The grant has made it possible for our ambitious greening goals of creating beautiful, innovative costumes out of recycled fabric with the expertise of our talented costume designer Olga Ferreira. She selected unique pre-loved fabrics from Materials For The Arts to create fabulous original designs. We reduced our impact on the environment by reusing pre-existing materials and created a paid opportunity for our designer. In addition, the funds covered refreshments for participants as we collected trash at the Inwood park cleanup event which helped increase participant turnout.

We involved the company artists and admin staff by encouraging them to participate in our Inwood Park cleanup. We partnered with an existing organization, RecycleDay Morning, to maximize participants at the event, drawing on their existing network. Lastly, we utilized our social media presence on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to increase awareness of our greening projects and encourage engagement and participation from the public.

We would be thrilled to apply for the NYC Greening Grant in the upcoming year! We’ve accomplished seven greening initiatives over the past two years as a result of this grant and it has encouraged our entire company, from the artists to the admin and production staff, to make more eco-consious choices and encourage others to engage in this greening dialogue.