No, IPI is designed to support independent efforts that are not already part of a nonprofit's programming.

In fairness to other applicants, you need to skip a funding cycle if you were funded by us with more than $500 in support last year. This applies to anybody listed as a producer in the application. If you only received $500 from us, or did not receive a grant, then you can apply for another project this year.

Not for this current round. [And we’ll be grumpy if you do.]

Artists who are Chicago area residents living within the city or suburbs and  independently producing readings or plays within the City of Chicago are eligible to apply. Our intent is to support Chicago theater artists, so we are not interested in out-of-town teams bringing in shows from elsewhere to produce in Chicago.

No, but anything that helps provide a better picture of what you have in mind for your production is helpful.

No. One-off projects, occasional teams, or ongoing theater collectives are all welcome to apply, as long as they are not a 501c3 organization. Each production should identify one individual as the Lead Applicant to serve as the primary contact.

We love new plays by Chicago playwrights, but it is your production and entirely your choice, and we are open to anything that would be considered a play. As noted in the guidelines, we are currently not funding concerts, dance, sketch comedy, circus, storytelling evenings or other types of performance, except to the extent those elements may be part of your play.

Yes, if it’s an independent undertaking.

We ask projects to budget for people first. Since these are small grants, we assume the bulk of the money will therefore go toward stipends and fees, followed by space rental.

Yes, assuming it is an independent production, and a logical next step for the team or show.

To quote our colleagues at the New England Foundation for the Arts, the National New Play Exchange and others, we want to “support work that contributes to the cultural and aesthetic diversities of today’s theater. We value an equitable, diverse, and inclusive world, which we interpret as all people having fair access to the tools and resources they need to realize creative and community endeavors. We acknowledge structural inequities that have excluded individuals and communities from opportunity based on race, gender, disability, sexual orientation, class, age, language, culture, nation of origin, and geography, and strive to counter those inequities in our work. We expect the productions we support to be committed to ensuring spaces, structures, and processes free of racism, transphobia, homophobia, ableism, misogyny, classism, or other bias.”

If a theater is to be listed as a sponsor or producer, then we would consider the show part of their programming and therefore not an independent production.  An established theater company could, however, be supportive and helpful in numerous ways and simply thanked in your Acknowledgements. The purpose of IPI is to help enable work that is not already happening under the auspices of an existing 501c3, which would assumedly be doing its own fundraising.

We’re defining a fiscal agent as a service available to independent artists for securing and processing tax-deductible contributions. A fiscal agent typically provides this service at some sort of baseline fee, or percentage basis.  Independent productions making use of a fiscal agent are allowable.  However for the purposes of this application, we are making a distinction between a fiscal agent and a fiscal sponsor. Some partnerships are much more involved than direct fiscal agent services. For example, if a fiscal agent organization is also providing additional venue support, artistic consulting, marketing support and other services it’s likely the panel will consider  that project less independent than others in the applicant pool. And if the fiscal agent happens to be a producing theater where an applicant is a member, that is yet another layer to consider.  There is no hard and fast rule, and we recommend transparency as artists complete their applications.  Generally, our panel will be scrutinizing institutional relationships for each project, and evaluating applications on both their independent nature and feasibility.

No. Our grant would simply be one more donation helping you to cover the costs of your production overall, however you are structuring it .

Could I apply if the  production were outside school facilities? Independent productions by theater artists over age 18 who happen to be students would be eligible to apply; we would not be able to fund schools or school productions.

You can download a sample budget sheet here.