The Little Venue That Could 2025 Grant Recipients
We are thrilled to announce the recipients of The Little Venue That Could Grant Program.
IndieSpace partnered with The Howard Gilman Foundation to award two-year $10,000 grants to NYC-based performance venues with annual budgets under $500,000. A weighted lottery system was used to determine grantees.
We were able to award ten venues!
Priority was given to venues located in the Bronx, Queens, and Staten Island; venues whose NEA funding was withdrawn or terminated; venues who were established by, for and are serving historically excluded artists; and who demonstrate values driven work through community impact, board and staff diversity, and accessibility. All applicants were then entered into a random lottery. This year, the program received 62 applications.
We would like to thank our The Little Venue That Could Review Committee. These individuals helped to read, review, and score all applications.
Azure Osborne-Lee (Board Secretary of JACK)
Carrie Blake (Research & Planning Consultant for the Arts)
Christine Bruno (Disability Inclusion Consultant)
Karesia Batan (Executive Director of Queensboro Dance Festival)
Maya Quetzali Gonzalez (former Grants Manager for the MAP Fund)
Sándie Luna (Executive Director of ID Studio Theater).
IndieSpace also thanks Alejandra Duque Cifuentes of ADC Consulting for her guidance with the original formation of this program in 2023.
We are grateful to everyone who shared The Little Venue That Could throughout the NYC arts community. The response from venues was beyond what we imagined, and we look forward to this program serving as a stepping stone toward stronger, sustained support for small venues throughout New York City.