NEFA Unveils New Theater Pilot

(Boston, MA) Rebecca Blunk, executive director of the New England Foundation for the Arts, announced that NEFA has received a two-year $2.2 million grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to pilot a grantmaking program in theater.

The new initiative, informed by a 2009 study funded by Mellon and conducted by NEFA,  identified unrealized potential for innovative theater projects to expand the boundaries of contemporary theater in the U.S.  As multi-disciplinary presenters, theaters, and audiences nationwide demonstrate an appetite for artist-led, collaborative, ensemble, and devised theater work, NEFA’s 2-year pilot will help test questions and assumptions about theater development and touring toward the shaping of a fully-realized program of grants and services. “This pilot is a natural extension of NEFA’s work in creating systems of support for performing arts,” said NEFA executive director Rebecca Blunk.  “We are very excited to undertake this work in partnership with the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.”

NEFA will fund approximately six theater projects in each of two pilot years, and will support both the production and touring of the work, with awards ranging from $80,000-$130,000.  For more information about the pilot, or to apply by the September first deadline, visit /grants_services/national_theater_pilot.

About The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
The Foundation’s Performing Arts Program currently provides multi-year grants on an invitation-only basis to leading orchestras, theater companies, opera companies, modern dance companies, and dance-specific presenters based in the United States.  Although the Foundation does not confine its support to large organizations with national visibility, it does seek to support institutions that contribute to the preservation and development of their art form, provide creative leadership in solving problems or addressing issues unique to the field, and which present the highest level of institutional performance. Grants are awarded on the basis of artistic merit and leadership in the field, and concentrate on achieving long-term results.  In conjunction with regular program grants, the Foundation also makes a limited number of grants to research and service organizations that are doing work closely related to program goals.  For more information about the foundation, please visit www.mellon.org. 

About NEFA
NEFA creatively supports the movement of people, ideas, and resources in the arts within New England and beyond, makes vital connections between artists and communities, and builds the strength, knowledge, and leadership of the creative sector.  NEFA is a 501(c)(3) that operates with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New England state arts agencies, and from corporations, foundations and individuals.

NEFA currently administers grantmaking programs of regional, national, and international scope that support the performing arts, public art, and Native American artists. NEFA also leads projects and initiatives that range from the analysis of the impact of the creative economy to the creation of online tools which link and advance the work of the cultural community.  www.nefa.org.

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