Two Gay Artists Win Huge Knight Arts Grants

Meet the two gay artists who walked away with sizable grants from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

Dito van Reigersberg's Pig Iron Theatre Company was among this year's Knight Arts Grant winners.

Way back in January, I posted about six LGBTQ-related artistic groups up for the 2013 Knight Arts Challenge, an annual contest run by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation that doles out tens of thousands of dollars to local creative types who have “the best ideas for engaging and enriching Philadelphia through the arts.” Well, the awards were finally announced last night and I’m happy to say that two gay artists walked away winners, two who just so happen to be boyfriends.

Dito van Reigersberg‘s (aka Martha Graham Cracker) Pig Iron Theatre Company won $60,000 “to merge two indie-arts genres by translating the music of rock band Dr. Dog into a theatrical spectacle.”

And BalletX, run by Artistic Director and van Reigersberg’s other half Matthew Neenan, won $25,000 to “further the careers of young dancers by both teaching them the art of dance instruction and having them instruct local schools.”

Many congrats to these fellows and the 43 other local winners whose winnings totaled a whopping $2 million. You can check out that full list over on The Philly Post.

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