Tow Foundation to Award Randi Berry, Executive Director Of IndieSpace, Visionary Leadership Award

The Tow Foundation will award Randi Berry, the Executive Director of IndieSpace, an organization established to disrupt the ongoing displacement of small theaters and to create a new model for equitable funding for the indie theater community, one of its Visionary Leadership Awards. The award includes an unrestricted grant of $150,000 given to IndieSpace, which the organization intends to use to fund additional mental health and Milk & Eggs grants, increase their Big Give awards for 2023, and allocate additional resources towards the pre-development costs for their new space in Hell's Kitchen. 

"The Tow Foundation is proud to support Randi Berry and her visionary leadership at IndieSpace," said Eileen Wiseman, Program Director at The Tow Foundation. "Randi's unwavering dedication to small independent theater companies and artists, coupled with her arts advocacy, has made a significant impact. Through IndieSpace, Randi provides crucial resources to artists in need – including rehearsal space, performance venues, emergency funds, and quick financial assistance. Her deep understanding of the arts and her determination to help artists survive, thrive, create, and innovate make her very deserving of recognition and continued support." 

“I am so honored to be recognized by the incredible Tow Foundation for my work in service of the indie theater community”, said Randi Berry, Executive Director of IndieSpace. “IndieSpace is the manifestation of the kind of organization I needed myself as an artist working in small theaters in NYC. The programs that we've built and what it has become is a reflection of the very community we serve. The foundation is not just acknowledging me, but is, in doing so, acknowledging the community as essential contributors to the field and a healthy artistic eco-system. The indie theater community exists, our work is meaningful and we deserve to thrive. This award is a big step in that direction. We are thrilled and so grateful to the Tow Foundation.”

Celebrating 35 years of service, The Tow Foundation was established in 1988 by Leonard and Claire Tow as a way to give back to the communities that shaped them. Its five primary impact areas are equity and justice, medicine and public health, arts and culture, higher education, and civic engagement. Grounded in its decades of work in Connecticut and New York, the foundation supports visionary leaders and nonprofit organizations to find and enact innovative solutions to persistent inequality. It works to ensure people can become full participants in their communities, achieve transformative and lasting progress, and develop approaches that allow everyone to reach their full potential. 

IndieSpace was established in 2016 to disrupt the ongoing displacement of small theaters and to address systemic inequities in NYC real estate. In 2022, it merged with Indie Theater Fund, an organization focused on a new model for equitable funding for the indie theater community. By contributing a nickel per ticket from their shows to a pot of money for funding, the indie theater community could create a method of self-sustainability and could rethink philanthropy and the process of grant making. Through radically transparent and equitable grants, community resources and advocacy, the Fund supported hundreds of indie theater companies and thousands of individual artists.    

Since its founding, IndieSpace has: consulted with 70+ venues making real estate decisions, including The Tank, FRIGID New York, The Chain, The Wild Project, Wooster Group, and Classical Theater of Harlem; helped 18 organizations sign new leases; saved seven theaters from being closed or repurposed; created four real estate operation partnerships; walked one venue through the purchase of their new home. During Covid, IndieSpace supported over 50 venues navigating their leases by helping them stay open, and also provided nearly $2M in relief grants to the indie theater community. In 2023 IndieSpace opened the West Village Rehearsal Co-Op with HERE Arts Center, New Ohio and Rattlestick Playwrights Theater. This 99-year lease for $1 per year will serve over 1,500 artists per year. For service to the community, IndieSpace received the Ellen Stewart Award and a citation from the City Council of New York www.indiespace.org

Photo credit: Benjamin Spradley