Audience members give standing ovation following Superior Donuts, which ran April 2-26, 2015 at TheatreSquared.
Photo by Beth Hall
Fayetteville-based professional theatre company TheatreSquared was selected for a $100,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, it was announced last week.
The award, part of the organization’s Our Town initiative that supports creative placemaking in American communities, will allow T2 to explore its long-term role as an arts-based contributor to the downtown entertainment district and within Fayetteville’s 2025 City Plan.
“TheatreSquared demonstrates the best in creative community development,” said NEA chair Jane Chu. “Through Our Town funding, arts organizations continue to spark vitality that support neighborhoods and public spaces, enhancing a sense of place for residents and visitors alike.”
Martin Miller, TheatreSquared executive director, said the award is another example of the region’s remarkable growth into a vibrant community with arts at its core.
“Our founding vision states that theatre, done well and with passion, can transform lives and communities,” said Miller. “This major grant will help us to advance that vision as an integral part of our town and home region.”
The grant was one of 69 awards given from a pool of nearly 300 nationwide applicants. For more information on the Our Town program, and case studies of more than 70 past participants, visit arts.gov/exploring-our-town.
TheatreSquared also released in November its Vision 2017 report, a three-year strategic plan for growth priorities supported by a $1.03 million grant from the Walton Family Foundation.
“Over the past years, Northwest Arkansas’s regional theatre has been one of the nation’s fastest growing companies,” said Miller. “We are proud that, in just five years’ time, our annual budget to create professional theatre and arts-in-education has grown from under $200,000 to over $1.3 million, with attendance growing tenfold over the same period. We are thrilled to be able to seize this momentum and, with leadership support from the Walton Family Foundation, accelerate TheatreSquared’s emergence as a significant professional theatre at the center of the country.”
