Wyoming Humanities Awards Spark Grant to Relative Theatrics

Wyoming Humanities (WYH) is pleased to present a Spark Grant award to Relative Theatrics in support of “Read, Rant, Relate: Igniting Conversation through Theatre.”

Relative Theatrics will use the funding to continue its free play-reading program. The four-part series, hosted at the UW Art Museum in conjunction with a thematically paired art exhibit, uses actors to activate text by reading a play aloud. Following each play a humanities scholar leads a discussion on the themes of the play and how they relate to our Wyoming communities today. 

According to Anne Mason, executive director of Relative Theatrics, the organization will partner each play with a social justice group or event at UW such as the Shepard Symposium, the Wyoming Latina Youth Conference, the MLK Days of Dialogue, and other community organizations. The plays tackle topics such as race relations, diversity, feminism, American values, heteronormativity, politics, culture, social justice, and, ultimately, voices that often go unheard. 

This next event is a reading and discussion of “Frozen Fluid” by Fly Jamerson at 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 15, and can be accessed here. It will be preceded by a virtual tour of the complementary art museum exhibit and will be followed by a Zoom discussion with Dr. Patrick Konesko. 

Future events in this series will continue through 2022.

Spark Grants provide funding to Wyoming communities and nonprofits for programming related to the humanities. Projects are selected based on communities’ needs and programs designed to spark new insights and perspectives. Funding is provided through the Wyoming Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources. Grantees provide equal or greater matching funds and in-kind contributions. WYH grants generate significant social and economic impact five times greater than state funding. 

About Wyoming Humanities 
Wyoming Humanities is the Wyoming affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities and is one of 55 state humanities councils. Conceived by a group of University of Wyoming leaders in 1970 and approved by the NEH in 1971. Its mission is to use the public humanities to strengthen Wyoming’s democracy, expand the Wyoming narrative, and promote engaged communities. Wyoming Humanities is an independent nonprofit funded by the NEH, a state legislative appropriation, corporate and foundation grants, and private donations. ​