These grants are for indie theater companies, fiscally sponsored collectives/productions, and indie theater venues. The Indie Theater Fund and IndieSpace are giving THIRTY $1,000 grants, to THIRTY deserving companies/venues, for a total of $30,000.
Grant Overview
Artist & Leadership Pay Grant
This $1000 grant is for indie theater companies in New York City. These funds can be used to pay:
a) the artists you work with — that can be your actors, your director, your designers, your stage manager, or anyone who contributes creatively to play development and productions OR b) your organization’s leaders — anyone who participates in the administration of your organization. We know these leaders are often (if not usually!) the same people who make the art. To us, that’s just another reason to acknowledge their (your!?) herculean efforts.
Venue Grant
This $1000 grant is for the indie venues in the New York City theater ecosystem.
These venue funds should be used to pay historically excluded artists or leadership to work in, administrate, or perform in your space. You can use these funds to subsidize a rental from an artist in your venue or to pay performers or administration directly.
Please only complete ONE of the applications linked below. You can either apply for an Artist & Leadership Pay grant or a Venue grant, but NOT both!
Details on eligibility and Frequently Asked Questions are located below.
Do not feel burdened by this application! It should take no more than 10 minutes to fill out. Feel free to use language from other grant applications and to keep it very simple.
Key Dates and Timeline
Wednesday, December 1 – 11:59pm
All grant applications are due! Use the Google Forms listed above to apply for the grants.
If the Google form is not possible for you, please email hello@indietheaterfund.org to request the application/fact sheet in Word or to have your application taken over the phone. If you have any other accessibility needs, or to request it in any other format or language necessary, please email the address above.
Wednesday, December 8
After the submission period closes, our staff and board will check that your proposal meets all eligibility requirements:
- You are committed to using the grant to pay artists or leaders of color and/or artists or leaders who have been historically excluded from funding based on gender identity and/or expression, sexual orientation, ability, economic disadvantage, refugee/immigration status, or for other reasons you define;
- You are a registered participant in the Indie Theater Fund;
- For Artist & Leadership Pay Grant Application – You have worked on or in three indie theater productions in NYC theaters with 99 seats or less;
- For Venue Grants – You operate an indie venue in NYC and plan to produce a show in your venue or online in the next 12 months.
You will be notified by Wednesday, December 8, via email that your application is complete and you are, in fact, eligible for a grant and will be included in the lottery.
Tuesday, December 14 – The Big Give
We throw a big party at which we pull the names of THIRTY applicant companies/venues out of the hat, and recipients take home their grant checks that night!
This year we will host a hybrid night including both an in-person event at Judson Memorial Church and an online event, happening simultaneously. Fund participants and attendees will have the option to participate in the event in whichever way feels the most comfortable, either in-person or online.
This night will also serve as a mini fundraiser for the Indie Theater Fund and IndieSpace. A suggested – but completely voluntary – donation/tithe of $5 at the door that includes food and drinks! This money will go toward continuing some of the amazing new programs we’ve launched this year including, our Mental Health grants, The Big Learn, Cultural Solidarity Fund, and Community Resources Lotteries.
For the in-person event, we will follow all NYC and CDC Covid-19 guidelines, and attendees will be expected to show proof of vaccination and wear a mask when not actively eating or drinking. Please note that the in-person component of the event is subject to change based on a variety of factors surrounding the current global health pandemic. Updates about this will be made regularly as we learn more.
IT IS VERY IMPORTANT that you or a colleague representing your company or venue must be present, either virtually or in-person, when the names are pulled to win one of the thirty $1,000 grants. You may only represent ONE company at the event. Names will be called three times. If someone is not present to respond, we will pull another organization’s name for that grant. Checks will be cut that night and you’ll be on your way to paying artists and leaders!
The in-person event will take place at Judson Memorial Church, 55 Washington Square S, New York, NY 10012; the virtual party will take place via Zoom.
This happy event creates an opportunity for all of us to get to know more members of our community, and maybe even make some productive connections. As leadership in your org, consider coming to the event yourself, bring other company and board members, and bring friends. It’s always an awesome night.
