Playwrights Foundation Receives NEA Grant

National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Chairman Jane Chu announced today that PLAYWRIGHTS FOUNDATION is one of 919 nonprofit organizations nationwide to receive an NEA Art Works grant. Playwrights Foundation is recommended for a $35,000 grant to support the 38th Annual Bay Area Playwrights Festival (BAPF).

Each year, BAPF brings together a select group of local and national playwrights and professional directors, dramaturgs, and designers with the Bay Area's top actors, to engage in an in-depth development process of six new plays over three weeks, including a three-day artists retreat outside the city, and two weeks of rehearsals during which artistic teams support the playwright's dramaturgical investigations. The work leads to two public staged readings of each play, with a week for rehearsal and rewriting in between the readings.

Playwrights Foundation Artistic Director Amy Mueller said, "This year's award -- nearly double that of 2014 -- is testament to the Bay Area Playwrights Festival's legacy of excellence and is a tremendous gift to six exceptional emerging playwrights, who will be afforded high caliber collaborators with whom they will advance their plays and accelerate their careers. We are thrilled and honored to be among the Bay Area organizations who have been selected for an NEA award this season."

Playwrights Foundation supports and champions contemporary playwrights in the creation of new works to sustain theater as a vital, dynamic art form. Widely recognized as the top center for new play development on the West Coast, Playwrights Foundation has supported over 400 writers since its inception in 1976, from Sam Shepard and Nilo Cruz to David Henry Hwang, Liz Duffy Adams, Annie Baker, and Marcus Gardley. Art Works grants support the creation of art, public engagement with art, lifelong learning in the arts, and enhancement of the livability of communities through the arts.

For a complete listing of projects recommended for Art Works grant support, please visit the NEA website at arts.gov.

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