OVERVIEW: The Venturous Theater Fund supports innovative productions at nonprofit theater organizations.
IP TAKE: The Venturous Theater Fund’s singular focus is the production of “audacious, irreverent new plays.” This is an accessible and supportive funder for nonprofit theater organizations that accepts LOIs for two annual grantmaking cycles. The fund does not have much of a social media presence, so reach out via email with questions and keep up with the latest due dates on the website.
PROFILE: Established in 2012, the Miami-based Venturous Theater Fund is a donor-advised fund at the Tides Foundation steered by Ben Pesner. Its mission is to support “ambitious new work for the stage and the artists who create it.” Venturous does not provide direct support to artists, but it does fund organizations that employ directors, designers and actors and other theater professionals.
Grants for Theater and Writing
The Venturous Fund’s primary support for theater and playwrights is conducted through its Capital Grants program, which supports productions of “text-based, author-driven new plays” that are “ambitious in scale, epic in scope, challenging in form, controversial in subject matter, experimental in concept, (and/or) unabashed in their theatricality.”
- It funds “specific extraordinary costs” which are necessary but might be prohibitive to the plays’ production at nonprofit theaters.
- Past grantees of this program include East West Players in Los Angels, Atlanta’s True Colors Theatre Company, the Jungle Theater of Minneapolis and New York City’s Ping Chong and Co.
In addition to Capital Grants, the fund also offers several other types of support.
Venturous Playwright Fellowships operate in partnership with the Playwrights’ Center and provide two-year residencies and production advocacy services for writers at partner theaters. Funding includes a $50,000 stipend distributed over two-years, $15,000 for development and “holistic” support, as well as travel support and accommodations to the PlayLabs Festival. There is also a $75,000 production subsidy. Fellows are nominated from the Playwrights’ Center’s Venturous List.
Finishing Commission Grants provide support to theaters offering commissions to writers of unproduced venturous plays. They also support workshops and other forms of development related to production.
The Legacy Playwrights Initiative supports efforts to draw attention to the achievements and influence of playwrights whose work is in danger of being forgotten. It also provides financial support for older writers.
Mid-Sized Theaters Grants go to theaters in New York City with annual budgets between five to ten million dollars.
Artist Innovation Grants support playwright collectives, writers who self-produce and playwright-driven initiatives. These grants are invitation only and can only be awarded to groups serving playwrights and not to individual playwrights.
In addition to these programs and initiatives, the Venturous Fund supports playwrights in other ways including facilitating International Collaboration between U.S.-based playwrights and theater professionals in other countries and making Healthcare resources available for theater writers. It also supports select initiatives at New Dramatists, a New York City organization that “provide[s] playwrights with time, space and resources in the company of gifted peers to create work, realize their artistic potential, and make lasting contributions to theatre.”
Important Grant Details
Grants range from $5,000 to $35,000. While the Venturous Theater Fund is a private foundation, its grants are disbursed through a donor-advised fund at the Tides Foundation.
It does not offer grants for musicals, musical productions, or plays for children. This funder does not offer direct grants to individual artists.
VTF accepts LOIs for its Capital Grants program via email twice per year. See up-to-date information about its application procedures here.
Instructions and current deadlines for LOIs are available on the Capital Grants program page.
Organizations are selected to submit full applications from the LOI pool. To learn more about the types of organizations supported by the Capital Grants program, explore its Grant History page.
- Grantseekers are invited to reach out with questions via the organization’s contact page or at info@venturoustheaterfund.org.
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