Overview

In partnership with the Howard Gilman Foundation, the New York City Small Theatres Fund is a two year general operating support grant to New York City-based theatre companies with annual budgets below $250,000. The fund will provide multi-year grant awards between $5,000-$10,000 each year, with a granting period between July 1, 2023 - June 30, 2025. Grantees will be required to report on the grant in the summer of each year during a meeting with a member of the A.R.T./New York team. Applications will open annually in the Fall. 

The grant aims to support a wide range of theatrical aesthetics, methods of production, and artistic communities throughout the five boroughs who are engaging their artists and audiences in meaningful, exciting, and committed creation and production. We aim to fund a group of applicants who reflect the diversity of New York City theatre-making, and increase opportunities for theatres and artists who have been historically under-resourced due to barriers associated with racial, economic, disability, gender, and/or sexual identity and/or geographic location.

Applicants to the NYC Small Theatres Fund are NOT required to be members of A.R.T./New York. Non-member applicants who receive funding through this program will receive a free year of membership as part of their grant award. 

The application process for the NYC Small Theatres Fund will occur in two parts, an open initial application submitted through the Fall 2022 common application, then a second invited application in early 2023 for around 40 applicants.

Organizations who received funding for this program in the FY23/FY24 two year cycle are not eligible to apply for the FY24/FY25 program.  

If you are not currently a member of A.R.T./New York but would like to receive more information about these funding opportunities, please sign up here to be added to our email list. Head to our membership page here.


Please note: Applications are now closed for the year.
The application for the next cycle of this program will be announced in the Fall of 2023.

 

Application Process

The application process for the NYC Small Theatres Fund will occur in two parts:

Application Round 1 - Open Application

The first stage of the application process is completing the Fall 2022 A.R.T./New York common application. Completion of this application will also submit the applicant for the Creative Opportunity Fund, if eligible. The deadline to submit an application for the NYC Small Theatres Fund is Tuesday, October 18, 2022 at 5pm.

The applications from round one will be paneled by a group of NYC-based theatre-makers and administrators in November and December 2022. All applicants will be notified about the status of their application by January 4, 2023.

Application Round 2 - Invited Application

Based on the scores and discussions of the panel from round one, a group of 40 applicants will be invited to submit a final application in January and February 2023. The round two application process will include a brief interview with the applicant. All applicants will be notified of the funding decisions by April 3, 2023. Applicants who submit an application in the final round but are not selected for funding will receive a stipend of $500.

Application Support and Technical Assistance

For more information about the application, please review our Fall 2022 Grants Guide available here.

Info Sessions

A.R.T./New York will hold live and virtual info sessions in the five boroughs that will cover the Creative Opportunity Fund and NYC Small Theatres Fund programs. The info sessions are led by A.R.T./New York staff and will cover the evaluation criteria, eligibility, and application process. Attendees will also be able to ask any questions they have about the application and are encouraged to review the grant website and application prior to attending the info session.

 

Accessibility

A.R.T./New York is committed to making our grantmaking and funding programs accessible to disabled theatre-makers, artists, and administrators. Our Application Guide and Tips & Tricks/FAQ documents are available in large print. Office hours and virtual information sessions offer automatic captioning through Zoom and Google. Additional accommodations including ASL interpretation, live captioning, audio description, etc are available upon request. Please submit requests to Adam Mummery at [email protected] at least 5 business days in advance. 

Narrative questions can be submitted in writing or by submitting an audio or video file of a company member answering the questions. If you need additional support in submitting an application to any of A.R.T./New York's grant programs, please reach out to Adam Mummery & Erica Wray Barnes at [email protected].

Header: FY22 New York City Small Theatres Fund Recipient Nightdrive’s production of Alien Nation. PC by Mike Bryk