse Foundation. The grant, given to organizations committed to making the arts a solid and significant part of the education process, will be distributed over three years. The grant will support the Studio's Outreach Division program of acting and theater classes with inmates at the Rikers Island Correctional Facility, which gives inmates the opportunity to train as a working ensemble of actors and writers, learning and practicing voice and speech, movement, and acting techniques. Each training session concludes with a showing of created work for an invited audience. Inmates are also introduced to dramatic literature and poetry to encourage them to explore characters and make clear choices in their own writing and acting.

"We are so honored and grateful to receive the support of The Pierre and Tana Matisse Foundation," said Tom Oppenheim, Artistic Director, Stella Adler Studio of Acting. "Providing world-class theater education that uplifts and empowers our students is the basis of our work and we're very pleased to be able to continue our programming through this generous grant."

The Stella Adler Studio of Acting was founded in 1949 on the principle that growth as an actor and growth as a human being are synonymous. The mission of the Studio is to create an environment that nurtures theater artists and audiences so that they value humanity, their own and others, as their first priority while providing art and education to the greater community. The Stella Adler Studio of Acting's Outreach Division works with numerous underserved populations including inner-city students, drug and rehabilitation centers and inmates on Rikers Island.

Established in 1949 by Stella Adler, the Stella Adler Studio of Acting was founded upon Adler's belief in the supreme seriousness of her art, and has, for the last five decades, enriched every part of the American theater and film arts. Adler's philosophies kept many well-known members of the theater coming back for her intelligent and passionate advice. She trained many of the brilliant actors of our time, including Marlon Brando, Robert DeNiro, Elaine Stritch, Benicio Del Toro and Salma Hayek. The Stella Adler Studio of Acting is a not-for-profit organization, which trains over 500 actors annually and also presents world-class lectures, poetry readings, jazz, classical music, theater, and dance theater events. www.stellaadler.com

About The Matisse Foundation

The Pierre and Tana Matisse Foundation was established in 1995 by Maria-Gaetana von Spreti Matisse, wife of the late art dealer and collector, Pierre Matisse. Following her death in 2001, Tana-as she was known to her friends-left the bulk of her estate to the Foundation. The Foundation's principles reflect Tana and Pierre's generosity and pursuit of excellence in the arts. www.matissefoundation.org