More than 20 neighborhood not-for-profit theaters and dance companies in Hell’s Kitchen are set to benefit from over $2 million in grants via the Shubert Foundation.
The awards range from $310,000 to $15,000 per organization. Playwrights Horizon are top of the bill with a grant of $310,000, followed by the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s $275,000, and Signature Theatre Company with $250,000. Other organizations receiving funding include Rosie’s Theater Kids, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Baryshnikov Arts Center and the Dramatists Guild Foundation.
The Shubert Foundation grants program was established in 1977 and has awarded more than $613 million since then. It announced a record $37.9 million in unrestricted grants across the United States in 2023.
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“The increase in both our funding and the number of our grantees comes at a critical time for performing arts organizations across the country,” said Diana Phillips, President of the Shubert Foundation. “As the need and the merit have never been greater, we are particularly pleased we can expand our funding to a broader range of theatre and dance companies than ever before.”
Here’s the full list of neighborhood recipients and some of their responses to the funding news.
We are honored to be one of the local institutions to receive one of these meaningful grants, and are proud to be a fixture in the cultural landscape of Hell’s Kitchen and New York City. Bennett Rink, Executive Director of Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation ($275,000)
We will continue to expand and diversify our programming and funding in support of artists discovering their own creative destinies — we are serious about our commitment to artists and the development of new and world-changing works of art. The Shubert Foundation’s support plays an integral role in helping us move the organization forward, out of the challenges of the pandemic, and towards a strong future. Sonja Kostich, Executive Director, Baryshnikov Arts ($30,000)
We have tremendous gratitude for the Shubert Foundation and their outstanding support of Ars Nova’s mission and programming, having stood by us now for 15 years! That kind of steadfast, unrestricted support allows us to confidently serve hundreds of artists creating risk-taking, genre-bending new work each year, and has helped build a vital creative community here in Hell’s Kitchen.
Jason Eagan, Founding Artistic Director of Ars Nova. ($100,000)
This year’s grant was awarded for our Off-Broadway mainstage season (which will be announced soon), our Keen Teens mentorship program which serves students from all five boroughs of NYC, and our new work initiatives including the Keen Playwrights Lab and our first ever musical commission by Adam Gwon. Jonathan Silverstein, Artistic Director Keen Company ($30,000)
This funding will allow us to continue providing our high-quality arts education curriculum and academic support programs for free to underserved New York City public school students.” Lori Klinger, Founding Artistic & Executive Director of Rosie’s Theater Kids ($20,000)
The 52nd Street Project treasures the Shubert Foundation’s partnership as we inspire and guide young people to create original theater and share these imaginative and wonderful productions with the Hell’s Kitchen community, free of cost, at our Five Angels Theater. Carol Ochs, Executive Director of 52nd Street Project ($20,000)
The grant will be vital to support our season —including the World Premiere of A Will to Live, written by Holocaust survivor and current NYC resident Helena Weinrauch (who just celebrated her 99th birthday). This kind of support provides a huge impact on our artistic community and our continued growth of programming.
Kirk Gostkowski, Chain Theatre Artistic Director ($15,000)
Mint Theater Company is delighted and grateful to receive the generous support of the Shubert Foundation in 2023 and for every year since 2001. The Shubert Foundation provides so many theaters general operating support, which is invaluable and makes an enormous difference for so many theaters across the country. In a time of great change, the constancy of Shubert Foundation support has been an incredible blessing. Jonathan Bank, Artistic Director Mint Theater Company ($80,000)
The Shubert Foundation has been helping to fund MCC programming for over 30 years and we are deeply grateful for their support. The most recent grant will help with the upcoming MCC season and help fund productions like Walk on Through, The Connector and The Lonely Few. Bernie Telsey, MCC Theater Artistic Director ($160,000)