Important Notes and Reminders
- You must be an Indie Theater Fund participant to receive a grant. If you are not one already, become one by using this link on our website. Please do not fill out this participant registration if you’ve registered for the Fund in the past. Check here on our website to see if your company/venue is already registered.
- To be eligible for either of our grants, companies or venues must commit to using their grant to pay artists or leaders of color and/or artists or leaders who have been historically excluded from funding based on gender identity and/or expression, sexual orientation, ability, economic disadvantage, refugee/immigration status or for other reasons you define.
- To be eligible for an Artist & Leadership Pay Grant Application, you have worked on or in three indie theater productions in NYC theaters with 99 seats or less.
- To be eligible for a Venue Grant, you operate an indie venue in NYC and plan to produce a show in your venue or online in the next 12 months.
- You or someone from your company must be present at The Big Give Event on December 14 to receive a grant. You can attend in-person or virtually.
- Names will be read three times. If no one representing the company/venue is present, we will need to pull a new name from the bucket. A representative can only pick up a grant for one company or venue, therefore each company/venue must have its own rep present.
- Checks will be cut to companies, venues, or fiscal sponsors, not directly to artists.
- You must have a bank account set up in the name of the company or venue which is accepting the grant check or be working with a fiscal sponsor that can receive the funds.
- Grant money can be used by you to pay one artist/leader or split between artists/leaders; paid to artists working on one show/reading/workshop in your season or split between them; use however you see fit within the one-year grant period.
- A report that simply documents how grant funds were disbursed is required by the end of the one-year grant period. This will let us know how many artists and leaders were served by the thirty grants, and help us in our funding to help you!
- Recipients may be asked to participate in marketing videos or photos and will be asked for quotes on the impact of this funding.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you remind me, what does the Indie Theater Fund and IndieSpace do?
The Indie Theater Fund is made up of a consortium of companies, venues and individuals contributing five cents per ticket sold to a pool of money for independent theater. The Indie Theater Fund has built a fundamental commitment to equity and inclusion into the values and culture of our organization. We want to see the work of diverse artists on stage, and we believe that diverse leadership in our participant organizations is essential to encouraging diverse and equitable practices.
IndieSpace creates permanent real estate solutions for the independent theater community. By delivering affordable creative space for a diversity of performing artists along with supportive programming, IndieSpace will help preserve and enhance a vital piece of the cultural lives of New Yorkers.
The Indie Theater Fund and IndieSpace are in the process of merging! Our new combined mission is: IndieSpace celebrates and centers independent theater-making in New York City. We provide radically transparent, responsive and equity-focused funding, real estate programs, professional development, and advocacy to individual artists, theater companies, and indie venues.
Is your process still radically transparent?
Absolutely. From the get-go, the Fund has had no interest in being an arbiter of art or artists or in convening a traditional panel to adjudicate who gets funded. Our vision: keep rules for eligibility simple and ensure that participation feels neither onerous nor competitive. Everyone wants to pay artists; everyone gets a shot. Our grants are determined by old-fashioned lottery! Put your company’s name in that (very literal) hat!
How much money is being awarded?
For the first time ever, we are giving THIRTY $1,000 grants, to THIRTY deserving companies/venues, for a total of $30,000. Whoo-hoo! That’s funding over 50% more participants than we did just two years ago!
How many of each type of grant are being offered?
Of the 30 grants, 25 will go to companies or productions to be used to help you pay artists in your ensemble/production or others in leadership, management, or administration of your company. 5 grants will go to indie theater venues in order to help you pay historically excluded artists working in your spaces.
How will I be expected to use my grant?
We’re pretty flexible! Grant funds can be paid to one artist or leader or split between several; paid to artists working on one show/reading/workshop in your season or split between more than one; in other words, use as you see fit within the grant period.
This is great, but I have more questions. Who do I contact?
No problem. We love questions! The best way to reach us is by sending an email to hello@indietheaterfund.org. We’re happy to help in any way that we can!
Can you share the application links one more time?
