Naatak Theater Group recipient of $10,000 grant from Knight Foundation

SAN FRANCISCO (Diya TV) — The Naatak theater company, one of the country’s most prestigious Indian-American theater companies, has been awarded a $10,000 grant from the Knight Foundation for being a vocal voice in the community.

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation announced Friday that it awarded 16 organizations in San Jose grants for a range of projects, including a play about Frankenstein that uses virtual reality and a new mobile radio station.

For the past six years, the foundation has awarded arts organizations in San Jose and seven other cities millions of dollars in grants for community projects.

“We work with grantees and discuss a number projects that we can narrow down to what they’re excited about and what best fits our strategy,” Amanda Thompson, the Knight Foundation’s officer of the arts, said. This year, the Knight Foundation is dishing out $400,000 to arts organizations in San Jose, with many of the grants going to projects focused on San Jose’s diverse communities.

Naatak will direct the grant towards a new production for 2017 that combines ideas from India’s past and America’s present, with an emphasis on how the two come together for the local Indian American community.

The main goal of the Knight Foundation, Thompson says, is to support local art, because “if you care about art, it makes you care about your community.”

“We’re not importing anything,” Thompson said. “There’s already a lot of great art that reflects the community.