IndieSpace Programs
Equity
All of our funding and programs are available to everyone, and prioritize historically excluded artists, such as Global Majority (BIPOC), d/Deaf, disabled, transgender/gender non-conforming/non-binary, and immigrant artists. Some of our funding programs use a weighted lottery system* to achieve this prioritization. Others direct the use of funds towards historically excluded artists that work within various institutions.
Funding
IndieSpace provides radically transparent, equitable, and responsive funding to individual artists, small companies, and indie venues through a variety of available grants. Some of our grants are annual and others are open year round. If a grant is currently open, there will be a button to apply right below it. If we know when to expect the next round, that will also be noted.
Grants to Individual Indie Performing Artists
Mental Health Grants
The IndieSpace Mental Health Grant awards indie performing artists $500 grants to use toward therapy, medication, meditation classes, and any other mental health-related costs. It is our hope that by providing this financial resource, we can help remove barriers that prevent artists from seeking and receiving the care, support, and information they need to prioritize their mental health.
We award at least 20 grants per month, ensuring that $10,000 gets to indie performing artists consistently.
In January 2026, we briefly paused the mental health grant to restructure the application and ensure it was best meeting the needs of our community. Read more about the changes that we made to our process.
Itty Bitty Mini Guaranteed Income Program
The Itty Bitty Mini Guaranteed Income Program is a groundbreaking 3-year pilot program designed to provide guaranteed income to NYC indie theater artists.
Recognizing the financial challenges that many independent theater artists face, this pilot program offers a monthly payment of $1,000 for three consecutive years. In addition to this consistent support, the program includes an annual $3,000 savings grant to help offset the funding cliff at the end of the three years and to provide indie artists with a much needed personal safety net. The recipient will also receive optional financial and business coaching and a savings grant.
As of 2026, we have four artists in this program and would love to add more!
Milk and Eggs (Cost of Living) Micro Grant for Indie Theater Artists
The Milk and Eggs Grant were $250 micro grants for indie theater makers to use toward things like groceries, housing, or any bills that had increased due to inflation.
The United States Social Security Administration predicted an 8.7% increase in the cost of living for 2023. The $250 grant was based on approximately two months of the increase in Social Security benefits for individuals. While $250 may not sound like a lot to some, it can make a difference in the burden of the increased cost of living for many members in our indie theater community. This micro grant is currently on hold, but IndieSpace staff is watching closely to see if it will need to be reopened due to evolving conditions.
AAPI Transportation Fund
With a 361% increase in crime against AAPI community members at the height of COVID-19, IndieSpace partnered with AAPAC to provide transportation stipends for artists to get to and from rehearsals and performances safely. This grant was created directly through feedback from our community, providing a moment of peace, comfort, and practical support during a difficult time.
Please note: this fund is closed at this time.
Cultural Solidarity Fund
The Cultural Solidarity Fund was established directly in response to COVID-19, in partnership with Leimay and 17 other cultural organizations, providing micro grants of $500 to artists and cultural workers. More than $1M was granted through the Cultural Solidarity Fund.
The work of the CSF organizers continues with efforts focused on a Safety Net for artists and cultural workers.
Please note: this fund is closed at this time.
Grants to Indie Theater Companies and Venues
The Little Venue That Could
Funded with the generous support of the Howard Gilman Foundation, The Little Venue That Could Grant Program provides unrestricted general operating support to New York City-based indie theater, dance, and multidisciplinary venues with expense budgets under $500,000.
Selected venues will receive:
$10,000 per year, for two years (2025–2026)
Unrestricted general operating support
Access to professional development opportunities (valued at $5,000)
Eligibility includes:
Located in one of NYC’s five boroughs
Expense budget under $500,000
Operating for at least two years
At least one performance space with fewer than 99 seats
The most recent application opened on Monday, July 7, 2025, and closed on Tuesday, September 2, 2025. Applications may reopen for this program in 2027.
The Big Give
The Big Give is IndieSpace's annual event, celebrating indie theater where we award grants to indie theater companies, fiscally sponsored collectives/productions, and indie theater venues.
The in-person celebration will take place at Judson Memorial Church, 55 Washington Square S, New York, NY 10012.
Save the date! The Big Give 2026 will be on Tuesday, December 8.
Pay Your People Grants
Pay Your People Grants are $1,000 grants for NYC-based indie theater companies/collectives and venues to pay historically excluded artists or leadership to work in, administrate, or perform in their spaces and/or productions. For venues, you can use these funds to subsidize a rental from an artist in your venue or to pay performers or administration directly.
Applications for this grant open every fall, and they are awarded at The Big Give.
Emergency Funds and No Interest Loans
Artists and organizations may sometimes find themselves in an urgent situation outside their control - a theft, injury, a delay in grant funds, or a natural disaster has impacted their ability to perform or to host performances.
