Baltimore (1.14.2025) - Chesapeake Shakespeare Company (CSC) is delighted to announce it has been approved by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) for a Grants for Arts Projects award of $50,000. This grant will support the third season of Chesapeake Shakespeare Company’s newest community engagement initiative, Shakespeare Beyond, in summer 2025.

Shakespeare Beyond brings live performances of Shakespeare and educational arts experiences to public parks and spaces across CSC’s home city of Baltimore and the State of Maryland—all provided completely free of charge to the public. Dedicated to uplifting and building community, Shakespeare Beyond partners with local artists, nonprofits, and audiences to create collaborative and relevant arts experiences for all.

In summer 2025, CSC’s one-of-a-kind mobile “Shakespeare Wagon” will roll into more than twenty communities—from Charm City neighborhoods like Charles Village and Cherry Hill, to Western Maryland and the Eastern Shore—bringing joyful, accessible, and locally informed theatre to people across the State of Maryland. The Shakespeare Wagon will also set up shop in six neighborhoods for week-long residencies, providing community members with opportunities to engage in free performance and education experiences taught by local artists.

“This summer, we are thrilled to give even more Baltimoreans and Marylanders the opportunity to see Shakespeare in their own neighborhoods, without the barriers of ticket costs or transportation,” says CSC Producing Executive Director Lesley Malin. “We believe in the power of classic theatre to unite us in empathy and community. With support from the NEA, we are excited to expand Shakespeare Beyond’s reach in summer 2025 and bring even more friends, neighbors, and communities together through art.”

In fiscal year 2025, the NEA will award 1,127 Grants for Arts Projects awards nationwide totaling more than $31.8 million. “The NEA is proud to continue our nearly 60 years of supporting the efforts of organizations and artists that help to shape our country’s vibrant arts sector and communities of all types across our nation,” said NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD. “It is inspiring to see the wide range of creative projects taking place, including Shakespeare Beyond.

For more information on other projects included in the NEA’s grant announcement, visit arts.gov/news