SpeakEasy Stage Selected For Barr-Klarman Massachusetts Arts Initiative

SpeakEasy Stage Company is proud to announce that is been selected to participate in the Barr-Klarman Massachusetts Arts Initiative, as announced earlier today on the Barr Foundation's blog.

A partnership between two Boston-based foundations - Barr and The Klarman Family Foundation - the initiative is a $25 million, six-year investment in 29 arts and cultural organizations from across Massachusetts. Participating organizations receive flexible, multi-year operating support grants, in addition to training and technical assistance from TDC, a nonprofit consulting and research firm. SpeakEasy Stage Company's engagement in the initiative begins with two grants totaling $375,000 over three years from Barr and the Klarman Family Foundation, the largest institutional gift in the company's 28 year history.

"It is impossible to overstate how honored we are to have been selected for this initiative," said Paul Daigneault, SpeakEasy's Founder and Producing Artistic Director. "These grants will enhance our creative and artistic programming and strengthen the company so that we can continue to contribute to our community for a long time to come."

"Organizations like SpeakEasy Stage Company are the cultural hearts of their communities," said San San Wong, Director of Arts & Creativity for the Barr Foundation. "They are sites of public assembly and dialogue, often working to foster understanding and connection across cultural differences. It is our privilege to support SpeakEasy Stage Company in this journey to further strengthen its financial health and capacity to adapt to change - that it might deepen and continue this work for years to come."

"Arts organizations, including SpeakEasy Stage Company, play a critical role in the health of our communities," said Laura Sherman, Director, Greater Boston Grantmaking for The Klarman Family Foundation. "We are committed to strengthening this cohort of 29 arts organizations across the Commonwealth that have the ability to connect and enliven communities through culture, tradition and creative expression, and we are proud to be a part of this initiative."

Representing diversity across artistic disciplines, geographic reach, stages of organizational development, and budget sizes, the 29 organizations participating in the Barr-Klarman Massachusetts Arts Initiative are:

• Academy of Music Theatre (Northampton)

• A Far Cry (Boston)

• Barrington Stage Company (Pittsfield)

• Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center (Boston)

• Boston Modern Orchestra Project (Malden)

• Cape Ann Museum (Gloucester)

• Community Access to the Arts (Great Barrington)

• Community Art Center (Cambridge)

• Community Music School of Springfield (Springfield)

• Company One Theatre (Boston)

• The Dance Complex (Cambridge)

• Design Museum Boston (Boston)

• Double Edge Theatre (Ashfield)

• Eliot School of Fine & Applied Arts (Boston)

• Featherstone Center for the Arts (Martha's Vineyard)

• Fitchburg Art Museum (Fitchburg)

• Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center (Great Barrington)

• Merrimack Repertory Theatre (Lowell)

• New Bedford Art Museum/ArtWorks! (New Bedford)

• New Bedford Symphony Orchestra (New Bedford)

• Norman Rockwell Museum (Stockbridge)

• Now + There (Boston)

• Payomet Performing Arts Center (North Truro)

• Provincetown Art Association and Museum (Provincetown)

• Raw Art Works (Lynn)

• The Record Co. (Boston)

• SpeakEasy Stage (Boston)

• Worcester Art Museum (Worcester)

• Zeiterion Theatre (New Bedford)

"We are thrilled to be included among this outstanding group of arts organizations from across the state. We are grateful to the Barr and The Klarman Family Foundation for their confidence in SpeakEasy and their belief in our mission," said Alex Baker, Chair of the Board of Directors for SpeakEasy Stage Company.

SpeakEasy Stage Company and each participant in this initiative will receive multi-year, unrestricted operating grants. Additionally, through a grant to TDC, a nationally recognized nonprofit consulting and research group, organizations will also receive customized training and technical assistance, and be eligible for supplemental funds for targeted research, capacity building, and/or pilot projects. Last week, the foundations made the first set of three-year grants under the new initiative, marking the beginning of what is expected to be a six-year journey of learning, collaboration, and growth.