In times like these, Emergency Funds are available via a brief application online, with some supplemental materials delivered via email. If funds are otherwise secured, but you need a bridge until the cash arrives, a 0% interest loan may be available. A committee within the Board of Directors reviews applications and aims to reply and deliver a check/ACH, if approved, within 48 hours.
Please note - With the limited funds we have available, this Emergency Fund should not be used to fill general fundraising or budget shortfalls.
Real Estate
IndieSpace is focused on addressing systemic inequities in real estate ownership and operation. We work in various ways to create affordable, long term solutions for artists and their real estate.
Consulting and Advising Program
We work with theaters facing a real estate challenge, transition, or opportunity. Often, there are organizations who are in jeopardy of losing leased space and/or have a desire to expand to accommodate their programming. We provide strategic planning, space identification, lease negotiation, the creation of partnerships to efficiently share space, and ongoing support when issues arise with a landlord.
Through this program, IndieSpace has helped renegotiate seven leases, helped to find and lease 29 new spaces, managed the purchase of a new theatrical home for six different indie theater companies (with another one on the way), and supported more than 150 nonprofit organizations.
West Village Rehearsal Co-Op
We partner with Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, HERE, and New Ohio Theatre to provide a low-cost rehearsal space for the indie theater community at the West Village Rehearsal Co-Op.
IndieSpace operates the space six months out of the year and programs in scheduling windows throughout the year. We offer use of the space during our allocated time to our community for no more than $10/hour.
Stay tuned for future releases of availability through our email newsletter, or follow IndieSpace on Facebook or Instagram.
IndieSpace Hell’s Kitchen
IndieSpace Hell’s Kitchen is in development and will be a 5,500-square-foot, ground-floor multi-use space designed to serve the indie theater community at 508 West 49th Street and 10th Avenue. Located just steps from the Theater District and adjacent to a new public park, this space will be a long-overdue home for itinerant artists—one that is welcoming, high-quality, accessible, and, most importantly, affordable. With two fully equipped rehearsal spaces, including one that can accommodate small performances, a flexible meeting and co-working area, two quiet work/Zoom rooms, a lending library, a food pantry and a large communal lounge and kitchen, IndieSpace Hell’s Kitchen is built to meet the needs of artists who too often lack a stable place to gather, create, and thrive. Whether rehearsing a new work, hosting a production meeting, or simply sharing a meal with fellow artists, this space will be a hub for independent theater-makers to build community, collaborate, and sustain their craft in the heart of New York City.
Community Resources and Connections
We created the Community Resources program to offset expenses for operational services and support that are often out of reach for small budget organizations and individuals. We do this work through direct access to free or low-cost services, workshops, and other community-building activities.
Our Community Connections activities are just that - a way for IndieSpace to bring our community together.
IndieSpace Together
IndieSpace Together is a community-powered gathering space for artists to connect, recharge, and grow. Whether you’re coming to get some work done, meet new people, or just be in the mix, here’s what you can expect:
Support with IndieSpace applications and guidance on how to access our year-round resources
Opportunities to connect with our team and special guests—like grant writers, development consultants, producing collectives, elected officials, and foundation partners
Activities that energize and inspire, from advocacy conversations and documentary chats to games, books, and creative exchanges
A rotating venue series, with sessions held at different theater spaces across NYC, giving folks a chance to discover new artistic homes
Coworking, an opportunity to get work done outside of your home, in community with other indie theater makers.
This isn’t just a place to work—it’s a space to gather, grow, and feel part of something bigger.
Professional Development
We provide professional development workshops and access to information to help our artists grow. We offer in-person and online sessions on grant writing, budgeting, personal finance, public relations, and more. We connect artists to experts and give them the tools and resources they need to thrive.
Community Resources Lottery
IndieSpace holds an annual Community Resources Lottery to provide an opportunity for indie artists, companies, venues, and productions to receive free resources from trusted community partners. The 2025 Community Resources Lottery took place in May. The 2026 lottery application will open this Summer.
Community Connections
The Community Connections program ensures that indie artists have the opportunity to: interact with each other through the IndieSpace co-work hub, attend funder meetings through the Seat at the Table initiative, and receive mentorship and community support during our The Builders Series sessions.
The Builders Series
The Builders Series is our quarterly gathering of artists, cultural workers, and nonprofit leaders running independent or small-scale organizations.
Formerly known as the “Growing Small Budget Organizations Call,” we meet quarterly and invite an expert on a specific topic to join us, not to lecture, but to engage in an open dialogue with the community. It’s a space for honest exchange where we share our experiences in the field.
Together with the guest expert, we explore questions, share insights, and search for inspiration and solutions. It’s a collective space for thinking and building, shaped by real work and real voices.
Discord Server
IndieSpace’s Discord server provides an online resource for the indie community to connect and communicate.
