KEEP THE
TALENT HERE
Most theatre artists in Jacksonville are not paid for their countless hours of building sets, memorizing lines, attending rehearsals, creating costumes, or performing live.
Many Northeast Florida actors and theatre artists who wish to pursue a professional theatre career are forced to leave Jacksonville in order to earn a living. Now there’s a way to help keep the talent here.
Pay theatre professionals
The STAGE Fund, which stands for Sustaining Theatre Artists to Grow Excellence, was conceived by a community collaborative and launched by Alicia Somers, Lisa Goodrich, and Diane Brunet-García in 2017 to support top theatre artists in the Jacksonville area—artists who aspire to act or create professionally, rather than simply volunteering at their local community theatre.
In 2018, the STAGE Fund began granting stipends through a pilot grant program with The 5 & Dime, A Theatre Company. Since then, Jacksonville Dance Theatre, Jason Woods Productions, Bab’s Lab, Actors Collective, and Lumen Repertory Theatre have received grants to produce both original work and known classics, with the stipulation that dancers and theatre artists are paid for both rehearsal and performance.
STAGE FUND is proud to be supported by PNC Foundation for our
2020 - 2022 grant cycle
CREATE A LASTING IMPACT
The arts are a major driver of the economy and tourism in Northeast Florida, contributing more than $80 million in Duval County alone. Building viable jobs in this sector will have exponential benefits for the region, for working theatre artists, and for their families.
build a sustainable fund
The STAGE Fund aims to build a sustainable endowment. This will allow any theatre in the region, committing to specific standards, to apply for funding to help pay theatre professionals.
In addition to monetary support, STAGE Fund grantees receive the powerful advantage of a development consultant to cultivate strategies that will enable professional-caliber theatres to pay artists season after season.
Current Recipient Highlight
Jason Woods
Jason Woods is a director, actor, composer, designer, writer and leader with over thirty-five years of theatrical experience. Dubbed a ‘creative conjurer’, his works include original adaptations from literature incorporating Jacksonville community actors and crews, including St. George & the Dragon, Peter Pan, Alice in a Christmas Wonderland, and The Legend of St. Nick! His latest one-man show, The Near Disaster of Jasper & Casper, recently played 27 shows Off-Broadway on Theatre Row thanks in part to financial support from STAGE Fund.
about
LMG Cooperative
The STAGE Fund is a program under the management of LMG Cooperative, a 501(c)3 organization formed in 2014 to support cultural and artistic awareness in Northeast Florida and to promote these endeavors so they are accessible to the public. The nonprofit was formed to provide assistance to individual artists, programs, and start-up organizations that lacked the structure to apply for and receive grants only distributed to 501(c)3 organizations. LMG forwards 100% of donors’ gifts to the artists or programs directly.
Help us out
Make a Contribution
Our goal for a self-sustaining funding model for theatre professionals in Jacksonville cannot be accomplished without the generous financial support of people like you. Please follow the link below to contribute your own tax-deductible gift to help fund our mission. We sincerely appreciate your belief in, and advocacy of, our ongoing commitment to the arts in Northeast Florida.
