The Indie Theater Fund and IndieSpace Have Merged
Friends!
We are so excited to share that IndieSpace and the Indie Theater Fund have officially merged and we are one organization - IndieSpace.
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. All Indie Theater Fund programs are now home at IndieSpace.
IndieSpace celebrates and centers independent theater-making in New York City. We provide radically transparent, responsive and equity-focused funding, real estate programs, professional development, and advocacy to individual artists, theater companies, and indie venues. All of our programming welcomes everyone and prioritizes Global Majority/BIPOC, Disabled/Deaf, Immigrant, Trans, Nonbinary, and Gender-expansive artists.
It has been a privilege and an honor to do this work over the last decade+ and to be a part of the indie theater community for nearly 23 years in New York City. This is the most talented, diverse, and special community in the theater ecosystem. It is my home and it is where I feel most accepted and understood. It's a community worth fighting for because it consistently breathes life into NYC and adds excitement and innovation into our communities.
Thank you to everyone who has supported the Indie Theater Fund and IndieSpace through the years. There are so many people that helped get us to this moment and have worked tirelessly to strengthen and support our indie theater community.
The Indie Theater Fund and IndieSpace Boards of Directors exchange merger vows
Our Merger Celebration
To celebrate this merger WE HELD A SUPER FUN WEDDING!!! The Indie Theater Fund and IndieSpace board of directors said vows, made commitments, and exchanged rings, after an amazing drag performance and a special visit from the Commissioner of the Department of Cultural Affairs.
You can watch the 12-minute love fest here!
Both organizations (and the audience) shared vows and we agreed to the following:
We promise to put artists at the center of all of our decision making as an organization, and always keep seats for artists and staff on our board.
We will carry on and expand an explicitly Race Forward position in our mission, values and programs.
We will continue to push ourselves towards radical transparency and hold ourselves accountable when we make mistakes.
We will promise to Open all the Gates and remove barriers for historically excluded artists seeking funding, real estate and resources.
We are so grateful to everyone who helped make the merger celebration such a joyful and successful event. You can learn about their amazing work and see photos here.
Former Commissioner of the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs Gonzalo Casals (left) and current Commissioner of the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs Laurie Cumbo (right) pose with IndieSpace’s Executive Director Randi Berry (center)
What's Next?
We are both excited for what's ahead in our work and overwhelmed with how intense the world feels right now. IndieSpace is going to continue to work to make it less difficult for as many people as we can. We are all in a community together. We can't survive without one another.
We are so grateful for the IndieSpace community of funders and donors. Thank you for believing in us and taking a chance on us. And understanding that we like to do things a little differently and loving that about us. We've gone from giving out $5,000 at our first Big Give to providing nearly $1.7M throughout the COVID-19 crisis. We started years ago by providing sporadic hours of rehearsal space with Spaceworks. Last year we walked Bushwick Starr through the purchase of their venue. This year we are preparing to open a rehearsal space with a 99-year lease with our friends at HERE Arts Center, The New Ohio, and Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre and open another permanent space in Hell's Kitchen with the Entertainment Community Fund/Actor's Fund, the Artist Co-Op and others. We've come a long way.
If you or your organization/company are in a place to support IndieSpace with a donation, you can keep the honeymoon going and make a contribution here.
Finally, and most importantly, thank you to the artists for going on the ride with us, holding us accountable, and inspiring us to push harder and do more each and every time.
Love,
Randi Berry