You’ve been backing a winner.
We recently received word from the National Endowment for the Arts that GRSF would receive a $10,000 grant in support of our 2009 season production of The Tempest. Although the award is only one third of our request for funding, the fact that we received anything at all on our very first application to the Endowment is an unusual and noteworthy accomplishment.
Jim Volz, President, Consultants for the Arts and one of the founding members of the Shakespeare Theatre Association of America (STAA) said this when he heard the news: “Few Shakespeare Festivals have received NEA funding in such record time and, of course, many are never recognized with this national stamp of artistic approval. It is certainly an indicator of artistic integrity, administrative stability and a growing awareness of the joys of Shakespeare in Winona, Minnesota!”
We’ve believed from the beginning that we are indeed doing something right: for the community, for the region, for the theatre, for the arts, for the country. But we also know that our success results from the partnerships we have developed with you, the people who have believed in and supported us from the beginning.
Clearly, there’s more work to be done. There’s that $20,000 we did not receive from the Endowment, and a global economic downturn that shows no signs of reversing itself anytime soon. In many ways, the award from the NEA sends a clear message that we need to keep doing the hard work of making this dream a living, breathing, financially viable reality.
But with funding beginning to trickle in from the state (we also received our first grant from Arts Across Minnesota this year) and now, from the nation’s capital, we’re confident we’re on track and that the seeds planted some 7 years ago are beginning to come to fruition. Your continued support and advocacy are the keys to the success of GRSF, and we hope you are as proud of our accomplishments and as inspired about what lies ahead for the Festival and for Winona as we are.
Thank you for believing in GRSF. And thank you for your support: past, present, and future.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Congratulations on the award of a coveted and prestigious NEA grant. It is wonderful to see the GRSF receive national recognition for the brilliant contribution it has made to the appreciation of Shakespeare in the Midwest. The enthusiasm shown for the GRSF by people such as the Shakespearean authority Professor Peter Saccio not surprisingly has brought the GRSF into the national spotlight. We look forward with great anticipation to this season’s productions.
Congratulations on your 2009 season…I enjoyed reading through the website and wish you all the best in 2010! Wish I could have been there!
Jim
Great news. Good Luck!