Content in this section engages with ideas around philanthropy and arts funding around the world. For a look at the United States, start with Grantmakers in the Arts conference or, for a global perspective, check out essays from Romania, Mexico, and Canada.
The Latest
Video
IETM Oulu Plenary Meeting 2026
Can I Bite the Hand that Feeds Me? Power and Responsibility in Arts Funding
Monday 15 June and Wednesday 17 June 2026
Oulu, Finland
Essay
What Makes a Theatre an “Apartheid Free Zone”?
by Theater Workers for a Ceasefire, Maria Aparo, Sulu LeoNimm, Liz Duran Boubion
29 April 2026
Essay
Floridian Theatremakers Fight Back Against State and Local Governments in Arts Funding Battle
This year, it’s all about financial advocacy. Now more than ever, we need to be equipped to be able to advocate for ourselves and our fellow community members.
In its second and final year, the Artistic Caucus aimed to integrate its collaborative model into the workflows and budgets of four theatres while providing freelance artists with access and compensation. Lauren Halvorsen details the program’s strategies, impact, and significance for a field in need of transformation.
In January 2024, the theatre community lost Diane Ragsdale, whose wide-ranging career as a program officer, presenter, educator, and thought leader touched many. In this lightly edited transcript of a memorial service, David Dower facilitates a group sharing their memories of Diane and the places they saw her impact.
The partnership between Twin Cities Theatres of Color Coalition (TCTOCC) and the Racial Equity Funders Collaborative (REFC) has become a groundbreaking model in sustainable, socially engaged relationships between theatres and funders. In part two of this two-part essay, kt shorb offers up experiences from the partnership as best practices that other initiatives tackling issues around race and equity might learn from.
The partnership between Twin Cities Theatres of Color Coalition (TCTOCC) and the Racial Equity Funders Collaborative (REFC) has become a groundbreaking model in sustainable, socially engaged relationships between theatres and funders. In part one of this two-part essay, kt shorb traces the formation of both groups and the TCTOCC-REFC super-coalition.
In this episode, Nicole C. Limón shares her origin story, tracing back to pivotal moments of realizing her worth and breaking through societal invisibility in the theatre world. From co-founding Movimiento Molcajete to birthing Matriarchy Theatre, Nicole unveils her journey, embodying resilience and community care. Tune in to explore the transformative power of authenticity, the art of manifesting abundance, and the future of leadership in the evolving theatre industry.
Theatremaker and political educator Chris Myers writes a companion piece to Ife Olujobi’s “$5000.” He explains the structural reasons behind Ife’s struggle to gain more money for playwrights, why this struggle belongs to us all, and the organizing it will take to change it.
Far from being anonymous evaluators sitting behind a grant portal, grantmakers have an invaluable perspective regarding emergent trends, innovative solutions, and field-wide stumbling blocks. This panel, moderated by ART/New York co-executive director Talia Corren, assembles leading New York theatre funders to pull back the curtain on the peer-to-peer conversations happening in grantmaking circles.
Lauren Halvorsen reports on the origins, development, and learnings of the Artistic Caucus, a collaborative initiative between four regional theatres. By employing a racially and geographically diverse collective of freelance artists to identify new work, scout projects, and facilitate relationships on behalf of all four theatres, the Artistic Caucus seeks to disrupt traditional curatorial practices.
Theatremaker Eric Swartz sits down with Rosalba Rolón, co-founder and artistic director of Pregones/PRTT, to discuss ensemble-based theatre, mentorship across generations, and their work to sembrar una semilla—to plant a seed and work to make it grow.
Richard Falcon and Fran Astorga discuss the need for inclusive spaces that led to founding their own companies, the road blocks they've pushed against, and the legacy they hope to create as part of the teatro field.
Artistic director of Belgian theatre company Ontroerend Goed, Alexander Devriendt talks through their process for imagining and developing participatory content. Alexander and Jeffrey Mosser also dig into financing art in Europe, the cost of touring internationally and how COVID has affected it, and sustaining family and art simultaneously.
Star Finch and Ellen Sebastian Chang, friends and artistic collaborators in the Bay Area, have a conversation about their local theatre scene’s recent but long overdue racial reckoning, scraping together a creative life, the institutionalization of artists, and more.
Since the “great pause,” funders have shifted their giving models. Ben Cameron has seen it from every side—and he talks all about it. Through anecdotes about his experiences at organizations from Theatre Communications Group to the Jerome Foundation, Ben offers many insights into how ensemble fits in a thriving theatre ecosystem.
Miranda Wright, producer and executive director at Los Angeles Performance Practice, and Jeffrey Mosser discuss how Miranda has developed a presenting organization for sharing ambitious, collaboratively created work over the last ten years, as well as what she’s learned from some major arts funding research.
Artist and producer Rose Oser interviews Rob Ready and Duncan Wold about the closing of PianoFight, the San Francisco company and venue they co-founded that shuttered in March 2023.
Fumbani Innot Phiri Jr. interviews playwright and director Inno Katz about his career and his efforts to redefining Malawian theatre by focusing on local stories in both English and Chichewa.
Bright Phumayo Chayachaya’s Umunthu Theatre pulls together political theatre, poor theatre, theatre for development, and educational theatre to create productions that centralize Malawian narratives. In this interview, he discusses the company’s genesis and the need to bring audiences back to theatre.
As a scholar, educator, and practitioner of theatre, Roselyn Madalo Dzanja knows Malawi’s theatrical landscape well. In this interview, she discusses challenges Malawian women face when pursuing an acting career, the need for artistic independence from international donors, possibilities for Chichewa-language drama, and more.
Star Finch sits down with artistic director of Crowded Fire Theater Mina Morita and co-founder of Campo Santo Sean San Jose to discuss their innovative idea to collaborate for the National Playwright Residency Program.
What does fiscal sponsorship do for you and your organization? Colleen Hughes, associate director of programming at Fractured Atlas, walks us through the broad array of opportunities they provide. She’ll also shed light on fundraising trends she’s seen with nonprofit organizations throughout the pandemic.
Rachel Dickstein, Artistic Director of Ripe Time, takes us through her experience with Center Theatre Group’s completion commission for their adaptation of SLEEP. She also spotlights some necessary and helpful relationships with tour presenting partners, the Association of Performing Arts Professionals, as well as champion and friend Diane Rodriguez.
