From the Charlotte Observer - by Julie York Coppens
Collaborative Arts, the two-year-old theater troupe behind Shakespeare on The Green and other crowd-pleasing productions, has landed a $49,000 grant from the Women’s Impact Fund.
A collective-giving arm of the Foundation for the Carolinas since 2002, the Women’s Impact Fund will hand out $344,000 this year to nonprofits in Mecklenburg County. This was the first time a grant was awarded in the arts; other recipients include the YWCA of Central Carolinas, Inc., and Advantage Carolina.
Collaborative Arts co-directors Elise Wilkinson and Joe Copley accepted their award at the philanthropic group’s annual meeting Wednesday. On Friday, Shakespeare on The Green will return with a Southern-style “As You Like It,” performed for free over three weeks in the quaint pocket park uptown.
“We were so impressed with them. Boy, they were sharp,” the fund’s Jane Ratteree said of the Collaborative Arts team. She described Wilkinson and Copley as passionate theater artists with real-world backgrounds — Wilkinson works for Wachovia; Copley has his own Web-design and consulting business — that helped Shakespeare on The Green prevail over proposals by more established arts groups.
“This grant comes at a critical time for us,” Wilkinson said. “It’s very difficult to get support in that start-up phase. This one grant will have a profound effect on what we can do.”
Already on the agenda for 2008: two summer shows instead of one, more free workshops for kids and teen-agers, professional training and better pay for the artists.
“Single-handedly, they (the Women’s Impact Fund) have expanded this festival,” said Wilkinson, who’s already spending some of the cash on ads for “As You Like It.” Last year’s performances drew some 2,000 to The Green, largely on word of mouth; she’d like to see crowds of 7,000 or more. FREE OUTDOOR SHAKESPEARE