(CINCINNATI) – The Greater Cincinnati Foundation (GCF) recently awarded a $50,000 Cultural Vibrancy Grant to the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park to help fund its Diverse Voices program. Diverse Voices aligns with GCF’s goal to expand citizen engagement in the arts by bringing diverse residents together around arts experiences.
In 2012, with the arrival of Artistic Director Blake Robison, the Playhouse developed a new strategic plan to set priorities for future programming and institutional growth. The Diverse Voices program, a direct result of this planning, has welcomed new, diverse faces to our audience with culturally specific programming, integrated artists of color into the organizational structure and empowered our associate artists in the decision making process of season planning.
The Playhouse has woven its associate artists — Timothy Douglas, Michael Evan Haney, KJ Sanchez and Eric Ting — and their diverse backgrounds, experiences and artistry into the fabric of the organization. The Diverse Voices program encompasses the Playhouse’s onstage programming, audience engagement work before and after performances, educational outreach programs and our role in the Cincinnati arts community.
The GCF grant will allow the theatre and its associate artists to further develop the Playhouse’s multicultural and multigenerational mainstage productions, continue to build relationships in the Greater Cincinnati community through outreach and special events and increasingly cultivate diverse audiences on and offsite through productions and events focused on multigenerational, multicultural and LGBTQ audiences.
One of the nation’s leading community foundations, The Greater Cincinnati Foundation helps people make the most of their giving to build a better community. GCF creates a prosperous Greater Cincinnati by investing in thriving people and vibrant places.
An effective steward of the community’s charitable resources since 1963, GCF inspires philanthropy in eight counties in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana.
The Playhouse is supported by the generosity of the community contributors to the ArtsWave campaign. The Ohio Arts Council helps fund the Playhouse with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans. The Playhouse also receives funding from the Shubert Foundation.
Behind the Curtain Cincinnati 