(NEW YORK, NY) -- The 1/52 Project, the new financial grant program founded by Tony Award-winning set designer Beowulf Boritt, has selected the first seven early-career designer recipients to benefit from $100,000 in grants. Applicants were chosen based on talent, creativity, innovation, and potential for future excellence in the professional theatrical field, and each of the inaugural recipients will receive grants up to $15,000.
The 2022 recipients are Brittany Bland: projection designer; Everett Elton Bradman: sound designer; Stefania Bulbarella: projection designer; Jessica Alexandra Cancino: set designer; Frank Cazares: costume designer; Jordan McCree: sound designer; and Jingyi Johanna Pan: costume designer.
The recipients will be honored at a reception on Wednesday, October 5 at 5:30pm at the West Bank Café-Beechman Theatre, sponsored by Hudson Scenic Studio. And depending on specialization, some recipients will also receive a year’s subscription to Vectorworks or Lightwright, kindly donated by these prominent industry companies.
The 1/52 Project, launched in January, is primarily funded by designers with shows running on Broadway who are encouraged to donate one week every year of their weekly royalties to this fund, thus the 1/52 Project. The project hopes to encourage early career designers from historically excluded groups with the aim of diversifying and strengthening the Broadway design community.
The grant criteria were created by, and adjudicated by, a world-class committee of BIPOC professional designers: Tony Award nominated costume designer Dede Ayite; projection designer David Bengali; set designer Wilson Chin; lighting designer Alan C. Edwards; Tony Award-winning sound designer Kai Harada; set designer Kimie Nishikawa; Tony Award-winning costume designer Paul Tazewell; costume designer Alejo Vietti: and costume designer Anita Yavich.
“I know I am extraordinarily lucky to be able to make a living as a theatre designer, much less to have the opportunity to do it on Broadway. Part of that luck was being born a middle-class white boy. The goal of The 1/52 Project is to give a little encouragement to a talented group of early career designers for whom doors may open less easily,” said Beowulf Boritt. “In supporting them, we hope to strengthen and diversify the profession. I'm immensely grateful for the generosity of the Broadway community for funding the idea and the hard work of the 1/52 Grant Committee for the impossible task of choosing from a large group of very talented applicants."
The current donor list features John Lee Beatty, Wendy Goldberg, Tony Meola, Nevin Steinberg, Kenneth Posner, Lindsay Jones, Gregg Barnes, David Zinn, Takeshi Kata, Jennifer Tipton, Peter Nigrini, Jeff Croiter, David Rockwell, Paul Tazewell, Paloma Young, Kumiko Yoshii, Scott Pinkney, Jim Bay, JJ Janas, Philip Rosenberg, Bradley King, Michael Wolk, Susan L. Schulman, Alex Volckhausen, Michael Krass, Jason Cina, Brian Ronan, Roger Gindi and Gregory Victor, Christopher Akerlind, Derek McLane, Marcia Goldberg, Abbie Strassler, Rachel Hauck, Kimberly Powers, Jeff Sugg, Susan Hilferty, Kimie Nishikawa, Eugene Lee, Jessica Paz, David Korins, Elaine J McCarthy, Ken Posner, Ken Billington, Paul Smithyman, Scott Pask, Scott Lehrer, Christine Jones, Jane Cox, Beowulf Boritt, Toni-Leslie James, Donald Holder, Kai Harada, Drew Levy, Jenny and Jon Steingart, Brian Macdevitt, Tom Schumacher, and Natasha Katz.
The 1/52 Project is deeply grateful to all of its contributors but would like to acknowledge especially generous donations from Paul Tazewell, the Tony Award-winning costume designer of Hamilton; Nevin Steinberg, the Tony Award-winning sound designer of Hadestown; Brian McDevitt, the Tony Award-winning lighting designer of The Book of Mormon; David Korins, the Tony Award nominated set designer of Hamilton; Gregg Barnes, the Tony Award-winning costume designer of The Drowsy Chaperone; and Thomas Schumacher, the Tony Award-winning producer of the Lion King.
Designers Simon Harding, Jeff Croiter, Elaine J. McCarthy, Nevin Steinberg, and Jeff Sugg, also helped manage and organize the 1/52 Project.
The 1/52 Project is primarily funded by donations from professional designers working on Broadway, but anyone is welcome to make a tax-deductible contribution online.
The 1/52 Project is partnered with TheFrontOffice Foundation, founded in 2019 by Director/Producer, Wendy C. Goldberg. TheFrontOffice is an entertainment development company that specializes in cross over content from live theater to new media. Fueled by the intersection of Goldberg's 20 years in the theater and her experiences as a Performance Director for Rockstar Games, TheFrontOffice develops content and stories for our times. TheFrontOffice Foundation, the company's charitable arm, was established in 2020 to support the live theatrical community during the time of industry shut down as well as the re-opening efforts. Our support happens in a multitude of ways including direct artist relief, commissions and grants. To date, we have partnered with TCG and SDCF on relief efforts. TheFrontOffice Foundation distributed additional mid-career relief grants to theater workers in March 2021 and to parents in June 2021. With corporate donors as well as individuals, these efforts have distributed a quarter of a million dollars in aid. TheFrontOffice works with Players Philanthropy Foundation as their Fiscal Sponsor.
Vectorworks, Inc. is an award-winning design and BIM software provider serving the architecture, landscape architecture and entertainment industries in 85 countries. Built with designers in mind since 1985, Vectorworks software offers the freedom to follow the imagination wherever it leads. Globally more than 685,000 users are creating, connecting and influencing the next generation of design with Vectorworks on Mac and Windows. Headquartered in Columbia, Maryland, with offices in the UK, Canada and Australia. Vectorworks is part of the Nemetschek Group.
Lightwright is a desktop software application that manages lighting design data and paperwork. It has been the de facto industry standard on Broadway and around the world since 1982 because it understands what designers, electricians, gaffers, lighting directors, and other lighting professionals need from their data and paperwork. Whether it's theatre, TV, film, concerts, or special events, Lightwright is there to help. Lightwright outputs a wide variety of customizable paperwork, performs error checking, tracks stock equipment, and lets you design and print labels that pull data from its spreadsheet, control setup, and instrument details. It also shares data in real time with Vectorworks Spotlight and ETC's Eos lighting control consoles.
Applications will open again in January 2023 for next year’s early career designer grants. For more information go to: oneeveryfiftytwo.org.
