Shubert Foundation Awarded Over $17.5 million For Not-for-profit Support

The Board of Directors of The Shubert Foundation, Inc. is pleased to announce that The Foundation has awarded $17,588,000 in general operating support to 448 not-for-profit organizations throughout the United States in May 2009. The Foundation awards unrestricTed Grants, from $5,000 to $275,000, to a broad spectrum of theatre and dance companies, urban and rural, large and small, with programming that ranges from experimental and contemporary to classical. Seventy-one percent of The Foundation's 2009 grants were allocated to theatre companies in 42 states while dance companies received 13% of The Foundation's funding. The remainder was distributed to other performing arts organizations, professional theatre training programs, and human service agencies.

"At The Shubert Foundation we believe it is particularly important to continue to increase our giving when so many others are cutting back," said Michael I. Sovern, President of The Shubert Foundation, Inc. Grants to theatre companies rose by more than 6% to $12,457,500 from $11,667,500 in 2008.

Sovern added, "We are pleased to report that this is the 30th year in a row in which Shubert has increased its giving, and that The Shubert Foundation has nearly tripled its support of the performing arts in this country since 1994. We remain committed to providing the unrestricTed Grants that help nurture the artistic process."

Chairman Philip J. Smith emphasized, "We are especially proud that we can provide increased support at this tenuous time when our constituency is experiencing an unprecedented loss of contributed revenue."

Smith went on to say, "In the face of an alarming decline in arts funding we feel more compelled than ever to deepen our commitment to arts organizations that enrich our society."

The Shubert Foundation is the nation's largest private foundation dedicated to unrestricted funding of not-for-profit performing arts organizations, and is especially interested in professional resident theatres that develop and produce new and significant work that expands the American theatrical repertoire. The Foundation is also committed to making quality theatre accessible nationwide, by extending support to children's theatre companies and groups that work on behalf of underserved populations.

The Shubert Foundation, Inc. was established in 1945 by the legendary team of the brothers Lee and J.J. Shubert who produced more than 520 plays, musicals and revues as well as owned and operated a nationwide network of legitimate theatres.

The Shubert Archive, a comprehensive collection of more than 6,000,000 documents related to The Shuberts' historic and contemporary theatrical activities, also operates under the Foundation aegis. The Archive is accessible to scholars by appointment and at www.shubertarchive.org.

For a complete list of grantees and more information on The Shubert Foundation, please visit www.shubertfoundation.org.

 

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