TheatreSquared Awarded National Endowment of the Arts Grant

TheatreSquared has announced that it has been approved by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) for a Grants for Arts Projects award of $50,000.

This grant will support the Arkansas New Play Festival. The NEA will award 1,127 Grants for Arts Projects awards nationwide totaling more than $31.8 million as part of the recent announcement of fiscal year 2025 grants.

"The NEA is proud to continue our nearly 60 years of supporting the efforts of organizations and artists that help to shape our country’s vibrant arts sector and communities of all types across our nation," said NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD. "It is inspiring to see the wide range of creative projects taking place, including TheatreSquared's Arkansas New Play Festival."

"We are deeply honored to receive this NEA grant, which recognizes the vital role our New Play Festival has played in shaping the future of American theater for 16 years," says T2 Executive Director Shannon A. Jones. "This support allows us to continue championing bold, original voices and providing a platform for stories that challenge, inspire, and reflect the diversity of our nation."
 

The Arkansas New Play Festival was launched in 2009 and has since helped incubate the development of more than 60 plays. The playwright-focused festival links authors with a director, dramaturg, and professional cast for an intensive two- to three-week laboratory process, culminating in staged reading performances. Staged readings have been held in venues throughout Fayetteville, Springdale, Bentonville, Little Rock, and—in 2020—streamed online. Since 2013, the Festival has benefited from support from the National Endowment for the Arts. Through the Arkansas New Play Festival, TheatreSquared seeks to give voice to playwrights whose timely and relevant stories resonate with the moment we live in—in Arkansas, in mid-America, and as a nation.

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