The 1/52 Project, the new financial grant program founded by Tony Award-winning set designer Beowulf Boritt, has selected the first seven early-career designer recipients to benefit from $100,000 in grants. Applicants were chosen based on talent, creativity, innovation, and potential for future excellence in the professional theatrical field, and each of the inaugural recipients will receive grants up to $15,000.
The 2022 recipients are Brittany Bland: projection designer; Everett Elton Bradman: sound designer; Stefania Bulbarella: projection designer; Jessica Alexandra Cancino: set designer; Frank Cazares: costume designer; Jordan McCree: sound designer; and Jingyi Johanna Pan: costume designer.
The recipients will be honored at a reception on Wednesday, October 5 at 5:30 PM at the West Bank Café-Beechman Theatre, sponsored by Hudson Scenic Studio. And depending on specialization, some recipients will also receive a year’s subscription to Vectorworks or Lightwright, kindly donated by these prominent industry companies.
Bios:
BRITTANY BLAND is a storyteller who has dedicated her life to the proliferation of empathy. Bland’s work explores emerging media and technology’s role in performance. Originally from Atlanta GA, she holds a BA from Catawba College & MFA in Design from the Yale School of Drama. Her recent design credits include Goddess (Berkeley Repertory Theater), Twelfth Night (Classical Theater of Harlem), A Dozen Dreams (En Garde Arts), and Seize the King (Classical Theater of Harlem).
Everett Elton Bradman’s 2021-2022 composer/sound designer credits include West Coast premieres (Trayf at the Geffen Playhouse), audio dramas (Aurora Theatre’s The Bluest Eye), student productions (UC Riverside’s Red Oleanders), Zoom theater (Actors Theatre’s Romeo & Juliet: Louisville 2020), podcasts (Z Space/Word for Word’s Retablos trilogy), filmed theater (San Francisco Playhouse’s Hieroglyph), hybrid visual/audio (New Conservatory Theater Company’s Interlude), and outdoor performances (Oakland Theater Project’s The Waste Land).
Stefania Bulbarella is a video and projection designer from Buenos Aires, Argentina based in Brooklyn, NY. Off Broadway credits include: Space Dogs (MCC), Semblance (New York Theatre Workshop), The Watering Hole (Signature Theatre), Will You Come With Me? (The Play Company), Turtle on a Fence Post (Theatre 555), Eva Luna (Repertorio Español). Opera: Letters You Will Not Get (American Opera Project). Regional: House of Joy (St Louis Rep), The Mountaintop (Weston Playhouse). Nominations: Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for Outstanding Video/Projection Design for Space Dogs.
Jessica Alexandra Cancino Gonzalez is a multidisciplinary Venezuelan artist, with a background in scenic design, scenic art, sculpture, and art installation. She explores how space sculpts our experiences and reframesstories to invite access to other’s perspectives. She was nominated for the Helen Hayes for outstanding Set Design in 2020 and was the Scenic Design Kenan Trust Fellow at the Kennedy Center in 2016. She is a USA829 Scenic Designer and Scenic Artist member based in NYC. www.jessicacancino.com
Frank Cazares is a costume designer known for his imaginative use of unconventional materials and a fine eye for detail. Frank has been a finalist in the national Toilet Paper Wedding Dress Contest for several years (including this year) and was a featured contestant on the Toilet Paper Wedding Dress Challenge on TLC in 2019. Work experience includes Walt Disney Entertainment, Royal Caribbean Entertainment, independent feature films, and regional theatre companies.
Jordan McCree (he/him) is a percussionist, producer, composer, sound designer, and teaching artist based in Philadelphia. His recent collaborations include: Cherdonna, Bearded Ladies Cabaret, Arden Theatre Company, Ninth Planet, Wilma Theater, Theater Horizon, and Care Not Control Campaign. He is also a member of Philly-based hip hop collective, ILL DOOTS. ILL DOOTS’ latest album, The Message, is available now on Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, and more!
Jingyi Johanna Pan is a Costume and Scenic designer for Theatre, Film, Dance and Opera, a textile and visual artist, host and co-producer of the podcast “Dirty Laundry: Unpacking the Costume Closet”. Born and raised in Singapore, Johanna’s artistic practice is centered around decolonizing the imagination, breaking down the notions of feminized labor, and anti-racism. They continue to harbor hope for a more sustainable humankind in the face of adversity and dreams of a future of a better world.
