American Shakespeare Center receives national grants

The American Shakespeare Center has received two national grants that will support general operations and subsidize student matinee performances for low-income school groups.

The Shubert Foundation, the nation’s largest foundation dedicated to unrestricted funding of not-for-profit theatres, funded the ASC for the sixteenth consecutive year. The ASC’s grant is part of a record-breaking $26.8 million awarded to 533 performing arts organizations.

The ASC received $20,000 and was one of only seven organizations in Virginia to receive an award.

The Shubert Foundation is especially interested in providing support to professional theatre companies that develop and produce new American work.

“As we embark on our 20-year, new work competition, Shakespeare’s New Contemporaries, we are particularly grateful to the Shubert Foundation for their continued support,” said Managing Director Amy Wratchford. “We are proud of the ASC’s record of artistic excellence and appreciate being recognized by the Shubert Foundation. At a time when funding for the arts is in jeopardy, we are heartened to see these industry leaders increasing their level of giving across the board. ”

The ASC also received a $25,000 Shakespeare in American Communities grant from Arts Midwest on behalf of the National Endowment for the Arts to subsidize ticket prices to student matinee performances for low-income schools. The ASC’s award is part of a $1 million program which distributed funds to 40 nonprofit, professional theatres who perform the works of William Shakespeare for students.

The ASC will provide matinee performances of, and workshops related to, its upcoming productions of Much Ado About Nothing and Macbeth to students from over ten local schools.

“The National Endowment for the Arts is proud to support opportunities for youth in communities across the country to see a live Shakespeare production, as well as the educational activities that help them to get the most out of the experience,” said NEA Chairman Jane Chu. “Partnerships like this one with Arts Midwest help the NEA to achieve its mission of giving people across America access to the arts.”