Theater Mitu is a small company and MITU580 is a flexible venue. This means we are better equipped to support artists who are taking bold risks with their work. It is crucial to our mission and our community for us to find innovative ways to support these artists and come together during this pandemic. To that end we have shifted all of our programming to have online and digital components this year, while also reconfiguring MITU580 into a space where artists can broadcast their work to a greater audience. All while maintaining capacity limits and social distancing protocols at MITU580 to ensure that our community stays healthy and safe. Our ability to maintain this level of activity is a testament to our community and artists who are committed and resolved to rebuilding the arts ecosystem of Brooklyn one small venue at a time.
We are a company invested in the future of theater. We will continue to develop new and exciting company-created works investigating and interrogating the potent ideologies and narratives of our times. These research-based projects are built from found text, archival materials, generated language, and company-conducted interviews. We also continue to grow our Expansion Works program so that we may hold space for artists who are intentionally working across disciplines and incubating alternative modes of artistic inquiry across Brooklyn and beyond.
We are an incubator for artists asking the big questions. Theater Mitu continues to maintain a number of annual programs aimed at galvanizing the next generation of artists while supporting ongoing innovation in established companies during the pandemic. These programs include: our Hybrid Arts Lab, a fellowship program where trans, non-binary, and female identifying artists of color develop new work intersecting performance and technology; Artists-at-Home, our subsidized rental program for Brooklyn based artists innovating in the field of performance; and our Company Residencies aimed at sustaining continued collaboration for mid-career companies, collectives, and ensembles.
Art spaces are key for dialogue and the continuous exchange of knowledge. They are central gathering points for a community to share their diverse range of embodied experiences, histories, and imaginations. For us, this means year-round programming of free and affordable performances, exhibitions, and events. Despite having to close our venue’s doors to audiences due to COVID-19 we have continued to support artists working in theater, film, dance, sculpture, performance art, creative technology, civic engagement, and community outreach. MITU580 has always been more than a physical performance space and despite the developing public health crisis—It remains a place where hundreds of artists and community members share work, materials, and techniques; where there are consistent exchanges of ideas and beliefs; where we collide discussions of art, theology, and science with this incredibly critical moment in history.
Contributions from our community cover 80% of the costs for our programming, keep our tickets accessible and affordable, and provide resources to galvanize the next generation of performance-based artists. With your generous support, 2021 promises continued growth for these and other programs as we help rebuild and revive our city’s cultural community. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to this year’s annual fundraiser.
Does your company offer to match employee contributions? If so, please consider having them match your support and amplifying the potency of your gift. You can double or sometimes triple your generosity through these opportunities.
We travel quite a bit in order to share our work with the widest range of communities at home and abroad. If you also travel and have airline miles to spare, please consider donating them! Email [email protected] for information on how to donate your miles.
Howard Gilman Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, New England Foundation for the Arts, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, New York State Council for the Arts, Trust for Mutual Understanding, MidAtlantic Arts Foundation, The MAP Fund, CEC Artslink, Theater Mitu, Inc. Trustees, Larry and Helayne Jones Family Fund, Tom and Margie Gart Family Fund, Peter Wiley, Network of Ensemble Theaters, U.S. Department of State, and our many individual donors.
Adreina Matos, Aislinn Curry, Alec Andres Squires, Alex and Megan Gart, Ann Cooper, C.C. Kellog, Caite Hevner, Caroline Gart, Corey Sullivan, Cory Cruser, Courtney Seiberling, Danielle Macbeth and John Hawthorn, Elisabeth Gart and David Cimino, Florence Holdeman, Francine Elhadad, Hodaka K., James Bricmont, Jessica Massart, Jessica Ryan, Jim and Pat Walden, John and Martha Gart, Jon Robert Mackenzie, Josephine De Caro Rutigliano, Julie Louisa Andrus, Justin Nestor, Kaila J. Lim, Katie Whetsell, Kyle Jackson-Langworthy, Luke Thomas, Mara Isaacs, Mark Palermo, Michael Keeler, Michael Littig, Mickey and Nancy Gart, Min Jung, Molly Murphy & JJ Darling, Nicholas Croft, Paige Davis, Rubén Polendo, Ruth Cooper, Sabine Holler, Seth Gabel, Shebi Niazi, Stephanie Dilorio Prohaska, Thomas Pearson, Tim Parsons, Timothy Farrell, Tom Monday
