Richmond Civic Theatre receives $35K grant

Richmond Civic Theatre has received $35,000 to improve its aging technical equipment that has threatened the reliability of its performances and limited its creative capabilities.

The annual competitive Ball State University Community Engagement for the Arts Grant began in 2022 to demonstrate Ball State’s commitment beyond the Muncie campus to community engagement through the arts.

“Being awarded a grant like this is a testament to the work we are doing to create the very best possible theater experience for our community,” said John Faas, RCT executive director, in a news release. “The board and staff combined were elated to hear the news.”

The grant goes to an East Central Indiana community arts-focused organization or program. It’s intended to assist initiatives across all creative fields that promote public awareness and appreciation of the arts.

“The arts are vital to the health of our communities — they bring people together, stimulate economic growth, and foster creative thinking both within and beyond the arts,” said Seth Beckman, dean of Ball State’s College of Fine Arts and chair of the grant committee. “We applaud RCT, and indeed all of this year’s applicants, for demonstrating that the arts are not only alive, but thriving in our region.”

RCT’s mission is to create “live community theater experiences that engage, entertain, educate, and enlighten.” The historic theater will use the grant to modernize the theater’s core technical systems to significantly enhance production quality, audience experience and volunteer engagement.

“In recent years, we’ve made great strides to improve our tech program, but this grant will make a very big impact, all at once, and noticeably so,” Faas said.

Audiences will notice improvements to the theater’s aging sound, video and communication infrastructure that has limited the theater’s creative capabilities and threatened the reliability of the performances. These upgrades will bring RCT’s technical standards in line with professional regional theaters while staying true to its community-centered mission.

“I cannot wait for our volunteers and audiences to experience the elevated production values and overall experience,” Faas said. “RCT is already a gem in downtown Richmond, and source of pride in our community. This grant will elevate our programming in ways we have only dreamed of to this point.”