Four St. Louis arts organizations will use $250,000 in grants to build audiences

The Black Rep will continue its Phoenix Rising performance series, which began in June with events at the Pulitzer Arts Center and National Blues Museum. The series included several dance performances exploring elements of African American life and culture, and a salute to Bessie Smith by vocalist Denise Thimes at the museum.

One three-part dance event included performances inside the Pulitzer; at Park-Like, the foundation’s outdoor location across the street; and finally in the open-air Spring Church nearby.

“It’s about doing unconventional work in unconventional spaces,” said Black Rep founder and artistic director Ron Himes. This weekend, he’ll be saluted with the Visionary Leader Award by the Association for Theatre in Public Education at its annual conference in Austin, Texas.

The Phoenix Rising series will continue in September, Himes said, with more performances away from the theater’s home base at Washington University.

“What we hope is that it will help us to expose our work to new audiences and hopefully be able to, like a Pied Piper, bring those audiences back to the main stage,” he said.