Tony Award-winning set designer Beowulf Boritt, founder of the 1/52 Project, has announced that applications are now open for the grant program’s 2026 cycle.
Applications are being accepted from Feb. 2 until March 15.
Launched in January 2022, the 1/52 Project provides grants of up to $17,500 to early-career designers from historically underrepresented groups, including women. Funded primarily by designers with shows on Broadway, who are encouraged to donate one week of their year’s royalties, the program has thus far given out over $500,000 in grants.
“The idea seemed almost unrealistically idealistic when we created it,” said Boritt in a statement. “But a half million dollars in donations later, with 35 talented recipients working in the industry, these grants are clearly helping answer a financial need for early-career designers, and allowing the extraordinary generosity of the Broadway community to help meet that need.”
In 2024, the 1/52 Project was presented with an Obie Award for its work in helping to change the face of theater.
2025 recipients included costume designers Rodrigo Muñoz and Haydee Zelideth and, hair and wig designers Mary YoungMi Lee and Cassie Janay Ann Williams, lighting designer Erica Lauren Maholmes, makeup designer Earon Chew Nealey, production designers Luis Garcia and Jacqueline (JQ) Reed, scenic designer Sasha Jin Schwartz, set designer Alex Meyer and sound designers Germán Martínez and Emily Duncan Wilson.
A number of businesses have served over the four years of the 1/52 Project as community partners. In the past year these have included 4 Wall Entertainment, Christie Lites, Global Scenic Services, Hudson Scenic Studios, iWeiss, John Gore Organization (parent company to Broadway News), Masque Sound & Recording Corp, the Miranda Family Fund, the Morgan Fund, PRG, Proof Productions, the Rockwell Group, Rose Brand and Showman Fabricators.
Semifinalists of the 2026 edition of the 1/52 Project will be notified by early May. Recipients will be notified after Labor Day.
