The 1/52 Project Announces $150,000 in Grants Distributed to Nine Early Career Designer Recipients

The 1/52 Project, the financial grant program founded by Tony Award-winning set designer Beowulf Boritt, has selected third round of nine early-career designer recipients to benefit from $150,000 in grants. Applicants were chosen based on talent, creativity, need, innovation, and potential for future excellence in the professional theatrical field, and each of the recipients will receive grants up to $17,500.

The 2024 recipients are Emma Deane (lighting designer); Emmanuel Delgado (lighting designer); Camilla Dely (costume designer); Dee Etti-Williams (sound designer); Carolina Ortiz Herrera (lighting designer); Meg Powers (costume designer); Hannah Tran (projection designer); Miguel Urbino (set designer); and Teresa L. Williams (set designer).

The nine grants will be presented at a reception at The Civilian Hotel Rosevale cocktail lounge on Monday, September 30 from 5:00-7:00pm, sponsored by a generous donation from Neil Mazella and Hudson Scenic Studios.

"I am deeply grateful to the generosity of the theatre community for their continued support of this initiative," says Boritt. "We received 115 individual donations anywhere from $25 to $10,000 mostly from designers, but also from other members of the theater community since you do not need to be a Broadway designer to donate. We raised well over $150,000 this year and close to $400,000 in our first three years in existence."

Boritt continues, "I'm also bragging about our 2022 recipient Projection Designer Stefania Bulbarella who made her Broadway debut this year with Jaja's African Hair Braiding and was nominated for a Tony for her work! And lighting designer Mextly Couzin, one of our 2023 recipients who just made her Broadway debut with JOB. Together we are really making a difference in these young designers' lives."

The 1/52 Project, launched in January 2022, is primarily funded by designers with shows running on Broadway who are encouraged to donate one week every year of their weekly royalties to this fund. The project hopes to encourage early career designers from historically excluded groups, including all women, with the aim of diversifying and strengthening the Broadway design community. Tony Award-winning set designer Beowulf Boritt founded the 1/52 Project and co-manages it with production manager Bethany Weinstein Stewert. Projection designer Simon Harding manages the group's website. Designers Simon Harding, Jeff Croiter, Natasha Katz, Nikiya Matthis, Alejo Vietti, Robert Brill, Nevin Steinberg, and Jeff Sugg, also helped manage and organize the 1/52 Project.

This year the 1/52 Project invited businesses who are part of the Broadway community to participate as community partners with a matching grant challenge of $7,500, which include Christie Lites , 4 Wall Entertainment, Hudson Scenic Studios, Global Scenic Services, The John Gore Organization, Masque Sound & Recording Corp., PRG , Proof Productions, and Showmotion Inc. Additionally, Vectorworks Inc will donate a year's subscription to the design program Vectorworks to some recipients for one year.

The current donor list features:

Brandon Stirling Baker, Brett Banakis, David Barbour, Gregg Barnes, Batwin+Robin, John Lee Beatty, David Bengali, Ken Billington, Beowulf Boritt, Robert Brill, Sarafina Bush, Isabella Byrd, Jennifer Caprio, Amith Chandrashaker, Jiyon Chang, charcoalblue, Lap Chi Chu, Barbara Cokorinos, Aaron Copp, Jane Cox, Jeff Croiter, Jason Crystal, Ken Davenport, Mike Devine, Alexander Dodge, dots, Jules Fisher + Peggy Eisenhauer, Elliott Forrest, Sue Frost, Roger Gindi, Bob Greenblat, Michele Habeck, J Jared Janas, Kai Harada, Rachel Hauck, Susan Hilferty, Dominique Fawn Hill, Don Holder, Adam Honore, Palmer Jankens, Lindsay Jones, Cookie Jordan, Takeshi Kata, Natasha Katz, Hana Kim, Bradley King, Lynn Klugman, David Korins, Tommy Kurzman, Charles LaPointe, Scott Leher, Richard Lurie, Nikiya Mathis, Elaine McCarthy, Brian McDevitt, Derek McLane, Tony Meola, the Miranda Family Fund, Peter Nigrini, Arthur Oliver, Gareth Owen, Kirk Cambridge-Del Pesche, Will Pickens, Scott Pinkey ,Ken Posner, Stan Pressner & Margaret Gerrity, Bill Rauch, Mikey Rolfe, Brian Ronan, Finn Ross, Daryl Roth, Barbara Samuels, Jonathan Marc Sherman & Alexandra Shiva, John Shivers, Cody Spencer, Nevin Steinberg, Abbie Strassler, Jeff Sugg, Paul Tazewell, Joe Tilford, Jennifer Tipton, Justin Townsend, Alejo Vietti, Kay Voyce, Daria Walcott, Bradlee Ward, Tom Watson, Japhy Wideman, Barbara Whitman, Jeannette Yew, Paloma Young, Yi Zhao, Amanda Ziev, David Zinn

"The 1/52 Project is deeply grateful to all of their contributors but would like to acknowledge especially generous donations from Nevin Steinberg, the Tony Award-winning sound designer of Hadestown, Sweeney Todd, and Hamilton; Paul Tazewell, the Tony Award-winning costume designer of Hamilton and Smash; Bob Greenblatt (Producer of Some Like It Hot and Smash), and the Miranda Family Fund," the Project says.

Paul Tazewell says, "I realize I am very fortunate to have sustained a 34 year career working as a freelance costume designer for stage and film but I know first-hand the great challenges of beginning and maintaining a freelance career in the entertainment industry. I am very glad to contribute to the 1/52 Project which offers financial assistance to less established freelance designers towards the overall support, inclusivity and health of our designer community."

The 1/52 Project Steering Committee are working designers from historically excluded groups volunteering their time and will adjudicate the awards:

David Bengali: Projection Designer
Sarafina Bush: Costume Designer
Amith Chandrashaker: Lighting Designer
Jiyoun Chang: Lighting Designer
Wilson Chin: Set Designer
Alan C. Edwards: Lighting Designer
Justin Ellington: Sound Designer
Kai Harada: Sound Designer
Rachel Hauck: Set Designer
Cookie Jordan: Hair & Wig Designer
Sun Hee Kil: Sound Designer
Hana S. Kim: Projection Designer
Nikiya Mathis: Hair & Wig Designer
Elaine McCarthy: Projection Designer
Lawrence Moten III: Set Designer
Mia Neal: Hair & Wig Designer
Alejo Vietti: Costume Designer
Anita Yavich: Costume Designer

The 1/52 Project works with Players Philanthropy Foundation as their Fiscal Sponsor.

Anyone is welcome to make a tax-deductible contribution at: www.oneeveryfiftytwo.org/contribute.

Applications will open again in January 2025 for next year's early career designer grants. For more information, check out the link below.