Business & Tech
The Theater Offensive Gets $350k Grant
The award, from The Boston Foundation, is the largest the organization has ever received,
The Boston Foundation awarded The Theater Offensive the largest grant the organization has ever received last week.
The organization, dedicated to creating “original, groundbreaking works by, for and about the LGBT community,” was awarded $350,000 for deepening its impact in Boston neighborhoods, such as the South End, Dorchester, Roxbury and Jamaica Plain,m according to a report in the Rainbow Times.
The operating grant is earmarked to support The Theater Offensive’s OUT in Your Neighborhood (OUT’hood) programs that aim to connect LGBT neighbors, artists, community organizations and local businesses.
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The initiative engages local community members in creating art that speaks to the diversity of the LGBT experience in and around Boston.
“The needs of our LGBT community have changed, and we developed our OUT in Your Neighborhood strategy based on those needs,” said Sara Farber, a member of the Theater Offensive Board of Directors, to the Rainbow Times. “Based on the initial success of OUT’hood, we garnered great support from individuals in our communities. Since then, foundations have come aboard as well. But the community needs are great, and we continue to need increased support to meet those needs.”
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During the first year of the OUT’hood initiative, the Theater Offensive has involved thousands of Bostonians in over 150 theatrical activities including street theater, community workshops, performances and full productions. Additionally, The Theater Offensive, OUT in Your Neighborhood has worked with BAGLY, Fenway Health, Boston GLASS, The Home for Little Wanderers, The Hispanic Black Gay Coalition and Discover Roxbury, among others, the report stated.
“When we started in 1989, it was rare to see an LGBT-themed show anywhere in Boston. We’re proud of our part in changing that,” said Abe Rybeck, Executive Artistic Director, to the Rainbow Times. “But 23 years later, outside what you could call the “theater ghetto,” in most neighborhoods, you still can’t see an LGBT-themed show. Over a year ago, The Theater Offensive embarked on a bold new adventure that has impacted thousands of lives and may change everything you thought you knew about Queer Theater. Ashley, a True Colors: OUT Youth Theater troupe member from Mattapan, inspired us when she put it this way: ‘Why do I have to take two trains and bus just to be who I am? I want to be OUT in My Own Neighborhood!’”