The Texas Shakespeare Festival at Kilgore College has been awarded a $10,000 Art Works grant from the National Endowment for the Arts for the TSF’s Roadshow Educational Tour.

With the NEA Art Works grant, the TSF can bring free abridged productions of Shakespeare and workshops into East Texas schools and in communities throughout the state this spring.

The Art Works category focuses on the creation of art that meets the highest standards of excellence, public engagement with diverse and excellent art, lifelong learning in the arts and the strengthening of communities through the arts.

“We are very proud at TSF to be producing arts education and outreach that’s receiving this sort of national acknowledgment,” said TSF Roadshow director Matthew Simpson. “This grant allows us to make a deeper impact, to reach more students in our area and to spread the word of the incredible resources available at TSF and Kilgore College.”

More than $30 million in grants were awarded by the NEA in its first major funding announcement of fiscal year 2017.

“The arts are for all of us, and by supporting organizations, such as the Texas Shakespeare Festival, the National Endowment for the Arts, is providing more opportunities for the public to engage with the arts,” NEA chairman Jane Chu said. “Whether in a theater, a town square, a museum or a hospital, the arts are everywhere and make our lives richer.”

“We want to make sure that all students are able to experience the magic that TSF has created for 32 years,” Simpson said. “If they are unable to come to us, we will find a way to bring it to them.”

For more information on the Texas Shakespeare Festival, visit www.texasshakespeare.com.

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

– Kilgore College