Oregon Children's Theatre Receives $10,000 NEA Grant

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has announced Oregon Children's Theatre is one of six Oregon theater companies (and 919 nationwide nonprofit organizations nationwide) to receive an NEA Art Works grant.

Oregon Children's Theatre is proud to be among such a stellar group of arts organizations receiving this national recognition, and congratulates its Oregon colleagues similarly recognized. This is the sixth consecutive year that OCT has received funding from the NEA for new play development -- a strong testament to the NEA's recognition and support of the quality of OCT's work.

NEA Chairman Jane Chu said, "I'm pleased to be able to share the news of our support through Art Works including the award to Oregon Children's Theatre. The arts foster value, connection, creativity and innovation for the American people and these recommended grants demonstrate those attributes and affirm that the arts are part of our everyday lives."

The $10,000 NEA's Art Works grant supports OCT's New Plays Initiative through which the company commissions, develops and premieres at least one new script for young audiences each year. This year's grant supports OCT's adaptation of Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made -- the story of a clueless, comically self-confident boy who imagines himself and his polar bear partner to be world-class detectives. The play is an adaptation of a 2013 book by Stephan Pastis, the creator of the popular syndicated comic strip "Pearls Before Swine" and will run from February 28 through March 22, 2014 in the Winningstad Theatre.

To write the script for Timmy Failure, OCT commissioned Finegan Kruckemeyer, a young Australian playwright who has been making waves internationally with an innovative approach to storytelling that captivates both young and adult audience members. Kruckemeyer has had 70 commissioned plays performed on five continents and translated into five languages, and has been honored with numerous awards for his contributions to theater for young audiences. When an interviewer asked him why it was important to write for children, Kruckemeyer's response fit OCT's philosophy perfectly:

Because they deserve to see work which acknowledges them as astute audience members outside the plays, and worthy subjects within. Because they're entitled to sit in a theatre and invest and reflect and laugh and challenge and agree and disagree. Because they're rarely given the opportunity to create work themselves which will be produced, so we have an obligation to either change that or to write works with their interests (artistic, not didactic) at heart. Because it's a demographic that really appreciates story and makes you better at it.

"NEA's support is critical to sustaining OCT's commitment to new play development," says Ross McKeen, OCT Managing Director. "We are pleased that our work is recognized and respected nationally. Even more importantly, new work keeps theater fresh and exciting for kids and we are thrilled to share yet another new production with our young audience."

Oregon Children's Theatre is one of six Oregon theater companies receiving grants from National Endowment for the Arts this funding cycle, including: Miracle Theatre Company ($10,000), Portland Center Stage ($15,000), Oregon Shakespeare Festival ($80,000), Portland Playhouse ($20,000), and Triangle Productions ($10,000).

NEA Art Works: Art Works grants support the creation of art, public engagement with art, lifelong learning in the arts, and enhancement of the livability of communities through the arts. The NEA received 1,474 eligible applications under the Art Works category, requesting more than $75 million in funding. Of those applications, 919 are recommended for grants for a total of $26.6 million.

For a complete listing of projects recommended for Art Works grant support, please visit the NEA website at www.arts.gov. Follow the conversation about this and other NEA-funded projects on Twitter at #NEAFall2014.

About Oregon Children's Theatre: Founded in 1988, Oregon Children's Theatre is Oregon's largest nonprofit professional children's theater company and a resident company of the Portland'5 Centers for the Arts. Performances are held weekdays for school audiences and on weekends for family audiences. OCT serves more than 120,000 children of all ages each year. OCT offers numerous school services including study guides, teacher professional development opportunities, in-school workshops, and an extensive outreach program. In partnership with Kaiser Permanente, the company's Educational Theatre Program provides free touring productions that promote healthy living. OCT's year round Acting Academy offers theater classes for children ages 3-17 and a Young Professional mentoring program.