Boston queer arts organization receives major Cummings Foundation grant

The Theater Offensive is one of 100 local nonprofits to receive a grant of $100,000 each through the Cummings Foundation's "$100K for 100" program. The Boston-based organization's youth program, True Colors: Out Youth Theater, was selected from a pool of 479 applicants through a competitive review process.

The Theater Offensive (TTO) works in Boston neighborhoods to create original, groundbreaking works by, for, and about the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community. True Colors: Out Youth Theater is the organization's longest running program, providing year-round theater programming for LGBTQ and questioning youth and their straight allies, ages 14 to 22. True Colors youth are trained in performing arts skills to create and present original theatrical works based on their lives to schools and community organizations across Massachusetts.

Representatives of The Theater Offensive, Willis Emmons (Vice Chair of the Board of Directors) and Nick Bazo (Director of True Colors program and Associate Director of Programs), will join approximately 300 guests at a June 9 reception at TradeCenter 128 in Woburn to celebrate the $10 million infusion into Greater Boston's nonprofit sector. With the conclusion of this grant cycle, Cummings Foundation has now awarded more than $140 million to local nonprofits alone.

"It's tremendously meaningful to get this significant, multiyear support from The Cummings Foundation," noted TTO's Executive Artistic Director Abe Rybeck. "We're so proud to be on their incredible list of organizations they support. We're committed to living up to the foundation's faith in our work by continuing to deepen artistic creation and youth development among LGBTQ and allied youth in our neighborhoods."

The $100,000 grant will be used over four years to support True Colors' Expansion Programming. Previously, True Colors had to turn away half of the youth who auditioned to be a part of the program, due to space and budget limitations. The program also received more requests for performances than it could fulfill. Based on the increased demand for programming, True Colors recently underwent a youth-led expansion that allowed TTO to include three additional components to its programming. These new efforts allow TTO to serve more youth, to serve youth in a deeper way, and to reach more audiences at schools and community centers across Massachusetts.