Portland Center Stage Receives NEA Grant

The National Endowment for the Arts recently announced that Portland Center Stage has been approved for a grant of $20,000 to support the February 2011 world premiere of Futura. Portland Center Stage is one of 1,057 not-for-profit organizations recommended for a grant as part of the federal agency's first round of fiscal year 2011 grants. Funding for the grant is provided through the Access to Artistic Excellence program. Within this program category, 843 grants out of 1,524 eligible applications are recommended for funding for a total of $23.75 million. In total, the Arts Endowment will distribute $26.68 million to support projects nationwide.

"I continue to be impressed with the creative, innovative and
excellent projects brought forward by arts organizations across the country,"
NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman said.
"Our grantees are not only furthering their art forms but also enhancing their
neighborhoods by making them more vibrant, livable and fun."

In Futura, written by Jordan Harrison and directed by Kip Fagan, a rogue professor is out to avenge her missing husband - and the lost art of ink on paper. Futura posits a near-future society where actual ink-on-paper printing has been relegated to the stuff of academic lectures, entirely displaced by electronic communication that is changeable and easily manipulated by the corporate powers-that-be. The play was originally presented as a workshop reading at JAW: A Playwrights Festival in 2009.

The National Endowment for the Arts is a public agency dedicated to supporting excellence in the arts, both new and established; bringing the arts to all Americans; and providing leadership in arts education. Established by Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government, the NEA has awarded more than $4 billion on projects of artistic excellence, creativity, and innovation for the benefit of individuals and communities. The Arts Endowment is the nation's largest annual funder of the arts, extending its work through partnerships with state arts agencies, local leaders, other federal agencies and the philanthropic sector.

Portland Center Stage inspires our community by bringing stories to life in unexpected ways. Established in 1988 as an off shoot of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, PCS became an independent theater in 1994 and has been under the leadership of Artistic Director Chris Coleman since May 2000. The company presents a blend of classic, contemporary and original productions in a conscious effort to appeal to the eclectic palate of theatergoers in Portland. PCS also offers a variety of education and outreach programs for curious minds from six to 106, including the PCS GreenHouse, a school of theater.

THE GERDING THEATER AT THE ARMORY houses a 599-seat Main Stage and a 200-seat black box Studio. It was the first building on the National Register of Historic Places, and the first performing arts venue, to achieve a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum certification. The Gerding Theater at the Armory opened to the public on Oct. 1, 2006. The capital campaign to fund the renovation of this hub for community artistic activity continues.

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