Sam Mendes’ UK Theater Fund Grows To $5M After Arts Council Donation

Tom Grater
·2 min read

The Theatre Artist Fund, set up by Sam Mendes and The Society of London Theatre and UK Theatre, has seen its pot rise to $5M (£3.5M) after a $1.3M (£1M) donation from Arts Council England.

A second round of applications opens on Thursday (August 27) for the scheme, which was designed to support under-represented groups who have been disproportionately affected by the crisis, as well as regional performers and craftspeople, by giving them one-off grants of £1,000 per person to help them through the ongoing closures.

Previous donators include Michaela Coel, Benedict Cumberbatch, Steven Spielberg and Netflix.

“The Covid-19 crisis has had a huge impact on every part of our cultural sector – but individual artists and freelancers have been especially badly hit, losing work and uncertain of their future,” said Simon Mellor, Deputy CEO, Arts and Culture, Arts Council England. Supporting individuals to think, plan and practice is a priority for the Arts Council, and we are using our resources to make this possible. We are complementing the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund by reopening our National Lottery Project Grants programme and will shortly be relaunching Developing Your Creative Practice.”

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