By Camilla Ross
Emerson Theater Collaborative
Sedona AZ (June 11, 2020) – Emerson Theater Collaborative is honored to announce our receipt of a CARES Act Emergency Relief – Humanities Grant from Arizona Humanities. This grant will help support our mission to serve youth, under-represented communities and artists, with an emphasis on diversity, by producing innovative and thought-provoking theater. In particular, it will give us the ability to provide our Summer Youth Theater Program in spite of the current health crisis and allow us to enter the realm of virtual theater for this and future productions.
From left to right: Parker Furlong, Luna Kenney, Adahlia Witteman, Savanna Royal, Skyrah Jade, Kaya Kenney, Bronwyn Boswyn, Fryda Hernandez
Funding for this grant was provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act economic stabilization plan. Arizona Humanities is funded by both the National Endowment for the Humanities and by private donations. Without this funding, hundreds of community groups, libraries, cultural sites, and museums across Arizona would be without a valuable source of programming money.
Emerson Theater Collaborative was honored to be named the 2019 Spirit of Sedona Community Collaborator of the Year. While we are still determining what the future of our live theater presentations will look like, this grant has allowed us to restructure our Summer Youth Theater Program into an online course that students will be able to access from the safety of their own homes.
Since 2017, Emerson Theater Collaborative has been providing our Summer Youth Theater Program to children of Sedona and the Verde Valley. Previous productions include Stolen Fire by Cate Mullen and Barrio Girrrl! by Quiara Alegría Hudes and last year’s presentation of Dan Neidermyer’s The Tortoise and the Hare Race Again.
ETC is grateful for the generous support of Arizona Humanities and our local communities and hope we can continue to grow and provide “unforgettable live theater” in Sedona.
For more information, call 860-705-9711 or visit go2etc.org.