ADVENTURE STAGE CHICAGO BECOMES FIRST ILLINOIS ORGANIZATION TO RECEIVE NATIONAL EmcARTS INNOVATION LAB GRANT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Feb. 14, 2011

PLEASE CONTACT:
Jennifer Mathews, ASC Director of Advertising and Public Relations
773.209.3889 or jennifer@adventurestage.org

ADVENTURE STAGE CHICAGO BECOMES FIRST ILLINOIS ORGANIZATION TO RECEIVE NATIONAL EmcARTS INNOVATION LAB GRANT


CHICAGO - Adventure Stage Chicago is proud to announce its selection to participate in Round 6 of Innovation Lab for the Performing Arts. This year's other three distinguished awardees are the Apollo Theater Foundation (NY), the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (D.C.) and New Dramatists (NY).

Administered by EmcArts and funded by a $1.6 million grant from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Innovation Lab is an intensive training and immersion program that supports prototyping of innovations at nonprofit theater, dance, jazz and presenting organizations. This highly competitive award enables agencies to explore technology, sustainability and transformative new programming.

Established in response to demands from the performing arts field for deeper, sustained support for innovation, Innovation Lab provides organizations with space, time and resources to explore and accelerate transformative change and ideas. The 12-month immersion program features an extended framework of individual coaching and group facilitation, guided by field research and led by EmcArts' expert facilitators.

To date, 23 organizations have participated in the Innovation Lab, representing a range of disciplines and launching a variety of innovative initiatives in community engagement, uses of technology, collaborative programming and strategic alliances/mergers. Adventure Stage Chicago is the first Illinois organization to be awarded this honor.

ASC plans to use EmcArts' $39,000 in grant funding and year-long, guided facilitation services to create a collaboration between artists and the community. The collaboration will highlight appreciation of culture, heritage and a sense of unique identity, and provide a forum for a 360 degree learning experience for community members, artists and the organization.

EmcArts is the leading not-for-profit provider of innovation services to the arts sector nationwide, serving as an intermediary for arts funders, and as a re-granting agency and service organization for the arts field around innovation. For more information, please visit www.EmcArts.org.

Adventure Stage Chicago creates dynamic and transformative theatre for young audiences that activates the imagination, inspires dialogue and strengthens community among families, educators and artists. Adventure Stage strives to become Chicago's premier destination for theatrical productions and programming designed for young people aged 9 to 14 and the adults in their lives. Adventure Stage also aims to lead in theatre education through professional development workshops, residencies and resources that offer innovative ways to infuse theatre into the classroom.

Adventure Stage Chicago has received numerous honors from local and national organizations since its inception in 2004, including:

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Two-time Finalist for the Broadway In Chicago Emerging Theater Award
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Participant in the New Visions/New Voices Festival at the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, Washington D.C.
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Zeta Phi Eta Winifred Ward Award for Outstanding New Children's Theatre Company from the American Alliance for Theatre and Education
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Four-time Recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts Access to Artistic Excellence Grant

Adventure Stage Chicago is a program of Northwestern University Settlement House, the oldest continually operating settlement house in Chicago. Throughout its 119-year history, the Settlement has remained committed to providing resources that empower our neighbors to overcome the obstacles of poverty. ASC extends this mission by presenting Chicago's young audiences, educators and families with an affordable artistic experience rooted in performance.

Adventure Stage Chicago is located at Vittum Theater, 1012 N. Noble St., in the heart of Chicago's West Town neighborhood. For more information on Adventure Stage, visit www.adventurestage.org.

For questions about this press release, please contact Jennifer Mathews, ASC Director of Advertising and Public Relations, at (773) 209-3889 or jennifer@adventurestage.org.