Independent Shakespeare Co. Receives $10,000 NEA Grant Grant

Through its grant-making to thousands of nonprofits each year, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) promotes opportunities for people in communities across America to experience the arts and exercise their creativity.

In the second major grant announcement of fiscal year 2015, the NEA will make a $10,000 award to Independent Shakespeare Co. (ISC) to support the Griffith Park Free Shakespeare Festival 2015. The NEA will make 1,023 awards totaling $74.3 million nationwide in this funding round.

NEA Chairman Jane Chu said, "The NEA is committed to advancing learning, fueling creativity, and celebrating the arts in cities and towns across the United States. Funding these new projects like Independent Shakespeare Co.'s Griffith Park Free Shakespeare Festival represents an investment in both local communities and our nation's creative vitality."

Melissa Chalsma, ISC's Artistic Director said, "We're grateful that the Griffith Park Free Shakespeare Festival is recognized by the National Endowment of the Arts as an important and sustaining part of Los Angeles' cultural landscape. We're excited to use the grant to bring free Shakespeare performances, workshops, and discussions to our audience all summer long! It's also fantastic that the NEA has recognized numerous wonderful LA organizations, and we're proud to be part of that pack!"

Presented in partnership with the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks, ISC's free summer festival of outdoor performances invites all Angelenos to experience exceptional performances in a beautiful setting.

Each summer the Festival creates a center for Los Angeles through community and theater. The Griffith Park Free Shakespeare Festival 2015 will present Romeo & Juliet and Much Ado About Nothing,

In 10 years, the festival audience has grown. In 2004, ISC's first free Shakespeare performance at Barnsdall Park opened to 14 people. Because of audience demand, in 2010 ISC moved to the significantly larger venue at the Old Zoo and re-christened the summer season the Griffith Park Free Shakespeare Festival. In 2014, ISC performed for more than 45,000 throughout the summer. Each performance averages an audience of over 1,000 people. The festival audience is a vibrant cross-section of the City of Los Angeles. In counterpoint to national performing arts trends, 41% of the festival audience earns less than $25,000/year, 70% are under 35, and 46% identify as people of color. The festival offers a relaxed, communal experience: audience members bring picnics, blankets, chairs and even sleeping bags! Under the summer stars, a uniquely Los Angeles audience gathers to share the wonderful stories that have thrilled theater-goers for centuries.

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