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CONVERGENCE-CONTINUUM GOT A SURPRISE NATIONAL AWARD FROM THE ROBERT RAUSCHENBERG FOUNDATION!
The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation (New York) selected 16 arts organizations from around the country this year to award grants to, and convergence-continuum is one of them! This three-year, $10,000-a-year grant is not anything that we (or any of the other recipients) applied for. It’s done by anonymous nomination from local arts leaders, and came as a complete surprise. The Foundation selects arts organizations from culturally rich, but under-funded regions. This year the regions were Cleveland, Boise, Buffalo, Kansas City and Phoenix. And by the way, not only are the grants a surprise, but also kind of a mystery. They don’t reveal who the nominators are. (But clearly, someone really likes us!) For more on the Foundation and the awards check out their website at http://rauschenbergfoundation.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=143&Itemid=104

Thanks to all of you who have made this huge honor possible! The grants are intended not only to keep struggling arts organizations going, but to help them expand their programs and activities, and to take new risks. I’ve got a number of ideas about what to do with the “bonus cash” this will leave us, and I’d like to hear yours, too! Please send me your wish lists! You can send them to me at clydesimon@sbcglobal.net. I’d love to hear from you.

Went to convergence last night to see two plays from the current NEOMFA. If you’re in the market for plays written by emerging playwrights, that’s the place to go.

Lasts for the rest of this weekend and next weekend. I was highly impressed by Michael Laurenty’s play Dye Jung last night, which is worth seeing for the several factors, including a plot that twists and keeps you on your feet, language that is vibrant and sort of Mac-Wellman-ish at times. And great acting by Zak Hudak who switches personalities deftly throughout. Fun times at concon will keep you warm on a snowy night!