Chicago Children's Theatre Wins National TYA/USA Artistic Innovation Award

Chicago Children's Theatre has announced the company has been awarded the 2019 National TYA Artistic Innovation Award from Theatre of Young Audiences/USA (TYA/USA), the national service organization supporting, connecting, and advocating for the field of theater for young audiences.

TYA/USA is thrilled to honor Chicago Children's Theatre for the company's profound impact in Chicago and the national TYA field, said Jonathan Shmidt Chapman, Executive Director of TYA/USA. At a time when TYA theaters across the country are increasingly unable to support the development of new work, Chicago Children's Theatre continues to significantly expand the TYA canon while creating new pathways of access for underrepresented audiences. Led by Founding Artistic Director, Jacqueline Russell, Chicago Children's Theatre has demonstrated national leadership in groundbreaking artistic vision and audience inclusivity as vanguards of our field, pushing the genre forward with their work.

The TYA Artistic Innovation Award honors an individual or company that has demonstrated innovation experimentation in content or in form in recent artistic work in TYA. In particular, TYA/USA credits Chicago Children's Theatre's long-standing commitment to access via its Red Kite Project, which presents live adventure experiences and a popular summer camp program for children on the autism spectrum.

In this January 2019 blog post, TYA/USA also showcased Chicago Children's Theatre's groundbreaking 2019 world premiere of X Marks the Spot, an all-new form of X Tra Sensory Theater created by Jacqueline Russell inspired by children who are visually impaired. X Marks the Spot incorporated sounds, voices, tastes, touchable, scented props and a contemporary story inspired by a Victorian novel by Edith Nesbit to create an unforgettably different live theater experience that helped children better appreciate all of their senses.

Chicago Children's Theatre is delighted to receive this recognition from one of our most important audiences, our TYA peers around the U.S., said Russell. Creating theater that's inclusive of all of children is core to CCT's mission. If our efforts to expand inclusivity are inspiring other theaters to create innovative new programming, particularly for children from often marginalized communities, then we're both proud and humbled that our work is having a positive impact not just on children in Chicago, but on children throughout the U.S.

Russell will accept this year's TYA Artistic Innovation Award on behalf of Chicago Children's Theatre on May 9, 2019 as part of the 2019 TYA/USA National Festival & Conference, the largest gathering of theatre for young audiences professionals in North America. Over 300 artists, educators and administrators will convene at this year's event, held at The Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, to experience 12 productions from around the globe, exchange current practice and discuss the future of the TYA industry. For more information, visit tyausa.org/fellowships-and-awards/national-tya-awards/.

Theatre for Young Audiences/USA (TYA/USA) is a national service organization whose mission is to promote the power of professional theater for young audiences through excellence, collaboration and innovation across cultural and international boundaries. The organization provides advocacy and resources in order to strengthen and diversify the field of theatre for young audiences. For more, visit tyausa.org.