Bishop Arts Theatre Center Receives National THRIVE! Grant

Bishop Arts Theatre Center has been named one of eight recipients of a 2025 THRIVE! Uplifting Theatres of Color grant from the Theater League of Kansas City and Theatre Communications Group. The unrestricted general operating grant supports Black, Indigenous, and Theatres of Color (BITOC) across the United States and recognizes organizations making vital contributions to the cultural life of their communities.

“This support will empower us to continue our mission of artistic excellence and community enrichment. We are deeply grateful for this recognition and look forward to expanding our impact in the arts community,” said Teresa Coleman Wash, Executive Artistic Director of Bishop Arts Theatre Center.

Developed and administered by TCG in collaboration with the Theater League of Kansas City, these grants aim to sustain the artistic and community-rooted work of theatres at a time when access to flexible funding remains critically important.

“These grants recognize the enduring power and resilience of BITOC and community-serving theatres,” said Emilya Cachapero, Co-Executive Director of National and Global Programming at TCG. “We're grateful for the Theater League of Kansas City's commitment to uplifting the transformative work happening across these organizations.”

"We're pleased to be joining TCG on such a worthwhile program," added Theater League of Kansas City president Mark Edelman. " The geographic, social, and cultural diversity of these groups makes this program especially important today, as the performing arts find themselves under siege from traditional public support."

The complete list of recipients of the 2025 grants are:

• Bishop Arts Theatre Center (Dallas, TX)
• East West Players (Los Angeles, CA)
• GALA Hispanic Theatre (Washington, DC)
• Karamu House (Cleveland, OH)
• North Carolina Black Repertory Company (Winston-Salem, NC)
• Repertorio Español (New York, NY)
• St. Louis Black Repertory Company (St. Louis, MO)
• The Ensemble Theatre (Houston, TX)

The THRIVE! Uplifting Theatres of Color program is developed and administered by TCG with an Advisory Circle of BIPOC theatre leaders. It is designed to support theatres that have historically been excluded from many institutional funding opportunities and continue to face systemic barriers to access. 

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