Actors Bridge Ensemble to Receive Grant
from the National Endowment for the Arts

January 11, 2022, Nashville, TN—Actors Bridge Ensemble has been approved for a $10,000 Grants for Arts Projects award to support the creation of a multigenerational, multicultural performance piece centering the voices of the female-identifying Nashvillians. Led by Producing Artistic Director Vali Forrister in collaboration with Tasneem Ansariyah Grace and Cynthia C. Harris, this project will be developed over the next two years.

This project is among 1,248 projects across America totaling $28,840,000 that were selected to receive this first round of the fiscal year 2022 funding in the Grants for Arts Projects category. 

“The National Endowment for the Arts is proud to support arts projects like this one from Actors Bridge Ensemble that help support the community’s creative economy,” said NEA Acting Chair Ann Eilers. “Actors Bridge Ensemble in Nashville is among the arts organizations nationwide that are using the arts as a source of strength, a path to well-being, and providing access and opportunity for people to connect and find joy through the arts.”

“One of the most subversive things theater can do is to teach people they are not alone, explains ABE Producing Artistic Director Vali Forrister.  “I believe women and girls find their strength when they talk about their experiences with their bodies in sickness and in health, how they have navigated intimacy, relationships, family, children, and how they have recovered from gender-based violence. This is the guiding inspiration for this project. I am honored to collaborate with the visionary talents of Cynthia Harris and Tasneem Ansariyah Grace to bring it to life.” 

“We are thrilled to imagine the voices we bring to the stage as a two-way window into the multi-dimensional world of women. We imagine this art will embody how women – of various ages, ancestry and aptitude – embody lives that demand, design and defend expansion and liberation,” adds collaborator Tasneem Ansariyah Grace. 

“We set off again in another journey of discovery. I’m delighted to explore new narratives and expand our creative community,” says collaborator Cynthia C. Harris.

Please note, there may be a delay in the distribution of some grant awards as the NEA and all of the federal government are operating under a continuing budget resolution which currently expires on February 18, 2022.

For more information on other projects included in the Arts Endowment grant announcement, visit arts.gov/news.

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