Public Theater Receives $700k Grant To Support New Work

The Public Theater, George C. Wolfe, producer; Mara Manus, executive director, is pleased to announce it is the recipient of a $700,000 endowment grant to support new work from The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation (DDCF).

The DDCF endowment grant is in recognition of The Public's leadership role at the national level and its willingness and ability to take artistic risk, its record of developing quality productions for diverse audiences, its financial health, and its strong organization capacity. The support will establish an ongoing source of revenue for The Public Theater's development and programming of new work, and must be matched one-to-one.

Executive Director Mara Manus stated "This is a tremendous award coming on the eve of our 50th anniversary celebration. By providing funds for the endowment specifically earmarked for new work, the DDCF will further support The Public as it commissions new work and continues its mission to nurture and promote new voices that represent the diversity of American culture."

The grant is funded through the Leading National Theatres Program which supports artistic programs and provides matching endowment grants to exemplary theatres across the United States. The Leading National Theatres Program is part of a larger Theatre Initiative launched by the DDCF and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation in 2000 to support the country's nonprofit theatre community. For more information on the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, visit www.ddcf.org.

The New York Community Trust - LuEsther T. Mertz Advised Fund provides leadership support for The Public Theater's year-round activities. Additional generous support is provided by Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman, JPMorgan Chase, The Laura Pels Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, Mr. Kenneth B. Lerer and Ms. Katherine Sailer, Carole Shorenstein Hays, The George Delacorte Fund at The New York Community Trust - Fund for Performances at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Mr. and Mrs. Donald E. Newhouse, Warren Spector and Margaret Whitton, The Starr Foundation, Mr. and Mrs. George W. Haywood, and the Booth Ferris Foundation. Public support is provided by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency. Continental Airlines is the official airline of The Public Theater.

Founded by Joseph Papp as the Shakespeare Workshop and now one of the nation's preeminent cultural institutions, The Public is an American theater in which all the country's voices, rhythms, and cultures converge. Under the leadership of Producer George C. Wolfe and Executive Director Mara Manus, The Public's mandate to create a theater for all New Yorkers continues to this day on stage and through its extensive outreach and education programs. Over 250,000 people annually attend Public Theater-related events at its six downtown stages including Joe's Pub, and at Shakespeare in Central Park and Joe's Pub in the Park.