National Latinx Theater Initiative
Huáscar Robles, 2023 GIA Conference Blog
Latinx theater companies have been reimagining our complex identity, displaying our vibrant history, and exposing our collective struggle for decades. It’s entertainment. It’s art. It’s healing. The intuitions behind – big or small – are left alone to navigate the funding waters that can be as fierce as the Atlantic Ocean that nestles the Caribe Hilton.
The National Latinx Theater Initiative (NLTI), directed by Olga Garay-English was built to steer that ship through these troubled waters. Through support from the Mellon Foundation, it has created an X-ray of the theatrical body of the Latinx community across states and territories and then provided the infrastructure to support those theater institutions, an enterprise still in the making.
But first, some context.
Mari Torres, Executive Director of Consejo Artístico de Puerto Rico, reported that, at this time, support, resources, and funds gravitate towards music. Everyone knows who Bad Bunny is, but a few can identify Teatro SEA, for example. Being an island has been a geographical obstacle in reaching funds as well as, of course, the complex funding infrastructure institutions grapple with. But as Torres joyfully extolled, “somehow, we make magic happen.”
“Magic alone doesn’t feed the actors, directors, technicians, administrative workers, and the invisible cast who make theater happen.”
But magic alone doesn’t feed the actors, directors, technicians, administrative workers, and the invisible cast who make theater happen.
Before expanding to fill the gaps outlined by Torres, NLTI’s Steering Committee studied the landscape they set out to rescue. Rosalba Rolón, Artistic Director of Pregones and the Puerto Rico Traveling Theater, added further context to the Latinx theater reality. For example, acquiring the 501c3 status can cost up to $70,000. Rolón shared that the 11 members of the committee embarked on a herculean task of identifying budget scenarios and, more importantly, analyzing the bureaucratic applications that keep artists and institutions up at night. Their intention was to look past the numbers and see the people behind the statistics. They wanted to “qualify, not just quantify the assets.” The conclusion? “Multi-year, re-granting programs would be the top priority, and the general operating support was nonnegotiable,” Rolón happily reported.
The NTLI used the Black Seed Initiative as a blueprint for their program. The Black Seed created the first-ever strategic plan conceptualized and led by the Black theater field to impact Black theater institutions.
The NTLI had to face some grim stats:
In 2018, less than 1% of the total philanthropy budget ($29 million out of $3 billion) was given to Latinx Arts and Culture (theater or otherwise)
That number increased in 2020 to 2% ($74 million)
Which then dropped to $31 million
“In 2018, less than 1% of the total philanthropy budget was given to Latinx Arts and Culture.”
Still, NTLI’s objectives remained unabated: to provide multi-year grants that not only give wings but also build entire vessels for institutions to fly. It pairs the fund with technical and professional development to ensure their futures. And this is utmost necessary, underlines Garay-English. “Right now, 19 % of the country's population is Latinx,” she stated, adding that this percentage will jump to 29% by the year 2050.
The Mellon Foundation also surveyed the field and found the median salaries for artistic directors in Latinx theaters were under $13,000 annually and $38,000 for managing directors. Around 59% of the professionals surveyed had given ten years of their lives. That proved commitment. The goal is to raise $15 million in total, nine of which are already in their coffers. Approximately $3.1 is in intuitions’ pockets as of October 2023. The smallest grant was $25,000 for a theater in Miami, and the largest to the Pregones Theater was $120,000 for each of the three years.
The work doesn’t stop there. There are concerns, as statistics have proved. Yet the landscape is changing, and the NTLI, along with the Mellon Foundation and the rest of its supporters, are setting the stage for Latinx groups to travel forward through their journey to professional success.
“Giving people grants along with professional development… we’re going to get as many success stories from that experience,” Garay-English concluded.
