A.C.T. Awarded James Irvine Grant To Develop New Fine Arts Program

The American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) has been awarded a $1 million grant over three years by The James Irvine Foundation to develop a new program of study as part of its Master of Fine Arts program. A.C.T. was one of four organizations to receive funding as part of the Irvine Foundation's Arts Innovation Fund (AIF), which helps the state's premiere arts institutions to develop innovative ways to deepen audience engagement in the arts in California.

As part of the grant, A.C.T. will create a new initiative for its Master of Fine Arts program that features student-devised work as part of the curriculum, encouraging and supporting the students to take their work out in the community by using unconventional performance spaces. These performances will be free or offered at low cost to encourage broad participation. The new program will empower the students in the programming, production, and marketing of these efforts, allowing them to lead the conversation in engaging an audience of their peers. A.C.T.'s new Master of Fine Arts curriculum will also include professional development in business skills that historically have not been a significant part of actor training programs. A.C.T.'s administrative staff will serve as guest faculty for these business classes. Along with the internal innovation this initiative brings to one of the leading M.F.A. programs in the country, it also allows A.C.T. to engage a whole new audience in its programming by taking its work to its audience. This new program will work in tandem with the M.F.A. 8, the new structure that is launched with the class of 2012 next season, which includes smaller class sizes, a new curriculum, and a full-time faculty.

"We are looking to train our students to be actors and artistic leaders and we believe that training involves engaging the students in the community that they live in," says Melissa Smith, A.C.T. Conservatory Director. "The originality of this new program will come from the fact that our M.F.A. students will be the driving force behind the programming and we are truly thankful to the vision of the Irvine Foundation that allows us to create this program that will have a real effect on the artistic lives of our students and the artistic landscape of greater Bay Area."

"We are deeply honored that the Irvine Foundation has recognized A.C.T.'s path-breaking program to empower and nurture young artists to devise, produce and disseminate their own work to an audience of their peers," added Carey Perloff, A.C.T. Artistic Director. "This is going to be a life-changing opportunity for A.C.T. giving us flexibility to encounter our wider community in new and surprising ways. We can't wait to begin."

"We are always inspired by our M.F.A. students and we look forward to the ways in which their contribution in this program will invigorate the different arms of our organization," adds A.C.T. Director of Marketing and Communications Janette Andrawes. "Alongside the work that we present in our historic home, this brand new initiative will help us find new ways to engage a different kind of audience."

The three other organizations that received A.I.F. funding were the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, the Oakland Museum, and the Armand Hammer Museum in Los Angeles. "We are pleased to award an Arts Innovation Fund grant to A.C.T. for its innovative idea to educate its
students on how to create, produce and market their own work and bring it to younger audiences in nontraditional venues," said James E. Canales, The James Irvine Foundation President and Chief Executive Officer. "Through this support, we hope that a new model of audience engagement will emerge for A.C.T. that can be shared more broadly in the performing arts field." For a full list of approved grants, please visit www.irvine.org <http://www.irvine.org>.

American Conservatory Theater is a Tony Award-winning theater and educational institution dedicated to nurturing the art of live theater through dynamic productions, intensive actor training in its conservatory, and an ongoing dialogue with its community. A.C.T. embraces its responsibility to conserve, renew, and reinvent its relationship to the rich theatrical traditions and literatures that are our collective legacy, while exploring new artistic forms and new communities. A commitment to the highest standards informs every aspect of A.C.T.'s creative work. Founded in 1965, A.C.T. opened its first San Francisco season at the historic Geary Theater in 1967; more
than 320 productions have since been performed to a combined audience of more than seven million people. Today A.C.T. is recognized nationally for its groundbreaking productions of classical works and bold explorations of contemporary playwriting, honored with a Tony Award for outstanding theater performance and training (1979) and the prestigious Jujamcyn Theaters Award (1996). The first actor training program in the United States not affiliated with a college or university accredited to award a master of fine arts degree, A.C.T.'s conservatory has moved to the forefront of America's actor training programs, while serving as the creative engine of the company at large.

The James Irvine Foundation is a private, nonprofit grantmaking foundation dedicated to expanding opportunity for the people of California to participate in a vibrant, successful and inclusive society. The Foundation's grantmaking focuses on three program areas: Arts, California Democracy and Youth. Since 1937 the Foundation has provided over $1 billion in grants to more than 3,000 nonprofit organizations throughout California. With $1.4 billion in assets, the Foundation made grants of $78 million in 2008 for the people of California.

 

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