Theatre Arts Receives $10,000 Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts

January 26, 2024

Grand View Theatre Arts is pleased to announce it has been approved by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) for a Challenge America award of $10,000. This grant will support Touring Theatre for Young Audiences, and the creation of a new play created specifically for Des Moines area schools. In total, the NEA will award 257 Challenge America awards totaling $2,570,000 that were announced as part of its first round of fiscal year 2024 grants.

“The NEA is delighted to announce this grant to Grand View Theatre Arts, which is helping contribute to the strength and well-being of the arts sector and local community,” said National Endowment for the Arts Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD. “We are pleased to be able to support this community and help create an environment where all people have the opportunity to live artful lives.”

 The grant will support the purchase of some needed touring equipment and sound reinforcement for sharing productions at local schools, but most important is the connection with local actor, poet, Hip Hop artist and educator Emmett Saah Phillips Jr. Emmett's passion is to use performance art as a vehicle for social justice, self-empowerment, and community engagement, and he is writing a play called Larry Lackson and the Law of Attraction for the Fall Theatre for Young Audiences tour. "I'm overjoyed to present such a dynamic multi-cultural theater experience to the youth who need it most in the city. Collaborating with the Grand View University and a former director of mine (Kristin Larson) on this is a dream come true!"