IndieSpace Announces Artist Resource Opportunities for 2024
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Emily Owens PR | emily@emilyowenspr.com | 917.208.6385
IndieSpace, an organization established to disrupt the ongoing displacement of small theaters and to create a new model for equitable funding for the indie theater community, has announced their upcoming slate of grant programs, coworking events, producing workshops, and other resource opportunities for independent theater artists.
On January 8, IndieSpace co-hosted the Indie Theater Town Hall with The 14th Street Y and The League of Independent Theater. This convocation was the second event in an ongoing series of dialogue and listening sessions to help reconnect the voices of our Indie Theater Community and the “downtown/indie/small venue” art landscape. IndieSpace is currently in the midst of their Annual Survey in which they collect feedback directly from artists on how they can better serve the indie theater community.
“It is a tumultuous time in the field (and the world) and anxieties have certainly been high,” said Executive Director Randi Berry. “There are still wonderful things happening in NYC Arts and Culture and we want to celebrate them as a way to move through this moment together.”
IndieSpace will continue to hold their popular Monthly Coworking Days at SigSpace (Signature Theater) and the West Village Rehearsal Co-Op with featured special guests for one on one conversation. Upcoming Coworking Day events are currently scheduled for March 14, April 9, May 8, June 11, July 17, September 10, October 17, and November 13.
As a resource to independent theater producers IndieSpace offers their Seat at the Table program, where they invite small budget organizations to join regular check in meetings with funders. This program is about opening gates and removing barriers; advocating for artists to be more directly connected to funders. Providing access in rooms many of these organizations would not otherwise have. And likewise, to introduce the funder to a very small organization that would likely not be on their radar otherwise.
Additionally, Randi Berry and Joel Guzman from IndieSpace host free monthly Growing Small Budget Organization Calls with leaders of small-budget organizations from across NYC for practical, intimate, and transparent conversations about topics relevant to small organizations like fundraising, budgeting, and board development. Upcoming meetings are scheduled on March 4, April 1, May 6, June 3, September 9, October 7, and November 4 from 4:30pm-5:30pm. Visit the Growing Small Budget Organizations Workgroup to join!
In 2023 IndieSpace granted 317 $500 Mental Health Micro Grants to indie theater artists in need. The Mental Health Micro Grant Program offers financial support to all artists with priority given to Global Majority (BIPOC), d/Deaf, disabled, transgender/gender non-conforming/non-binary, and immigrant artists to cover individual mental health expenses through $500 micro grants. Grants can be used for any mental health services including medication, one-to-one therapy, and any other mental health related costs. If you’re an artist in need of mental health support please visit Mental Health Micro Grants to apply!
“I’m able to function as both an artist and human being because of the Mental Health Grant I got in late 2023,” said an anonymous recipient. “The grant not only helped me tremendously to afford the mental health treatment I needed, but knowing the grant was there actually gave me the impetus during my lowest point, to pursue the mental health support I desperately needed. I really appreciate the “no questions asked” and trust element. I’m not sure where I’d be today without the grant.”
IndieSpace was established in 2016 to disrupt the ongoing displacement of small theaters and to address systemic inequities in NYC real estate. In 2022, it merged with Indie Theater Fund, an organization focused on a new model for equitable funding for the indie theater community. By contributing a nickel per ticket from their shows to a pot of money for funding, the indie theater community could create a method of self-sustainability and could rethink philanthropy and the process of grant making. Through radically transparent and equitable grants, community resources and advocacy, the Fund supported hundreds of indie theater companies and thousands of individual artists.
Since its founding, IndieSpace has: consulted with 90+ companies and venues making real estate decisions, including The Tank, FRIGID New York, The Chain, The Wild Project, Wooster Group, and Classical Theater of Harlem; helped 18 organizations sign new leases; saved seven theaters from being closed or repurposed; created four real estate operation partnerships; walked two venues through the purchase of their permanent homes. During Covid, IndieSpace supported over 50 venues navigating their leases by helping them stay open, and also provided over $1.7M in relief grants to the indie theater community. In 2023 IndieSpace opened the West Village Rehearsal Co-Op with HERE Arts Center, New Ohio and Rattlestick Playwrights Theater. This 99-year lease for $1 per year will serve over 1,500 artists per year. For service to the community, IndieSpace received the Ellen Stewart Award and a citation from the City Council of New York. www.indiespace.org