Next Stage lands $50K grant for storytelling

Next Stage Arts Project has received a $50,000 NEA grant, representing the entirety of NEA’s arts-based community development investment for Putney.

The grant supports a collaborative project of Next Stage and the Town of Putney called “Legacy Putney: A Collaborative Celebration of Putney’s Arts History and Culture.” Partners include the Putney Historical Society, Putney Library, and area schools.

The project has also received a $40,000 grant from the Fresh Sound Foundation and will seek an additional $10,000 in matching funds from the community.

According to project organizers, “Legacy Putney” will entail a yearlong process of eliciting, crafting, and harnessing stories from residents and presenting them in a range of performance genres that are a hallmark of Next Stage. It’ll be literary, filmic, musical, historical, theatrical, visual, and movement-based. Presentations will be shared throughout the year, culminating in a two-week festival in May 2018.