We have begun soliciting proposals for its new PURPOSE Grants program, offering research grant funding of up to $10,000 per recipient to support individual and group investigations.

The program, known by the acronym PURPOSE (Plan for Unprecedented Research Projecting Optimal and Sustainable Engagement), will support individual and group investigations into current industry restart efforts including changed production operations, increased sustainability of physical resources, and/or improved working conditions for all involved artists and technicians.

USITT President Carolyn Satter noted that “when USITT was established, research was and remains one of the primary purposes for its existence.  For the Institute, this funding is an investment in our members, with a return that will yield a positive impact on our industry.  The Board of Directors is proud to make available up to $30,000 in grant funding for this program for USITT members.”

According to USITT Board Member Nicole Queenan, who chairs the Institute’s Research Activities Committee, the goal of providing this funding is to help partially underwrite investigations into shifting production practices from historic norms to pandemic-related necessities and to what may be desired into the future.

“Deeply rooted in USITT’s core values of inclusion, excellence, and responsibility,” Queenan said, “our new PURPOSE Grant funding can be leveraged to support taking risks, trying something new, supporting increased diversity and proving replicable concepts that can be embraced by others. As the pandemic forced us all to re-examine every aspect of our industry, we believe we need to harness what we have learned — and to test what we think we have learned — so that we can replicate what works. This will make the industry stronger as we reopen.”  

Proposals for this new grant program are being accepted from USITT members who are intending to research current challenges faced by the entertainment industry, broadly framed by USITT’s core values of inclusion, excellence, and responsibility.

Deadline to apply for an inaugural USITT PURPOSE Grant is Dec. 1, 2021, with funds scheduled to be dispersed in Jan. 2022. Research is to be completed and a final report submitted by Jan. 2023.

For more information on requirements and to apply, click here.