The New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) and the Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York (A.R.T./New York) are delighted to announce the 75 recipients of the 2025 NYSCA-A.R.T./New York Creative Opportunity Fund (A Statewide Theatre Regrant Program). Through this regrant program, $241,000 was distributed via flexible, general operating support grants to small theatres across New York State.
Recipients of the Creative Opportunity Fund were determined by a panel of theatre-makers from New York City and across the state. Nominations for panelists were solicited from the community, and 20 panelists met virtually to score and allocate funding for the 146 applicants.
A.R.T./New York is thrilled to partner for the eighth year with the New York State Council on the Arts to continue to build and strengthen the theatrical field statewide.
“NYSCA is so proud to support even more nonprofit theaters statewide with flexible funding through this critical regrant program with A.R.T./New York,” said Erika Mallin, Executive Director of the New York State Council on the Arts. “One of the reasons New York is the epicenter of global arts and culture is the unparalleled diversity and bold creativity of our nonprofit theaters. Congratulations to all the grantees.”
NYC Recipients of the 2025 Creative Opportunity Fund:
Arachne Theater
KPC – Keeping People Connected
Lower East Side Shakespeare Co.
Out of the Box Theatre Company
Scandinavian American Theater Company
Steps Theatre & Production Company
The Fantastic Experimental Latino Theater
The Tent Theater Company
Underground Skills Exchange (USE)
Outside-NYC Recipients of the 2025 Creative Opportunity Fund:
American Repertory Theater of WNY, Inc
Black Theatre Troupe of Upstate NY
Syracuse Shakespeare in the Park
Turkish American Repertory Theater and Entertainment
Walking on Water Productions (WoW)
Will Kempe’s Players Cooperative
Panelists for the 2025 Creative Opportunity Fund:
Jen Anaya
Debora Balardini
Performer | Theatre Director & Vocal Coach | Integrative Therapist
Fred Balzac
Statewide Community Regrants (SCR) Coordinator, Adirondack Lakes Center for the Arts
Valerie Peter Chong
Company Director of Hamlet Isn’t Dead
Lily Gershon
Director of Lilypad Puppet Theatre
Scott Illingworth
Co-Founder of SOCIETY Theatre Collective
Julie Drexler Johnson
Executive Director at Rock Rising
David King
Director of Education, The Apollo and Interdisciplinary Artist, Educator & Facilitator
Felice Lesser
Artistic & Executive Director, Felice Lesser Dance Theater
Mark Lonergan
Artistic Director, Parallel Exit
Kate Mueth
Founder, Artistic Director of The Neo-Political Cowgirls Dance Theater Collective
Michael Ortiz
Co-Artistic Director, Breaking & Entering Theatre Collective
Producer/Host, SERIALS at The Tank
Laura Regan
Travis Lee Russ, Ph.D.
Artistic Director, Life Jacket Theatre Company
Parker S.
WOW Cafe Theater
Nate Smith
Writer, Founding Director (6th Fest)
Constance Thompson
Actor, Organizer and Creative Producer
Dina Vovsi
Director
About the New York State Council on the Arts
The mission of the New York State Council on the Arts is to foster and advance the full breadth of New York State’s arts, culture and creativity for all. To support the ongoing recovery of the arts across New York State, the Council on the Arts will award $162 million in FY2025, serving organizations and artists across all 10 of the state’s regions. The Council on the Arts further advances New York’s creative culture by convening leaders in the field and providing organizational and professional development opportunities and informational resources.
Created by Governor Nelson Rockefeller in 1960 and continued with the support of Governor Hochul and the New York State Legislature, the Council is an agency that is part of the Executive Branch. For more information on NYSCA, please visit arts.ny.gov, and follow NYSCA’s Facebook page, on X @NYSCArts and Instagram @NYSCouncilontheArts.
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