I wrote this on Facebook as part of terraNOVA Collective’s $10 toward $10K campaign:

Six years ago, terraNOVA Collective experienced a resurgence with the production of my play BABY STEPS, which played in the The Lion in Theatre Row. Since then, the company grew and began many programs including the annual soloNOVA Arts Festival, which celebrates the best in solo performers and visual artists, Groundbreakers, a developmental program for new plays & playwrights, a Touring Wing, bringing the best terraNOVA has to offer to universities and presenters across the USA, and now a Musical Theater Development program.

I am very proud of all the work we’ve done. It’s hard work sustaining a not-for-profit theatre organization in New York City – especially in the current economic climate. It’s terrifying, sometimes, in fact. Still there are so many people who are supportive. We just brought on a managing director and literary manager for the first time. We grew our board of directors this season by 6 people, and they’ve been extremely helpful in generating more interest and support for terraNOVA. We also started a residency in the DR2 Theatre this past fall; our partnership with this wonderful organization has been a great experience, and we’re looking forward to seeing it grow.

Still, with times being what they are, we find ourselves falling short. terraNOVA still needs $10K to make it through into this next season. It’s always a conundrum, asking friends, family and colleagues for money. Any not-for-profit’s base is made up primarily from its individual donors, and we’re very fortunate to have that kind of contribution. It’s been difficult to reach out to individuals this year because we’re not the only ones hurting – our base is feeling it quite intensely, too. We looked at this gap and realized that we weren’t going to close it by asking 20 people to give $500…or 10 people to give $1000. No one’s got that kind of cash to blow right now. It hit us – why not ask our base to give what they can? I don’t have much, but I can give $10. Most of the people who make up our base are like me, so we’re reaching out in a tight time to see if our friends, family and colleagues can help us get through this tight time.

It’s only 10 bucks, but it’ll help more than you can imagine.

Very best,
James (JD) Carter
Associate Artistic Director & soloNOVA Lead Curator
terraNOVA Collective

More information on terraNOVA can be found at http://www.terranovacollective.org