Photos: IndieSpace Announces Recipients Of 2024 Pay Your People Grants

On Monday, December 2nd 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, hosted The Big Give at Chelsea Factory (547 W 26th St, New York, NY 10001) and handed out $1000 grant checks to 69 recipients of their annual Pay Your People Grants. See photos from production.

Grantees were chosen by lottery from 302 eligible applicants. The event was attended by over 505 members of the indie theater community in-person and online, including Council Member Erik Bottcher, who announced a $1.3 million+ contribution to IndieSpace’s Hell’s Kitchen project through the City Council.

“Thank you for continuing to make The Big Give our favorite night of the year,” said Executive Director Randi Berry. “We loved being able to celebrate indie theater with each of you and are so grateful to be part of a community that supports and champions one another. This year has been hard. We’re all carrying the anxiety about the future in different ways. Everyone on the IndieSpace team is dedicated to providing assistance and resources to support the indie theater community as we navigate this time together. 

Environmental Theatre de Camera Projects’ Lab, Felice Lesser Dance Theater, MORE Opera, Nietzsche Music Project, and Village Playwrights were recipients of the Deep Roots Grant, which is awarded to companies that have been working in indie theater for more than 25 years.

Indie Theater Venue Grants were awarded to Arts On Site, Dance Entropy/Green Space, Houghton Hall Arts Community, JACK Arts Inc., New Perspectives Theatre Company, NOoSPHERE Arts, Purgatory, The Vino Theater, Theater Mitu, and Theaterlab. 

AGM Theater Company, BAD Rep, Egg & Spoon Theatre Collective, Hook & Eye Theater, Infinite Variety Productions, Letter of Marque Theater Company, Out of the Box Theater Company., Peculiar Works, Playful Substance, The Hearth, The Parsnip Ship, Theater in Asylum, What Will the Neighbors Say? and YaYa Productions were recipients of the Susan Lucci Grant, which is awarded to organizations that have applied multiple times but have not yet won the lottery. 

Additional grants were awarded to ABCirque, Artists for Creative Theatre, inc., Ballez, Bluebird Theatre Company, Breaking & Entering Theatre Collective, CAROL Performance Group, Doomsday Mediators, Flux Theatre Ensemble, Group Dot BR, HEDY! The Life & Inventions of Hedy Lamarr, International Asian Cultural Society, Leslie Cuyjet, Liberation Theatre Company, Life Jacket Theatre Company, Lighthouse Ladies, LLC, Little Engine Theater, Messenger Theatre Company, Mike Lemme, Music Corporation, Nerve Tank Media, New Ambassadors Theatre Company, New Federal Theatre, Rat Queen Theatre Company, Reckless Theatrics, Sinking Ship Productions, Spotlight Theatre Company, stroller scene, the after-image, The Arabic Theater Collective The Kandake Dance Theatre for Social Change, The Muse Project, The Neem Collective, The Notice Blog, Those Who Remained, Transforma Theatre, Turkish American Repertory Theater and Entertainment, Valerie David and The Pink Hulk: One Woman's Journey to Find the Superhero Within, Whispers of the Flesh, Will Detlefsen, Mary Glen Fredrick, and Yibin Wang & Yuexing Sun

Photo Credit: Benjamin Spradley 

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