The 1/52 Project, launched in January, 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, thus the 1/52 Project. The project hopes to encourage early career designers from historically excluded groups with the aim of diversifying and strengthening the Broadway design community.
The grant criteria were created by, and adjudicated by, a world-class committee of BIPOC professional designers: Tony Award nominated costume designer Dede Ayite; projection designer David Bengali; set designer Wilson Chin; lighting designer Alan C. Edwards; Tony Award-winning sound designer Kai Harada; set designer Kimie Nishikawa; Tony Award-winning costume designer Paul Tazewell; costume designer Alejo Vietti: and costume designer Anita Yavich.
“I know I am extraordinarily lucky to be able to make a living as a theatre designer, much less to have the opportunity to do it on Broadway. Part of that luck was being born a middle-class white boy. The goal of The 1/52 Project is to give a little encouragement to a talented group of early career designers for whom doors may open less easily,” said Beowulf Boritt. “In supporting them, we hope to strengthen and diversify the profession. I'm immensely grateful for the generosity of the Broadway community for funding the idea and the hard work of the 1/52 Grant Committee for the impossible task of choosing from a large group of very talented applicants."
The current donor list features John Lee Beatty, Wendy Goldberg, Tony Meola, Nevin Steinberg, Kenneth Posner, Tony Meola, Lindsay Jones, Gregg Barnes, David Zinn, Takeshi Kata, Jennifer Tipton, Peter Nigrini, Jeff Croiter, David Rockwell, Paul Tazewell, Paloma Young, Kumiko Yoshii, Scott Pinkney, Jim Bay, JJ Janas, Philip Rosenberg, Bradley King, Michael Wolk, Susan L. Schulman, Alex Volckhausen, Michael Krass, Jason Cina, Brian Ronan, Roger Gindi and Gregory Victor, Christopher Akerlind, Derek McLane, Marcia Goldberg, Abbie Strassler, Rachel Hauck, Kimberly Powers, Jeff Sugg, Susan Hilferty, Kimie Nishikawa, Eugene Lee, Jessica Paz, David Korins, Elaine J McCarthy, Ken Posner, Ken Billington, Paul Smithyman, Scott Pask, Scott Lehrer, Christine Jones, Jane Cox, Beowulf Boritt, Toni-Leslie James, Donald Holder, Kai Harada, Drew Levy, Jenny and Jon Steingart, Brian Macdevitt, Tom Schumacher, and Natasha Katz.
The 1/52 Project is deeply grateful to all of its contributors but would like to acknowledge especially generous donations from Paul Tazewell, the Tony Award-winning costume designer of Hamilton; Nevin Steinberg, the Tony Award-winning sound designer of Hadestown; Brian McDevitt, the Tony Award-winning lighting designer of The Book of Mormon; David Korins, the Tony Award-nominated set designer of Hamilton; Gregg Barnes, the Tony Award-winning costume designer of The Drowsy Chaperone; and Thomas Schumacher, the Tony Award-winning producer of The Lion King.
Designers Simon Harding, Jeff Croiter, Elaine J. McCarthy, Nevin Steinberg, and Jeff Sugg, also helped manage and organize the 1/52 Project.
The 1/52 Project is primarily funded by donations from professional designers working on Broadway, but anyone is welcome to make a tax-deductible contribution at: https://www.oneeveryfiftytwo.org/contribute.
The 1/52 Project is partnered with TheFrontOffice Foundation, founded in 2019 by director/producer, Wendy C. Goldberg. TheFrontOffice is an entertainment development company that specializes in cross over content from live theater to new media. Fueled by the intersection of Goldberg's 20 years in the theater and her experiences as a Performance Director for Rockstar Games, TheFrontOffice develops content and stories for our times. TheFrontOffice Foundation, the company's charitable arm, was established in 2020 to support the live theatrical community during the time of industry shut down as well as the re-opening efforts. Our support happens in a multitude of ways including direct artist relief, commissions and grants. To date, we have partnered with TCG and SDCF on relief efforts. TheFrontOffice Foundation distributed additional mid-career relief grants to theater workers in March 2021 and to parents in June 2021. With corporate donors as well as individuals, these efforts have distributed a quarter of a million dollars in aid. TheFrontOffice works with Players Philanthropy Foundation as their Fiscal Sponsor.