Theater Communications Group, MetLife Fund $250k Grants

MetLife Foundation and Theatre Communications Group (TCG) announce the fourth round of recipients for the MetLife/TCG A-ha! Program: Think It, Do It, which supports the creative thinking and action of TCG member theatres with the goal of impacting the larger theatre community. Five theatres were awarded grants, totaling $225,000, to either research and develop new ideas or experiment and implement innovative concepts.

The A-ha! Program has two components: Think It grants ($25,000), which give theatre professionals the time and space for research and development and Do It grants ($50,000), which support the implementation and testing of new ideas. The projects and initiatives supported by the A-ha! Program impact more than just the recipient theatres. Successful projects serve as models for theatre and arts professionals across the country.

"Innovation, whether technological, structural or creative, is vital to success in every industry, but all too often in the arts, support for new ventures or experimentation is scarce or non-existent," said Teresa Eyring, executive director of TCG. "The A-ha! Program encourages and enables theatre practitioners to explore new models and new ways of thinking about technologies, greener operations and organizational best practices."

"In its fourth year, the A-ha! Program has demonstrated its essential role in the development of models, programs and strategies that have influenced and shaped local, regional and national communities in the arts," said Dennis White, president and CEO, MetLife Foundation. "MetLife Foundation is proud of its continued partnership with TCG to support such thoughtful exploration, experimentation and innovation in the not-for-profit theatre field."

This year's recipients include two previous Think It recipients who are now putting their ideas and research into action with Do It grants.

The 2011 MetLife/TCG A-ha! Program recipients are:

THINK IT
Perseverance Theatre, Douglas, Alaska
Perseverance Theatre will explore the feasibility of using their new multi-city operations as a catalyst to build statewide programming for Alaskan theatre artists who would work and train with the company.

DO IT
Center for New Performance at CalArts, Valencia, California
The Center for New Performance at CalArts will convene a TEDx conference in Los Angeles, bringing together creative minds from disciplines across the contemporary performance landscape to expand understanding of the live arts.

Curious Theatre Company, Denver, Colorado
Curious Theatre Company, capitalizing on the momentum of their 2010 MetLife/TCG A-ha! Think It grant addressing the desire to re-center artists within organizations, will create an innovative post-specialist staffing structure by developing and integrating artists with staff in a new organizational paradigm.

Salvage Vanguard Theater, Austin, Texas
Salvage Vanguard Theater will continue to cultivate the Scenic Co-op (shared 'set' resources cooperative) based on discoveries made during their 2010 MetLife/TCG A-ha! Think It grant project.

The Wooster Group, New York, New York
The Wooster Group will create an ongoing online talk show series in which artists across disciplines have discussions with other artists and the public, to foster a more thorough discourse of vital topics that include current trends in the arts; as well as more expansive cultural and political issues.

For more information about the program and previous recipients, visit: http://www.tcg.org/grants/aha/aha_recipients.cfm.