Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Wagon Wheel Center for the Arts announced it has been awarded $1.4 million through the READI 2.0 Arts & Culture Initiative to support a transformational facility and programming expansion project.
The project, Wagon Wheel: Amplifying a Regional Cultural Anchor to Power Northeast Indiana’s Creative Economy, includes three capital investments: expansion of the theatre lobby and restrooms, including dedicated Artist-in-Residence studio space; renovations to the Conservatory, including essential repairs and the addition of a vocal classroom; and modernization of the theatre’s sound system, according to a provided news release.
Together, these capital improvements will unlock four major programming expansions: full implementation of Wagon Wheel’s Artist-in-Residence program, piloted last year with a professional artist working with local schools and community partners; full implementation of Broadway 360, a pre-professional training program for regional teens; the addition of a vocal instruction track in the Conservatory; and the reinstatement of the Wagon Wheel Concert Series.
“This award is a game changer for Wagon Wheel Center for the Arts,” said Sea Grandon, president of the Wagon Wheel Board of Directors. “We are incredibly grateful to the state of Indiana, the Indiana Economic Development Corporation and Lilly Endowment Inc. for recognizing both the tremendous cultural asset that Wagon Wheel already is, as well as our enormous potential.”
“Many community members and stakeholders stepped up to make our capital stack and project as strong and achievable as possible, including the K21 Health Foundation, the Ardelle and Theresa Glaze Foundation, the city of Warsaw and the Wagon Wheel Board of Directors. In addition, 13 other community partners wrote letters of support, and 78 professional alumni pledged in-kind donations of time, mentorship and promotion.
“This project is also built upon the strong foundational work of the past. We are now able to deploy capital funds given to the theatre by the Dane and Mary Louise Miller Foundation and many of our wonderful donors before the pandemic and honor their commitment and legacy. Finally, none of this would have been possible without Bruce Shaffner’s decades of thoughtful leadership, which preserved this extraordinary theatre-in-the-round and its legacy of world-class theatre in Warsaw.”
For 70 years, Wagon Wheel has brought nationally recognized artists to Northeast Indiana. Last year, Wagon Wheel sold 32,487 tickets to its professional productions alone, welcomed approximately 45,000 people across all programs and offerings, and served more than 4,500 schoolchildren through field trip programs, with more than half experiencing live theatre for the first time. Hundreds of young people also participate annually through youth theatre and Conservatory training, helping support a creative talent pipeline that now includes more than 25 Wagon Wheel alumni currently performing on Broadway or on national tours.
Wagon Wheel is one of the largest employers of non-touring artists in the region, the largest theatre-based performing arts campus in the state, one of the only theatres-in-the-round in the state, the oldest professional producing theatre in Indiana, and the only nonprofit arts organization in Indiana offering professional theatre, community theatre, youth theatre, Conservatory training and a symphony orchestra under one umbrella.
The READI 2.0 Arts & Culture Initiative award represents a major step forward, but it is also part of a broader community effort to invest in Wagon Wheel’s future. Community members who want to be part of this momentum are invited to support Wagon Wheel’s Next Act, a community giving initiative that offers donors an opportunity to support adjustments to programming during the construction schedule and additional capital improvements such as parking lot repaving, new signage, and façade improvements.
To learn more or support Wagon Wheel’s Next Act, visit wagonwheelcenter.org/nextact.
