CENTER THEATRE GROUP RECEIVES $1 MILLION GRANT
FROM THE ANDREW W. MELLON FOUNDATION
Collaboratively Created Work Is
Focus Of Grant
Center Theatre
Group (CTG) has been awarded a four-year, $1 million grant from The Andrew W.
Mellon Foundation. The grant will
make possible a program focusing on collaboratively created contemporary work from
ensembles, devisers and writers, supporting the creative arc from commissioning
through development and production; the program will build on the work
generated by a multi-year 2009 Mellon Foundation grant supporting the
development of non-text based work.
A recent and
growing presence on the traditional regional theatre scene, collective
contemporary theatre combines performance, technology, imagery, music,
heightened text and often, but not exclusively, a non-linear narrative.
“This program and so many that the
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation funds are all part of a puzzle that recognizes the
vibrancy and urgency of collaborative work created nationally,” said CTG
Artistic Director Michael Ritchie. “CTG recognizes our responsibility to
open our doors to innovators who can expand our programming with this new
energy and aesthetic, and to deepen the support we’ve been able to give to such
artists in recent years.”
Director of New Play Production Diane
Rodriguez noted, “In the last few years, we have seen the ensemble movement
grow and flourish in this country. This program is part of that movement
and we look forward to continuing to find innovative models and opportunities
to support those theatre makers who create collectively.”
The 2009 Mellon grant has supported
such projects as Rude Mechs’ “I’ve Never Been So Happy” (CTG/Kirk Douglas
Theatre, 2011), Daniel Alexander Jones’ “Radiate” (DouglasPlus, 2012), “Neva” by Guillermo Calderón (a
collaborative tour presented first at Upstairs@KDT in June 2013 and then at
South Coast Repertory and La Jolla Playhouse). Active projects currently in
development are “Hope” by Evelina Fernandez and the Latino Theatre Company,
“Western Society” by the international theatre company Gob Squad, “Party
People” by Universes, “Straight White Men” by Young Jean Lee’s Theater Company,
and “Lester Bangs” by collaborators Erik Jensen and Jessica Blank.
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is a private philanthropic
institution that makes grants on a selective basis in five core program areas:
higher education and scholarship, scholarly communications and information
technology, museums and art conservation, conservation and the environment, and
performing arts. The Foundation’s Performing Arts program focuses on achieving
long-term results by providing multi-year grants to leading organizations in the
disciplines of music, theatre and dance. Annual giving in the area of the performing
arts has averaged approximately $30 million per year since 2005. In 2004 The
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation was awarded a National Medal of Arts, the highest
award given to artists and arts patrons by the United States government. www.mellon.org
Center Theatre
Group is the non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that supports the Mark Taper
Forum, the Ahmanson Theatre, the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City, and a
significant number of play development and arts education initiatives in
Southern California. The mission
of Center Theatre Group is to provide theatre of the highest caliber to the
rich, diverse communities of Southern California.
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