January 25, 2024 (Indianapolis, IN) – The New Harmony Project is pleased to announce it has been approved by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) for a Grants for Arts Projects award of $50,000. This grant will support The New Harmony Project’s new play development conference. In total, the NEA will award 958 Grants for Arts Projects awards totaling more than $27.1 million that were announced as part of its first round of fiscal year 2024 grants.
“The NEA is delighted to announce this grant to The New Harmony Project which is helping contribute to the strength and well-being of the arts sector and local community,” said National Endowment for the Arts Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD. “We are pleased to be able to support this community and help create an environment where all people have the opportunity to live artful lives.”
"We are so grateful to the NEA for this support, and the recognition of the vital work of The New Harmony Project, which is dedicated to nurturing writers as they develop stories and new works that interrogate the complexity of hope," said Jenni Werner, Executive Artistic Director of The New Harmony Project. "We believe that artists have the power to transform the world, and that plays examining the complexity of hope are at the forefront of making lasting change. By centering the artist and their process in decision making, we create spaces for writers to do their most important work."
"The New Harmony Project has, for nearly 40 years, served as a wellspring of creativity and inspiration for writers and artists from all over the country. We thank the NEA for their support of this important work," commented Blair Russell and Loui Lord Nelson, PhD., Board Co-Chairs of The New Harmony Project.
For more information about the NEA’s grants, visit arts.gov/news.
About the New Harmony Project
In April of 1986, a group of theatre, film, and television professionals gathered to explore the trend in the entertainment arts toward exploitative and sensational material. They concluded there was a need to engage and support writers whose work sought a goal beyond mere entertainment, work that sought to empower and uplift. The New Harmony Project was born out of this conversation. With the peaceful serenity of New Harmony, Indiana as the backdrop, writers are provided time and space to create, develop, and workshop new scripts every spring.
The conference stands apart from other programs with its focus on community. Conversations are had, meals are enjoyed, and the work is shared collectively. In 2022, The New Harmony Project adopted a new strategic vision for the organization designed to build a more just, equitable, antiracist, and impactful organization. The mission was updated to reflect a new set of values, and recognizes that hope is complicated and deeply personal. The Project is committed to nurturing writers so they can change the world.