Venturous Theater Fund
/OVERVIEW: The Venturous Theater Fund supports playwrights and other theater artists through organizations that serve and employ them. The fund also provides grants to playwright collectives, self-produced writers, and playwright service organizations.
IP TAKE: The Venturous Theater Fund supports playwrights and other theater professionals who take risks in their productions. This accessible organization is a great funder for small and mid-sized organizations looking to produce edgy, thought-provoking productions that might not otherwise get produced.
PROFILE: Established in 2012, the Venturous Theater Fund supports “ambitious new work for the stage and the artists who create it” and seeks to “fund the production of audacious, irreverent new plays that are ‘venturous’—ambitious in scale, epic in scope, challenging in form, controversial in subject matter, experimental in concept, and/or unabashed in their theatricality.” Venturous does not provide direct support to artists, but it does fund organizations that employ directors, designers and actors.
Grants for Theater and Writing
The Venturous Fund’s primary support for theater and playwrights is conducted through its Capital Grants program, which supports not-for-profit theaters’ productions of “text-based, author-driven new plays” that are “ambitious in scale, epic in scope, challenging in form, controversial in subject matter, experimental in concept, (and/or) unabashed in their theatricality.” It funds “specific extraordinary costs” which are necessary but might be prohibitive to the plays’ production.
In addition to Capital Grants, which is its flagship program, the fund also offers several other types of support, including:
Venturous Playwright Fellowships operate in partnership with the Playwrights’ Center that provides a two-year residency for writers and production advocacy at partner theaters. These include a $50,000 stipend distributed over two-years, $15,000 for development and “holistic” support, as well as travel support and accommodations to the PlayLabs Festival. There is also a $75,000 production subsidy. Fellows are nominated from the Playwrights’ Center’s Venturous List.
Finishing Commission Grants provide support to theaters offering finishing commissions to writers of unproduced venturous plays that have already been commissioned. They also support workshops and other forms of development related to production.
The Legacy Playwrights Initiative supports efforts to draw attention to the achievements and influence of playwrights whose work is in danger of being forgotten. It also provides financial support for older writers.
Mid-Sized Theaters Grants go to theaters in New York City with annual budgets between five to ten million dollars.
Artist Innovation Grants support playwright collectives, writers who self-produce, and playwright-driven initiatives. These grants are invitation only and do not go directly to individuals and can only be given to groups serving playwrights.
In addition to these programs and initiatives, the Venturous Fund supports playwrights in other ways including facilitating International Collaboration between U.S.-based playwrights and theater professionals in other countries and making Healthcare resources available for theater writers. It also supports select initiatives at New Dramatists.
Important Grant Details
Grants range from $5,000 to $35,000. While the Venturous Fund is a private foundation, its grants are disbursed through a donor-advised fund at the Tides Foundation.
It does not offer grants for musicals, musical productions, or plays for children. This funder does not offer direct grants to individual artists.
VTF accepts LOIs for its Capital Grants program via email twice per year.
Instructions and current deadlines for LOIs are available on the Capital Grants program page.
Organizations who are invited to submit a full application are selected from the LOI pool. To learn more about the types of organizations supported by the Capital Grants program, explore its Grant History page.
Regardless, the fund does not accept unsolicited grant applications or requests for funding. Grantseekers are invited to reach out with questions at info@venturoustheaterfund.org.
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