Two wonderful pieces of news to share with our BETC family today:
First, BETC has been approved for an Art Works grant of $10,000 from the National Endowment for the Arts! We will use this funding to create and develop an original world premiere documentary theatre project that will be produced this fall and live-streamed for Colorado audiences.
“These awards demonstrate the resilience of the arts in America, showcasing not only the creativity of their arts projects but the organizations’ agility in the face of a national health crisis,” said Mary Anne Carter, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts.
The project will be a documentary theatre piece, crafted from interviews with Colorado citizens, incorporating perspectives across a variety of potential divides. BETC sees theatrical stories as part of the solution to healing divided communities at this critical moment, and we’ll take a leadership role locally in creating important conversations and working for change.
Second, and no less thrilling, the Colorado-based foundation NextFifty Initiative has awarded BETC a $20,000 grant for our new (inter)Generations program!
This support enables BETC to move forward with our intergenerational playwriting program, which will pair high school students from the Boulder Valley, St. Vrain Valley, and Jefferson County school districts with adults fifty and older, to write short plays inspired by each other’s life experiences.
Thanks to the foundation’s support, BETC can now provide the first year of this planned program at no cost to high school and older adult participants. Applications for the first session of (inter)Generations will go live in August.
Diana McFail, President and CEO of NextFifty Initiative says, “we see “BETC’s work on aging issues and experiences as an embodiment of our efforts toward more positive and enlightened approaches to aging. We offer our support and congratulations.”
Thank you to the NEA and to the NextFifty Initiative!
