Theatre Bay Area Receives $25,000 Grant From National Endowment For The Arts

National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Jane Chu has approved $25,000 in support of Theatre Bay Area's Art Works project "Advancing an Inclusive and Equitable Theatre." More than $80 million in grants were approved as part of the NEA's second major funding announcement for fiscal year 2018.

The project's goal is to address systemic bias and inequity in the region's theatres by 1) increasing capacity for Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) work among participating theatres; 2) creating theatre-specific tools, resources, and best practices to support ongoing EDI initiatives with a regionally-specific focus; 3) increasing the number of theatres engaged in advancing EDI in the arts; 4) and establishing a long-term thought partnership between Theatre Bay Area (TBA) and the renowned trainers at artEquity. TBA will commission artEquity to lead a cohort of ten Bay Area theaters, plus TBA, through a rigorous training. Each member of the cohort will send three staff members to participate in intensive EDI training. Program strategies will include peer learning sessions, skills and analysis building sessions, and resource sharing. The theatres participating in the training cohort will be announced on a later date.

TBA's Executive Director Brad Erickson said, "We are thrilled to receive this support from the NEA for this important work. Issues of such as systemic racism and sexual harassment in our theatre-making environment must be directly confronted if our theatres are going to continue to speak with power and relevance to the diverse communities of the Bay Area. We are excited to launch this new project with artEquity founder Carmen Morgan and their excellent trainers."

The Art Works category is the NEA's largest funding category and supports projects that focus on the creation of art that meets the highest standards of excellence, public engagement with diverse and excellent art, lifelong learning in the arts, and/or the strengthening of communities through the arts.

"The variety and quality of these projects speaks to the wealth of creativity and diversity in our country," said NEA Chairman Jane Chu. "Through the work of organizations such as Theatre Bay Area in San Francisco, CA, NEA funding invests in local communities, helping people celebrate the arts wherever they are."

For more information on projects included in the NEA grant announcement, visit arts.gov/news.

ABOUT THEATRE BAY AREA

Theatre Bay Area is one of the largest regional performing arts service organizations in North America. Our members-some 300 theatre companies and 2,000 individual artists-produce thousands of performances and engage more than a million arts patrons each year. The Bay Area houses the third largest community of Actors' Equity (union) actors and boasts more theatre companies per capita than any other metropolitan area in the U.S.

Theatre Bay Area is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization whose mission is to unite, strengthen, promote and advance the theatre community in the San Francisco Bay Area, working on behalf of our conviction that the performing arts are an essential public good, critical to a healthy and truly democratic society, and invaluable as a source of personal enrichment and growth. Visit theatrebayarea.org for more information.

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