Fractured Atlas Annual Benefit Gala

“Art is not a mirror held up to reality but a hammer with which to shape it.”
— Berthold Brecht

It is no secret that these are troubling times for theatre artists. The support structures they have come to rely on are dwindling and funding cuts that have plagued the profession for years show no sign of going away.

Fractured Atlas, the nation’s largest and fastest growing arts service organization, will hold its annual Benefit on Thursday November 10th, 2005. The event will be held at The West Side Loft, (336 West 37th St) from 7-11pm, and will feature live music, art exhibits, open bar, light fare and performances from the best and brightest independent artists working today.

Fractured Atlas supports over 2,000 independent artists nationwide with its affordable healthcare, fiscal sponsorship, grants, and marketing and publicity programs. We supply critical tools for independent theatre artists so they can focus on their creative responsibilities. By nurturing today’s vital but underrepresented voices, Fractured Atlas plays a role in fostering a dynamic and diverse cultural landscape of tomorrow.

The Fractured Atlas community of artists is one of the largest and most diverse of its kind and includes representatives from every geographic region in the country. By attending the Fractured Atlas benefit, you are helping to address the issues and obstacles that unite artists in their struggle to create. From the actor in New York to the performance artist in San Francisco to the director in Austin to the designer in Chicago, artists are realizing their strength in numbers and Fractured Atlas is helping them leverage it. We are committed to supporting the people who interpret our past, define our present, and imagine our future.

Exhibitors at the benefit include American Abstract Artists, the Phatory Gallery, painter Ellen Priest, Bill Hayward’s American Memory Project (photography), and audio sculptor Michelle Rosenberg. The event will feature performances from the Opera Company of Astoria, Misnomer Dance Theater, music from the Karel Husa Project, physical theater from The Big Bad Hour of Fun, and a screening from Simon & Goodman Picture Company.