Meghan Finn, Artistic Director Of The Tank, Honored With 200k David Prize

The David Prize, in its fifth year, has revealed its 2024 winners. This year’s five winners represent the best of New York: individuals dedicated to improving NYC and have big ideas to make it even better. Winners are recognized for their bold visions and relentless commitment to improving New York City across a range of sectors from arts and culture to mental health and education to automation and economic development.
The David Prize is an annual award that honors five individuals with ideas that, if right, will significantly benefit New York City. Each recipient receives $200,000, with no strings attached. Unlike other philanthropic programs, The David Prize invests in people, aiming to free up financial and mental bandwidth for recipients to pursue big bets for the city. Recipients do not report on how the money is spent or the impact as a result; rather, they are given space to pursue their ideas however they see fit.

“At The David Prize, we believe in the power of individuals. Good ideas are worthless without extraordinary people relentlessly committed to making them a reality. We also believe New York City is special because of the people that call it home,” says Erika Augustine, Executive Director of The David Prize. “The Prize seeds and celebrates those who contribute incrementally, over days and decades, to this unique city. It’s our privilege to learn from and support these recipients who represent the best of New York City.”
Winners are selected through a year-long process including an open call with two online submission rounds, a panel of expert advisors, and interviews. The selection criteria focus on impact and urgency for New York City, personal and professional proximity, unique contribution to the city, and a need for catalytic funding.
 

Meghan Finn

is the Artistic Director of The Tank. She previously served as the Associate Artistic Director at 3LD Art & Technology Center. Her directorial work has been seen at the Tank, the V&A, Powerhouse Theater, Serpentine Galleries, The Wexner Center, Powerhouse Theater, SCAD, The Logan Center for the Arts in Chicago, Museo Jumex Mexico City, The Power Plant, Clubbed Thumb, HERE, The Brick, The Bushwick Starr, Soho Gallery, PS122, Dixon Place, Soho Rep, Ars Nova, Montclair State, New Georges, The Flea, Canadian Stage, Carnegie Mellon, Brooklyn College, MIT, NYU, the Great Plains Theater Conference and others.  

Finn is a frequent collaborator of esteemed playwright Mac Wellman, and has directed three of his world premieres including 3,2's or AFAR (2011), The Offending Gesture (2016) and The Invention of Tragedy (2019). 

Other recent directing credits include: KARA & EMMA & BARBARA & MIRANDA by Ariel Stess (developed at New Dramatists/New Georges), The Lydian Gale Parr by Karinne Keithley Syers and Alaina Ferris (The Tank/Amanda + James/Target Margin Theater); Primordial by Lillian Isabella (The Tank); Mahinerator by Jerry Lieblich (The Tank) as well as The Nine Dreams: Blake & the Apocalypse by writer Nick Flynn (film & installation) featuring Lili Taylor. She directed a short film by playwright Peggy Stafford called 16 Words or Less which has been screened at indie film festivals nationally and in Europe.
She directed premieres of A Trojan Woman, by Sara Farrington featuring Drita Kabashi at the Balkan Festival of Ancient Greek Drama in Athens, Greece and in an extended, critically acclaimed run at Luna-Stage/">Luna Stage in West Orange, New Jersey. The production will premiere in Belfast at The Mac in November 2024.

Finn is a frequent collaborator of conceptual artist and sculptor Pedro Reyes, and directed Doomocracy for Creative Time. She collaborated with photographer Mitch Epstein on a live performance with cellist Erik Friedlander as well as celebrated premieres by Erin Courtney, Peggy Stafford, Soomi Kim, Jerry Lieblich, Barbara Cassidy, Gary Winter, Ben Gassman, Alexandra Collier, Carl Holder, Eliza Bent and Cori Copp.  When We Went Electronic by Caitlyn Saylor Stephens which premiered at The Tank in 2018 toured in 2021 to The Roes Theater in Athens Greece and OnStage! Festival Rome and Milan. She holds a BA in Theater from The University of Southern California and an MFA in Directing from Brooklyn College.

Under her leadership, The Tank has established itself in a two theater complex on 36th Street, tripling its artistic programming and annual revenue since FY17. In 2020, The Tank was awarded an OBIE AWARD for institutional excellence, under Finn's leadership as Artistic Director. She is also the recipient of a 2021 Lucille Lortel Visionary Award by the League of Professional Theatre Women and 2023 PRELUDE Festival Award.  

As an immigration advocate, Meghan Finn worked as a core member of Immigrant Families Together, a group which came together to reunify children separated from their parents due to the Zero Tolerance Policy in 2018. Subsequently, she cofounded the organization Each Step Home (formerly Every. Last. One.) a nonprofit dedicated to the release of children from immigration detention in the United States. Every. Last. One. assisted in the release of over 700 children from federal custody since 2019. The story of her work is featured in the film Split at the Root available on Netflix as well as THE BOOK OF ROSY: A Mother's Story of Separation at the Border By Rosyra Pablo Cruz and Julie Schwietert Collazo.  It is mentioned in Love is The Way: Holding on to Hope in Troubled Times by Bishop Michael Curry and Sara Grace.
 

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