Bridging the Gap
:
Grants for theatre artists 35+
Shotgun Players Announces “A Gap Year” for our Bridging the Gap Grant Program
Shotgun Players “Bridging the Gap” grant program will take a one-year hiatus in 2019 so that we may evaluate our guidelines and return in the summer of 2020 with revisions and a streamlined application process.
For the last three years, Shotgun Players has offered grants for artists 35 and older who have worked on at least one mainstage production with our company. With generous support from an anonymous donor, this program was created to address the challenging financial needs of working artists who wish to enhance their careers and improve their craft by investing time and resources for training, creative development, and personal experimentation. Shotgun Players has provided grants to artists such as Fontana Butterfield Guzman, who attended the Shakespeare and Company month long intensive training: “The experience of Shakespeare & Company was life changing in many surprising ways. I feel deeply connected to the power of my voice, to my convictions, to my impact on the theater community and to my inner voice that knows, truly, that working as an actor is my life purpose.” Over the last three years we have awarded 19 grants that allowed mid-career artists to participate in trainings, explore new projects, and also cover child care expenses. We designed our Bridging the Gap program to cover a wide range of needs for seasoned artists.
Our goal for the summer of 2019 is to assess what has worked best for artists participating in the program and explore changes to the guidelines and application process. The next round of applications will be accepted in July 2020, with the new guidelines and application process announced by May 1, 2020.
For further information, please contact Joanie McBrien, Director of Development: joanie@shotgunplayers.org; 510-841-6500 ext. 301.
Shotgun's Bridging the Gap fund is a program for theatre artists aged 35 years and older who have worked on a minimum of one Shotgun Players main stage production. Our goal is to help address the challenging financial needs of working artists who wish to enhance their careers and improve their craft by investing time and resources for training, creative development, and personal experimentation. It's never too late to take it to the next level!
All theatre artists understand the difficulty of their chosen career, but those pressures grow exponentially as these artists take on the additional expenses that come with age. We want to make it possible for maturing theatre makers to have targeted resources for continued enrichment and growth.
2017 Bridging the Gap grant awards
2016 Bridging the Gap grant awards
Read a letter from Founding Artistic Director Patrick Dooley.
Bridging the Gap is made possible through the generosity of an anonymous donor. All funds are re-granted from this generous gift.
Awards
Grant awards range from $1,000 to $7,500.
Deadline
Grants will be offered once a year, with an application deadline of July 1. Grantees will be notified by Labor Day.
Review Process
Applications will be reviewed by a panel of Shotgun staff, board, and local theatre professionals.
Grants must be spent within two years. There will be an individual check-in process mid-way through the grant that may include a request of receipts, a preview of project or a status report. A final report will be required at the completion of the timeframe.
Evaluation
A final report is due two years after date of receiving funds outlining how the funds were spent and a general overview of the progress for the theater artist.
Application Procedure
Shotgun Players is a green theater and therefore all application materials should be submitted via online channels. Incomplete and late applications will not be accepted. Please complete both step one and step two!
Step One
Complete the application cover sheet.
Step Two
Please send the following documents as PDFs to grants@shotgunplayers.org, and use your LAST NAME, FIRST NAME as the subject title.
-
PROJECT BUDGET
A detailed budget of project or goal.
-
LETTER OF INTENT
Please provide a one-page description of the project or goal for which you are requesting support and the results you expect from the grant. The letter of intent must describe how the proposed project addresses one of the following areas:
- Enrichment through education, travel, or artistic endeavor. Examples may include taking a professional development course, travel expenses to attend a theatre festival/program, or support for undertaking a project that will provide artistic growth but little financial (if any!) growth.
- Innovation through workshop, exploration, or experimentation. Examples may include a workshop for a draft of a script, gathering artists together to explore ideas for a performance piece, or reworking/refining a project.
- Bridge a particular life need gap so the artist can focus on their craft. Examples may include childcare support, rent, or other life needs while an artist works on a production.
-
RESUME
Submit up to three pages that list or describe your arts activities and accomplishments. List or describe the works created, performance dates and venues, education and training, grants, and awards. The performance history on your resume should clearly reflect your eligibility, specifically Shotgun Players productions.
-
WORK SAMPLES
Please submit at least one and no more than three of the following:
- Video (link to YouTube/Vimeo)
- Photographs
- Writing sample
- Website
Video samples should be NO LONGER than 5 minutes total (2 samples with a total running time of 5 minutes is acceptable.)
-
LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION
Please submit a letter of recommendation from a professional in the field.
-
REVIEWS AND/OR ARTICLES (OPTIONAL)