McCarter Theatre Center Receives $300,000 Grant

McCarter Theatre Artistic Director Emily Mann said, "We salute the vision and the investment the Burke Foundation has made in the community and in McCarter. The support of the arts offered by this grant means that over the three year period thousands of young people in the area will be able to have meaningful participation in the performing arts."

The grant period's first year will include an increase in support for initiatives offering arts access and participation to thousands of underserved students across the state. Responding to an ever-growing need for arts organizations to fulfill essential core curriculum standards, funding will be allocated to strengthen McCarter's existing in-school programs across the region including those at Trenton Central High School, New Brunswick Regional Schools, Middlesex County Vocational Technical High School, Princeton Public Schools, and Trenton's Grace Dunn Middle School, among others.

The funding will also allow McCarter to substantially increase the number of fully-subsidized tickets to student matinees and provide bus funding to schools for whom transportation cost is the primary barrier to arts access. While McCarter has long been committed to offering financial aid for after school theatre classes and summer theatre camps, the Burke Foundation gift will also significantly increase the pool of available scholarship funds for qualifying families.

In addition, this grant will enable McCarter to create new programming in partnership with community organizations including Eden Autism Services, Homefront, and Princeton Community Housing. By the end of the first year alone, thousands of additional residents and families could potentially be positively impacted by this expansion.

McCarter Theatre Center, the largest arts organization in the greater Princeton area, launched a major reorganization of its education and engagement programming efforts in the fall of 2013, with a strong focus on community impact and access. Through after-school classes, in-school residencies (now reaching a dozen local schools from Trenton to New Brunswick), adult education classes, community partnerships and more, McCarter is dedicated to bringing the benefits of high-quality arts education to the region. This significant grant by the Burke Foundation continues significant growth for McCarter's mission with regards to education and engagement in the community.

According to Erica Nagel, Director of Education and Engagement for McCarter Theatre Center, "Theatre education increases creativity, collaboration, and artistry among participants, and we are thrilled that so many more young people from diverse economic backgrounds will have the chance to experience the kind of learning and growth our programs are designed to provide. Through transportation funding, ticket subsidies, expanded in-school programs, new community partnerships, and increased scholarship money, the generosity and vision of the Burke Foundation has made it possible to address the areas identified as the most significant barriers to youth arts participation and access in our community."