STEPPING STONE GRANTS

When we began, we interviewed theatre companies of all sizes from the Chicago area to understand the greatest needs in the theatre community. What we heard was that opportunities for growth are often fleeting, and organizations struggle to raise enough money before their opportunity evaporates.

We support companies at critical moments in their growth by providing significant gifts over three years to allow opportunities to blossom. Our belief is that by investing in arts organizations in this way we will allow them to quickly reach new heights on their own terms.

Once per year, we accept applications from Chicago-area theatres who are ready to make their next big step. Each Stepping Stone Grant now gives $180,000, to be distributed over 3 years. Past recipients include:

Timeline Theatre

Joey Slotnick (center), Anish Jethmalani (left), and Mitchell J. Fain (right) portray the Lehman brothers, their descendants, and dozens of other characters to tell the quintessential story of western capitalism, rendered through the lens of a single immigrant family, in TimeLine Theatre Company’s Chicago premiere production of The Lehman Trilogy, by Stefano Massini, adapted by Ben Power, and co-directed by Nick Bowling and Vanessa Stalling. Presented at Broadway In Chicago’s Broadway Playhouse, September 19 – November 26, 2023. Production photo by Liz Lauren, courtesy of TimeLine Theatre Company.

Filament Theatre

Actors Erika Wilson and Christopher Acavedo with audience members of Gather. Photo by Willow James.

Shattered Globe Theatre

Velma Austin, Demetra Dee, Jazzma Pryor and Jasmine Cheri Rush in Shattered Globe Theatre’s Chicago premiere of STEW. Photo by Michael Brosilow.

Jackalope Theatre Company

Sam Boeck (L) and Patrick Agada (R) in Jackalope Theatre Company’s production of Dutch Masters. Photo by Joel Maisonet.

Lifeline Theatre

The cast of Lifeline Theatre’s production of Frankenstein. Photo by Jackie Jasperson.

Albany Park Theatre Project

The Cast of Albany Park Theatre Project’s original production Learning Curve.

Porchlight Music Theatre

Daryn Whitney Harrell, Aalon Daeja Smith, and E. Faye Butler in Porchlight Music Theatre’s production of Gypsy

Steep Theatre

Joel Reitsma in Steep Theatre’s production of Birdland

2023

Definition Theatre

Funding to help lease, equip, and hire staff for an interim performance space in the Hyde Park neighborhood.

Timeline Theatre

Funding to modernize the administrative and financial procedures of the organization while they transition to their new Uptown theatre space.

2022

Filament Theatre

Filament will be using funds to increase their organizational and physical infrastructure by funding a new shared-leadership model and building out an onsite scene shop for themselves and the greater Northwest Side theater community.

Shattered Globe Theatre

SGT's Stepping Stone grant will be used to build a sustainable future, as they emerge from pandemic theatre closures while making room for the next generations of theatre artists.

Theater Wit

Theater Wit is kickstarting a new phase of professionalizing their operations, with money for new hires for audience development and producing positions

2020-2021

In this time of crisis for the arts community, we chose to re-route our funding to provide for more immediate use of funding by a larger number of organizations through our Signal Grants.

2019

Jackalope Theatre Company

Support to hire full-time Artistic Director and Managing Director - From Edgeville Buzz - “We are extremely thankful and humbled to receive this grant from Chef Rick Bayless and The Bayless Family Foundation,” the Jackalope Theatre said on their social media. “This very special honor will help us survive and thrive in the greatest theatre city on earth!”

Lifeline Theatre

Support to hire a Development Manager - From Block Club Chicago - Lifeline Theatre was founded in 1982 by five Northwest University graduates. Three years later, the company moved to its current home, a converted ComEd substation at 6912 N. Glenwood in Rogers Park. “It is no hyperbole to say it is a game changer,” Lifeline Managing Director Allison Cain said in a statement.

2018

Albany Park Theatre Project

Support for ‘Port of Entry’ Project - From Block Club Chicago - The Albany Park company has been based out of the The Laura Wiley Theater at Eugene Field Park since 1999. The grant will help support the production of “Port of Entry,” a collaboration with New York-based Third Rail Project which aims to share Albany Park’s unique history as an immigrant neighborhood. “Port of Entry” will particularly focus on the neighborhood’s history from 1970s to present, Feiner said.“Albany Park has become the neighborhood where immigrants from all around the world live side by side,” he said. The production, like Albany Park Theater Project’s other performances, is being written in collaboration with teens from the neighborhood.

Porchlight Music Theatre

Support to hire a Production and Operations Director - From Porchlight- The newly hired person “will provide production supervision for all of Porchlight's artistic programming at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts and throughout Chicagoland including the Mainstage, Porchlight Revisits and New Faces Sing Broadway productions, major fundraising, additional company events as well as oversee all production-related matters and equipment.The new director will take over duties previously undertaken by Porchlight's artistic and executive directors; thereby enabling them to devote more time to visioning, long range and strategic planning, community involvement, civic engagement, and building capacity for the company's next twenty-five years.”

Steep Theatre

Support to hire Equity Actors - From the Chicago Tribune - "A big part of this is keeping the Steep ensemble working on our stage,” Steep managing director Kate Piatt-Eckert told me this week. “Caroline (Neff) has gone Equity. Joel (Reitsma) is about to go Equity. Michael Salinas is an Equity member who is part of our ensemble and he has not been able to work on our stage in quite a while. We want to make sure we can hang on to the heart and soul of Steep, and we also want to be able to cast a broader net in terms of casting."