Junior Players is excited to announce that it has received a $10,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to help support its summer arts programs for North Texas children ages 7-18. Junior Players last received funding from the NEA in 2010 and is proud to be a grant beneficiary again this year.
“We are extremely honored that the NEA has chosen to support our organization and to help bring vital arts education programs to thousands of children in North Texas,” says Acting Executive Director Rosaura Cruz-Webb.
The funds received will go directly to providing our Summer Theater Camps for children ages 7-14 and to supporting our Summer Shakespeare Production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, A Bollywood Spectacular with our high school participants. NEA funding will be crucial in ensuring the success and expansion of these programs.
2015 marks Junior Players’ sixtieth anniversary and the NEA’s funds will truly aid in making this year Junior Players’ biggest and most successful. This year alone, Junior Players will serve over 6,000 youth and over 6,000 audience members through our free programs, for a total reach of over 12,000.
In addition to our summer programs, Junior Players will also be returning to the Dallas Arts District to produce a new dance production entitled Junior Players Presents: The Transformation Project and is hoping to return again this winter for the continuation of its Winter Musical Production.
Junior Players was founded in 1955, and is the oldest non-profit children's theater organization in Dallas. Over its sixty year existence, Junior Players has striven to meet the changing needs of the community. From 1955 to 1989, Junior Players presented traditional children's theater productions performed entirely by children and teenagers. In 1989, the Board of Directors changed the focus of Junior Players activities, deciding that, Junior Players can best serve the youth of Dallas by providing free programming accessible to all the children of North Texas. Junior Players, therefore, exclusively provides free arts education programs in local recreation and cultural centers, housing projects, elementary and middle schools, and through social service agencies serving youth at risk.