This is an active space where artists connect, share resources like grants and job opportunities, and announce our general events. Please click here to access our Discord Explainer, where we explain step-by-step how to join Discord and the Indie Theater Discord Server.
IndieSpace Search/Venuely
We are developing a database to fill the loss of the closing of Fractured Atlas’ SpaceFinder. In partnership with Dance/NYC and Bricks and Mortals, Venuely will allow theaters to list their venues, provide photos and specifications, and will be a place for artists to search for rehearsal and performance space.
Give & Gain Market
These one-off events are where artists gather to list two-to-five services or things they need and two-to-five skills or items they can offer in exchange, and can make connections in real time.
The IndieSpace Give & Gain Market represents a shift toward an alternative economy rooted in creativity, collaboration, and mutual support.
Resource Guide for Theater Artists
Stress, crisis, and insecurity can affect not only our wellbeing, but our ability to fulfill our potential as artists and engage in the vital creative work that allows our community to thrive. As part of our mission to support independent theater artists, IndieSpace created a resource guide to help our community find assistance with difficulties they may face outside their work.
Topics include: Housing and Home Utilities, Food Insecurity, Healthcare, Dental, and Vision, Sexual and Reproductive Health, Legal Assistance – Multiple Topics, Mutual Aid Groups, Mental Health, Assistance for Those Experiencing Violence and Abuse, Safe and Affordable Transportation, Resources for Immigrants and Undocumented Individuals, and List of Emergency Funds Available to Theater Artists.
View the entire Resource Guide for Theater Artists here.
Advocacy
IndieSpace advocates for equitable funding, a long-term safety net for arts workers, direct cash for artists, Guaranteed Income, changes to current real estate policies that aren’t artist friendly, and more. We work with individuals, mutual aid networks, other service organizations, foundations, city and state governments to ensure that individual artists, small budget organizations, and indie venues are being served and represented in a fair and equitable way with funding and real estate.
Sample Advocacy efforts:
A Seat at the Table/Pizza Parties with People…at Foundations: IndieSpace invites small budget arts organizations to join them in their meetings with funders. It’s an opportunity for an artist or individual at a smaller organization to introduce themselves, build relationships, see an example of how these meetings go, and hear what type of questions the funders ask. And it is an opportunity for the funder to meet an artist organization that may not already be on their radar.
Safety Net Coalition: IndieSpace is helping steer the Safety Net Coalition, a large group of service organizations, foundation partners, cultural workers and organizations who are creating an infrastructure for disaster response and to build a brain trust to address ongoing systemic gaps for artists and workers i.e. - portable benefits, healthcare, guaranteed income etc.
Co-Ops and Community Land Trusts: IndieSpace believes strongly in the need for new models that are community centered and led. Co-Ops and Community Land Trusts are two ways forward that IndieSpace advocates for.
Common Application Group: IndieSpace is a member of the Common Application committee, a subcommittee of New York Grantmakers in the Arts, who are working to create a common application for foundations in NYC.
Real Estate: IndieSpace works with Community Boards, developers, the City Council, the Dept of Cultural Affairs, and more to be sure that artists are secured in their real estate, are properly represented in new developments, and are considered in changes to zoning, etc.
Guaranteed Income: IndieSpace believes that guaranteed income is a necessary intervention for our field. IndieSpace participated in working groups with Creatives Rebuild NY and is part of the NYC Cash Alliance.
Budget Advocacy: IndieSpace is a member of the Cultural Equity Coalition and works with fellow service organizations on budget priorities and processes.
Our Legacy: The Indie Theater Fund
We can only move forward by acknowledging and honoring our history. The Indie Theater Fund supported our beloved indie community under the name The LIT Fund and then The Indie Theater Fund for over a decade. We are excited about the potential to continue the incredible work of the Fund in this new form, allowing us to grow our capacity and ability to serve. Upon merging with IndieSpace in 2022, all Indie Theater Fund programs are now home at IndieSpace.
As we grow the organization, indie theater artists will be supported with funding, professional growth opportunities, and space operation. Alongside indie artists throughout their careers - “the full 360” - we will continue to assist organizations and individuals, financially and otherwise, who create independent theater in New York City and to help our community grow even stronger.
Footnote
*What is a weighted lottery?
In alignment with our values of non-merit based grant making and access for everyone, IndieSpace uses a lottery system for a majority of our funding programs. At times, a weighted system is implemented for organizations or artists that meet certain criteria that have been prioritized for a specific grant program, for example, geography, demography, need, etc. Regardless of the weights distributed per application, all eligible applicants will be entered into the lottery. Additional weight in a lottery does not guarantee any one specific applicant or prioritized group will be pulled, it just increases the chances of being pulled. We use the Random Picker software to run our grant lotteries. Grant recipients will be determined by the lottery software and not IndieSpace staff.
