The Neighbors To Receive $10k Grant From The National Endowment For The Arts

What Will the Neighbors Say? is pleased to announce it has been approved by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to receive a Grants for Arts Projects award of $10k. This grant will support their production of "TRACES" in March 2023 at CUNY Queens College. This grant is one of 1,251 Grants for Arts Projects awards totalling nearly $28.8 million that were announced by the NEA as part of its first round of fiscal year 2023 grants.

"The National Endowment for the Arts is proud to support arts projects in communities nationwide," said NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD. "Projects such as this one with the Neighbors strengthen arts and cultural ecosystems, provide equitable opportunities for arts participation and practice and contribute to the health of our communities and our economy."

"We are so thrilled to have been recognized once again by the National Endowment for the Arts for this exciting and powerful project, and know this grant will make a huge difference to our ability to create this work," stated Co-Artistic Director Sam Hood Adrain. "This project began development back in 2020, and so our Spring production represents the culmination of three years of amazing collaboration, connections and community with our new Neighborhood in Queens," added Co-Artistic Director James Clements. It is the Neighbors second award from the NEA, having previously been recognized in 2021.

"TRACES" is a new devised documentary theater piece commissioned by CUNY Queens College and created with their students. It is a story about the lives lived in one small apartment in Queens, on a block built at the turn of the 20th century. The play examines a sample of the residents that have called this apartment home over the last century, focusing specifically on the stories of the immigrant residents who have dwelled there during the great pandemics that swept the United States during the last hundred years. This production will premiere as a CUNY Queens College Mainstage at the Goldstein Theatre in March 2023. Partners include the Queens Memory Project and the Queens Public Library,

For more information on other projects included in the NEA's grant announcement, visit arts.gov/news.

What Will the Neighbors Say? is an investigative theatre company that provokes questions through untold stories. Led by a collaborative cohort of International Artists, the Neighbors present overlooked social, cultural and historical narratives that challenge the audience to reflect on the current moment. Through a combination of original plays, arts education workshops and dynamic community gatherings, the troupe incites rowdy and rigorous debate at the theatre and throughout the Neighborhood.