The Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs has received $2 million from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to benefit the Coconut Grove Playhouse project. This major gift, announced as part of a new $37 million investment to support the arts and anchor institutions, brings the return of regional theater at the Coconut Grove Playhouse one step closer to reality.
“We are grateful to the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation for its extraordinary leadership in support of our cultural community and for this generous $2 million grant to Miami-Dade County for the Coconut Grove Playhouse project’” stated Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez. “Along with the County’s secured funding, this grant ensures that we can build an outstanding regional theater designed to the very highest standards of quality. Just as importantly, Knight Foundation support is a strong affirmation that our project is the right one for Coconut Grove, for our arts community, and for Miami-Dade County. We remain committed to returning great theater to Coconut Grove and to bringing the Playhouse back to life for generations of our community’s families and kids.”
The Knight Foundation also named Joe Adler, GableStage’s producing artistic director, as one of the 2018 Knight Arts Champions, each with a $10,000 contribution to be donated to an artist or arts organization of his/her choice. Adler directed the gift to arts education nonprofit Arts for Learning, for its robust student programs in the heart of the West Grove community, reaching underserved children and families in the area.
GableStage, an award winning local theater company, will manage and operate the new 300-seat state-of-the-art theater, part of the Coconut Grove Playhouse revival project. The new theater facility will be a hub for K-12 educational programs for theater and will be instrumental in supporting the collaboration between GableStage and Florida International University, including the development of a Master of Fine Arts degree program in theater in South Florida.
For more information about the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs’ partnership with Florida International University, GableStage and the Miami Parking Authority for the Coconut Grove Playhouse project visit www.miamidadearts.org.
About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
The Knight Foundation is a national foundation with strong local roots. The Foundation invests in journalism, in the arts, and in the success of cities where brothers John S. and James L. Knight once published newspapers. The Knight Foundation’s goal is to foster informed and engaged communities, which they believe are essential for a healthy democracy.
About the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council develop cultural excellence, diversity and participation throughout Miami-Dade County by strategically creating and promoting opportunities for artists and cultural organizations, and our residents and visitors who are their audiences. The Department receives funding through the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners, The Children’s Trust, the National Endowment for the Arts, the State of Florida through the Florida Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture, and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Other support and services are provided by TicketWeb for the Culture Shock Miami program, the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau, the South Florida Cultural Consortium and the Tourist Development Council.