The total contribution represents a $125,000 general operating grant plus $50,000 in assistance for COVID-19-related contingencies. 

Asolo Repertory Theatre will receive two grants totaling $175,000 from the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation, including a $125,000 one-year award for general operating support. In addition, the foundation elected to give Asolo Rep a further $50,000 in assistance for navigating uncertainties resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We are so proud to have the longstanding support and partnership of the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation,” said Asolo Rep Artistic Director Michael Donald Edwards. “Their commitment to the community is awe-inspiring, and their generosity has empowered us as we look forward to our upcoming 2020-2021 season.”

On March 20, 2020, the Toulmin Foundation awarded Asolo Rep a $125,000 one-year grant to be dispersed throughout Asolo Rep’s extensive artistic, educational and community engagement programs. The foundation then generously added an additional $50,000 to help redress Asolo Rep’s truncated 2019-2020 season and to plan for uncertain economic conditions going forward. “Virginia was the ultimate cheerleader for those causes she was so passionate about. She believed strongly in Michael Edwards, and in turn, in Asolo Rep. We at the Foundation are always considering what Virginia would want most with her contributions. It is with this in mind, that the Toulmin Foundation is providing this matching grant challenge,” said William Villafranco, Co-Trustee of the Toulmin Foundation.

On March 13, shortly before the scheduled opening of Lauren Yee’s The Great Leap, Asolo Rep leadership made the difficult decision to suspend the remainder of its 2019-2020 season—more than 100 performances—due to the coronavirus pandemic. The safety of artists, staff, volunteers, audience and community remains paramount to the theatre, and in canceling those performances Asolo Rep was following the guidelines of public health officials and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Ticket-holders were encouraged to convert the price of their tickets to a full, tax-deductible donation to Asolo Rep.

The Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation has been a consistent and substantial supporter of Asolo Rep since the foundation was founded in 2011. In addition to this year’s major general operating grant, the Toulmin Foundation has in the past provided a number of special grants to Asolo Rep, including support for the creation of the Associate Artistic Director position in the fall of 2018, sponsorship for the annual June family show, and funding for the implementation of the Tessitura database and ticketing system.

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