For more information about the Barr-Klarman Massachusetts Arts Initiative page, including the ideas underlying the effort, key elements of the experience for participating organizations, selection criteria, and evaluation findings, visit their website:

About SpeakEasy Stage Company

Founded in 1992, SpeakEasy Stage Company (SpeakEasy) produces intimate, entertaining plays and musicals that are new to Boston and compel thoughtful conversation. SpeakEasy selects contemporary shows that are relevant to the times and create content and intellectual and/or emotional dialogue that lasts beyond the production. In particular, SpeakEasy champions the contemporary American Musical by presenting compelling cutting edge productions of recent American musicals that explore contemporary social issues, push the boundaries of the form, and challenge the artists' storytelling technique. Through The Boston Project, SpeakEasy commissions and provides dramaturgical support for Boston-based playwrights to develop new plays that explore what it means to live in Boston today. The company provides jobs for hundreds of locally-based artists, actors, directors, and technicians each year, and trains early-career artists through its fellowship and emerging artists programs, supporting them as they develop their potential. SpeakEasy has developed several collaborations to support its Access Program, which aims to make SpeakEasy's programs accessible to Boston's diverse and vibrant community so they can attend live professional theater at an affordable price. SpeakEasy is the only resident company at the Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts campus in the city's diverse South End neighborhood

About the Barr Foundation: The Barr Foundation's mission is to invest in human, natural, and creative potential, serving as thoughtful stewards and catalysts. Based in Boston, Barr focuses regionally, and selectively engages nationally, working in partnership with nonprofits, foundations, the public sector, and civic and business leaders to elevate the arts, advance solutions for climate change, and connect all students to success in high school and beyond. Founded in 1997, Barr now has assets of $1.7 billion, and has contributed more than $838 million to charitable causes. For more information, visit barrfoundation.org or follow @BarrFdn on Twitter and Facebook.

About The Klarman Family Foundation: The Klarman Family Foundation seeks to identify areas of unmet need and advance solutions to addressing them. Underlying all of the Foundation's work is a passionate belief in the promise and importance of creative thinking, strategic leadership and strong organizations to help bring about change. As a way to learn and create greater impact, the Foundation values acting in partnership with other funders. Its work spans regionally, nationally and internationally and focuses on advancing understanding of the biological basis of health and illness; supporting the global Jewish community and State of Israel; expanding access to vital services and enrichment opportunities in Greater Boston; and ensuring a healthy democracy. Established in 1990 by Beth and Seth Klarman, the Foundation is located in Boston, MA. For more information, visit klarmanfoundation.org.

About the Barr-Klarman Massachusetts Arts Initiative: The Barr-Klarman Massachusetts Arts Initiative is a $25 million investment in 29 arts and cultural organizations from across Massachusetts to strengthen their long-term financial health and ability to adapt to change. This joint effort of the Barr Foundation and The Klarman Family Foundation is rooted in the belief that arts and cultural organizations have enormous potential to add value to the vibrancy, social wellbeing, and creative economies of their communities. Yet, amidst rapid change in our communities and broader society, they must also grow and change. Compelling artistic programming that engages diverse artists and audiences is necessary to remain relevant and to thrive; but, it is not enough. Arts and cultural organizations also need a sound operating model with adequate and appropriate capital, and staff and board members who embrace change and cultural differences. Over six years, participating organizations will receive multi-year, flexible operating grants and be eligible for supplemental funds, in addition to training, technical assistance and coaching in these essential capacities provided by TDC, a nonprofit consulting and research firm, and partner to the foundations. For more information about the Barr-Klarman Massachusetts Arts Initiative, visit https://www.barrfoundation.org/what-we-do/barr-klarman-massachusetts-arts-initiative.

SpeakEasy Stage Media Contact Barr Foundation Media Contact:

Jim Torres

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