The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities has awarded DC Theatre Scene a $10,000 matching grant for covering theater in Washington, DC. The grant, the largest received to date, allows DCTS to enhance its coverage of festivals such as CulturalDC’s Source, Capital Fringe, and the Page-to-Stage Festival, as well as that of every theater in the District.
This is a tremendous acknowledgement on the part of the Commission of the importance of theatre to the enrichment of the lives of its citizens, and, equally, the importance of giving thoughtful, professional coverage of the performances and the people within the theatre community.
In a day of shrinking opportunities for all arts writers, DC Theatre Scene is one of only a few online outlets which pays its contributors, invests in their future and actively discovers and encourages new writers. Writers who began here at DCTS, some placing their first critiques as members of our Capital Fringe crew over the last several years, have been offered opportunities at American Theatre magazine, the Washington Post and BroadwayWorld.
While, at one time DCTS was able to support a smaller staff solely from advertising revenues from theater companies, it becomes necessary, in today’s environment of increased competition for declining ad dollars, to create a new business model for our nonprofit organization.
We will be matching this $10,000 dollar-for-dollar grant from existing revenues and donations from our readers.
“Good theatre thrives on solid criticism. DC Theatre Scene champions our art. Their reviews, news, and features work together to give the public a reason to attend theatre.” This is a quote from one of fourteen generous and eloquent letters of endorsement from area theatres written in support of our application for this grant.
We are indebted for the support of DC area theatre companies, to our readership, to our private donors and to the funding support of organizations such as the Commission and the Humanities Council which allows us to continue our work.
