The Bishop Arts Theatre Center has received a $500,000 grant from the Mellon Foundation. Executive artistic director and founder Teresa Coleman Wash said the grant will help the organization continue its mission of diversifying the arts.
“We wanna make sure that the Bishop Arts Theatre outlives all of us,” Wash said.
The Mellon Foundation supports arts and culture organizations that encourage creativity and community connections. Dallas Black Dance Theatre, Forest Forward and Cara Mía Theatre Company are previous grant recipients.
This was the first time BATC received a grant from the Mellon Foundation. Wash said the money will fund new systems of governance, improve human resource practices and hopefully ensure long-term sustainability for the organization.
Mellon Foundation grant recipients must be invited to apply. Wash said the theater has been cultivating a relationship with Stephanie Ybarra, arts and culture program officer at the Mellon Foundation, for years. With her support, the center received a visit last year from Natasha Forrester, who serves in the arts and culture department at the foundation, to see their production of Black Nativity. The theater later received a formal invitation to apply for a grant in June.
This grant comes just six months after the theater lost $15,000 in NEA funding.
“We've been very intentional about diversifying our income and not being dependent on one source of revenue,” Wash said. “I would say that's one of our superpowers.”
Bishop Arts Theatre Center presents a full season of theater productions, jazz concerts, a speaker series and year-round arts education programming. From 2006 to 2021, BATC received 24 awards for its stage works.
The center also leads several community engagement programs, including an eight-week summer theatre STEM camp for children ages 6-12 to combat summer learning loss in marginalized communities. A young artists program provides teens with mentorship. And, in collaboration with the Writer’s Garret, the BATC hosts an annual Banned Books One Act Play Festival.
“We're hoping this transformation will not only strengthen our ability to deliver high quality artistic and educational programs,” Wash said. “But it will position our organization as a model for peer institutions, change makers, nonprofit leaders, CEOs, who are navigating similar challenges.”
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