Recently, several Arts and Education Council grantees and tenants in our arts incubator, the Centene Center for the Arts, have garnered local and national recognition for their artistic work and community impact.

Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Shakespeare Festival St. Louis, Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis (all A&E grantees) and SATE (a Centene Center for the Arts tenant) have all been nominated for St. Louis Theatre Circle Awards. Now In its seventh year, the St. Louis Theater Circle Awards recognizes the accomplishments of locally produced professional theater. 

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis led the way with 21 nominations. Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis’s production of "A Streetcar Named Desire" earned 11 nominations. Shakespeare Festival St. Louis was nominated for eight awards, including seven for “Into the Breeches!” which was part of their newest program In the Works. Opera Theatre of Saint Louis secured six nominations for their productions of “An American Soldier”, “La Traviata”, and “Regina”. Centene Center for the Arts tenant SATE was recognized with three nominations for their new works “Doctor Faustus, or the Modern Prometheus” written by John Wolbers and “Run-On Sentence” written by Stacie Lents.* Awardees will be announced at a gala ceremony on March 25 at the Loretto-Hilton Center for the Performing Arts.

In addition to local recognition, nine grantees and Centene Center for the Arts tenants were recently awarded Art Works grants from the National Endowment of the Arts. Art Works is the NEA’s largest category and focuses on funding the creation of art that meets the highest standards of excellence, public engagement with art, lifelong learning in the arts and strengthening of communities through the arts.

American Voices (a Centene Center for the Arts tenant), COCA, Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, Cinema St. Louis, Metro Theater Company, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Shakespeare Festival St. Louis and Sheldon Arts Foundation (all A&E grantees) have been awarded a total of $195,000 in funding for programing that benefits the greater St. Louis community.

This local and national recognition is a reminder of the strength of our arts community. The organizations the Arts and Education Council invests in through grants and programs promote the elements of a vibrant community by recognizing that the arts spark innovation, energize communities, inspire our kids, build bridges between cultures and bring us joy.

Your gift to the Arts and Education Council furthers our ability to invest in organizations like these that make the St. Louis region a more vibrant arts community for all.

Give today

*"Run-On Sentence" was originally commissioned by Centene Center of the Arts tenant and Arts and Education Council grantee Prison Performing Arts as part of their New Plays Initiative. The play was first performed at Vandalia at the Women's Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center. Following the premiere, PPA approached SATE and made the script available to them royalty-free as a collaborative effort.