TheatreSquared is pleased to announce it has been approved by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) for a Grants for Arts Projects award of $50,000.
This grant will support the Arkansas New Play Festival. The NEA will award 1,127 Grants for Arts Projects awards nationwide totaling more than $31.8 million as part of the recent announcement of fiscal year 2025 grants.
"The NEA is proud to continue our nearly 60 years of supporting the efforts of organizations and artists that help to shape our country’s vibrant arts sector and communities of all types across our nation," said NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD. "It is inspiring to see the wide range of creative projects taking place, including TheatreSquared's Arkansas New Play Festival."
"We are deeply honored to receive this NEA grant, which recognizes the vital role our New Play Festival has played in shaping the future of American theater for 16 years," says T2 Executive Director Shannon A. Jones. "This support allows us to continue championing bold, original voices and providing a platform for stories that challenge, inspire, and reflect the diversity of our nation."
The Arkansas New Play Festival was launched in 2009 and has since helped incubate the development of more than 60 plays. The playwright-focused festival links authors with a director, dramaturg, and professional cast for an intensive two- to three-week laboratory process, culminating in staged reading performances. Staged readings have been held in venues throughout Fayetteville, Springdale, Bentonville, Little Rock, and—in 2020—streamed online. Since 2013, the Festival has benefited from support from the National Endowment for the Arts. Through the Arkansas New Play Festival, TheatreSquared seeks to give voice to playwrights whose timely and relevant stories resonate with the moment we live in—in Arkansas, in mid-America, and as a nation.
About TheatreSquared
TheatreSquared’s signature offering of bold new plays in an intimate setting at 477 W. Spring St in downtown Fayetteville, AR has driven its growth to become the state’s largest theater, offering more than 350 performances annually in an intimate setting. The playwright-led company is one of mid-America’s leading laboratories for new work, having launched more than 70 new plays. Offering far-reaching access and education programs and an open-all-day gathering space, the Commons Bar/Café, TheatreSquared remains rooted in its founding vision, that "theater—done well and with passion—can transform lives and communities."
Major funding for the TheatreSquared Season 19 is provided by the Walton Family Foundation; the Walmart Foundation; the Willard and Pat Walker Charitable Foundation; the Windgate Foundation; the Shubert Foundation; the Tyson Family Foundation; the Arkansas Arts Council, an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage; the National Endowment for the Arts; Bob and Becky Alexander; Jane Hunt; Barbara Shadden; Todd Simmons and Melissa Hall Simmons; Simmons Foods; and the McGaugh Family Fund.
Marketing support for TheatreSquared Season 19 is provided by Arkansas PBS, Experience Fayetteville, the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Fayetteville Flyer, 3W Magazine, CitiScapes, KUAF, 5NEWS, MailCo USA, iHeart Radio, NWA Daily, ROARK, and Fayetteville City Lifestyle.