Inge Center Grant Among Largest In the Nation

Media contact: Bruce Peterson (620) 332 5492

The National Endowment for the Arts has awarded a $35,000 grant—one of the largest in the nation in its category—to the William Inge Center for the Arts, to continue to bring acclaimed actors, directors, and playwrights to Independence Community College and the general public.

The Endowment awarded 162 “Access to Artistic Excellence” grants across the country, and only seven theaters nationwide were awarded larger grants than that to the Inge Center in that category. The seven theaters which received larger grants included the New York Shakespeare Festival, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center.

“We are humbled that our arts organization at Independence Community College can compete successfully on the national stage with large and nationally respected arts organizations,” said Peter Ellenstein, Inge Center Artistic Director. “I think it speaks well for the stature of the Inge Center and ICC within the national theater landscape.”

In Kansas, the Kansas University Center for Research, presented at the Lied Center, was awarded $30,000; Music Theatre Wichita received the same amount

“We aspire to excellence in all our educational and artistic programs, and this grant will aid us to continue hosting outstanding artists who share their expertise with students and the general public,” said Ellenstein.

“These artists include playwrights, actors and directors, who each contribute to the education of our local children at year-round workshops exclusively for high school and other students,” he said. “The guest artists also lend our Inge House Playwrights-in-Residence expertise and valuable advice in the shaping of new and vibrant plays.”

Each semester, this funding helps bring numerous guest artists to Independence. The next group of artists arrives in late October. On Thursday, November 4, they will conduct a day-long series of workshops for high school students. They then perform in readings of new plays-in-progress, by professional playwrights-in-residence, on Saturday, November 6.

The William Inge Center for the Arts, at Independence Community College, is sponsor of the annual William Inge Theatre Festival, which every year brings to southeast Kansas one of America’s great playwrights for four days of professional theater workshops and performances. The 30th Annual Inge Festival takes place April 13-16, 2011, honoring Pulitzer Prize-winner Marsha Norman.

The Inge Center is named for Independence native William Inge, a Pulitzer and Oscar winning writer whose works include “Picnic,” “Bus Stop,” “Splendor in the Grass,” and “Come Back, Little Sheba.” The Inge Center is supported in part by grants from the Kansas Arts Commission, the Kansas Humanities Council, The Dramatists Guild Fund the Hallmark Corporation, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

For more information on Inge Center activities, call (620) 332-5492 or visit www.ingecenter.org.