BARR FOUNDATION NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS
THE YARD is proud to announce two significant grants made to the organization by the Barr Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). Totaling $980,000, these grants will enable The Yard to continue its trajectory to become a year-round center for creative residencies, public performances, and community education and engagement in dance and related arts. They will support increasing its capacity and planning for mission-critical capital improvements. For the board and staff of The Yard, the awards reflect a national validation by major institutional donors of The Yard’s programs and its plans for the future.
The Barr Foundation has awarded The Yard $950,000 over three-years (supporting the organization in its fiscal year 2017-2018 through 2019-2020). The grant includes $450,000 of operating support, enabling the organization to:
- Continue its newest initiative, THE WINTER YARD, which launched in December 2015 thanks to a previous grant from Barr, for the next three years;
- Sustain and grow the wildly popular, island-wide MAKING IT education initiative, including support for curriculum development;
- Provide opportunities for Yard staff to pursue curatorial and professional development endeavors around the country and internationally;
- Enhance its development operation.
The grant also includes $500,000 of capital support for the nascent “Campaign for the Year-Round Yard”. This seed gift to the campaign will advance the objectives and facilities design essential to The Yard’s strategic plan for its future.
The grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, in the amount of $30,000, supports the 2018 YARD ARTS Summer Season. This award provides grounding support to the density of artist residencies, performances, and community activities that take place on The Yard’s campus in the summer months. It also supports select performances at the Martha’s Vineyard Performing Arts Center in Oak Bluffs, with which The Yard is fortunate to partner throughout the year. This grant is notable in part because the criteria for funding focuses on the caliber of artists presented, the quality of artist support provided, and the heft of related community engagement. As such, the grant testifies to the esteem with which The Yard is held by peers in the field of dance and related arts.
Together, these awards cover the breadth of Yard needs and responsibilities — from our model MAKING IT educational initiative to our signature YARD ARTS Summer Season, from THE WINTER YARD to our planning for the future. It must be noted that the work supported by these grants requires matching dollars, which come largely from individual donors, along with island agencies. As such, these grants are ultimately a testimony to those people who have believed in The Yard and fought shoulder to shoulder to see it succeed and thrive, assuring the abiding legacy of founder Patricia N. Nanon.