NEW YORK CITY: Theatre Communications Group (TCG) has announced that the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has renewed and increased its support for TCG’s sixth round of the Global Connections program. The $375,000 grant from the foundation will support the reciprocity and cultural exchange of two programs within TCG’s Global Connections program: On the Road grants and In the Lab project development grants.
Over its first five rounds, the Global Connections program has awarded $671,880 through 94 grants to artists and companies in 39 U.S. states to collaborate with their colleagues in 53 different countries.
“As we enter our sixth round of the Global Connections program, we’re witnessing the ongoing impact from our first five, from Kenyan flower growers continuing to create theatre across ethnic lines to ongoing collaborations across the U.S./Mexico border,” said TCG executive director Teresa Eyring in a statement. “Thanks to this renewed support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, many more border-crossing connections will be made and deepened, promoting global citizenship during a time when it is greatly needed.”
For the sixth round, On the Road grants of up to $5,000 will support new collaborations between U.S. theatres and individual theatre professionals with international colleagues. In the Lab grants of $10,000 each will nurture pre-existing international collaborations by supporting residencies that either advance the research and development of a new collaborative project or explore elements leading up to a full production.
“Geographically unrestricted support for travel and project development has become increasingly rare,” said Kevin Bitterman, TCG director of institutional advancement and partnerships, in a statement. “In recent surveys, TCG has learned that the advantages of investing in this work are deep and wide-ranging, from providing audiences with new perspectives to promoting cultural and aesthetic diversity.”
Building upon TCG’s core value of global citizenship, this round of Global Connections will align with other TCG international activities to maximize impact. Those activities include the Global Theater Initiative (GTI), a partnership that combines the reach of TCG’s international programming with the Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics (the Lab) at Georgetown University’s experience in humanizing global politics through the power of performance. GTI strengthens, nurtures, and promotes global citizenship and international collaboration in the professional and educational theatre field in the U.S. through programs like World Theatre Day, international-themed convenings, and delegations of U.S. theatre people to international festivals.
The first application cycle for the sixth round of Global Connections will launch in May, and the deadline will be Sept. 13. The guidelines and applications will be posted on tcg.org in the next month.
