26 Mar 2018 UCA receives $500,000 grant

The Bridges-Larson Foundation has awarded a $500,000 grant to the University of Central Arkansas Department of Film, Theatre and Creative Writing in the College of Fine Arts & Communication.

Awarded this past fall, the grant is the largest gift in the history of the department, and $100,000 will be awarded over five years. 

Kick-started by director and screenwriter James Bridges — who is also a 2012 UCA Distinguished Alumnus — and actor and writer Jack Larson, the Bridges-Larson Foundation has for years supported the creative work of Department of Film, Theatre and Creative Writing students. In lieu of continuing to give $10,000 a year for the department’s James Bridges Performing Arts Scholarship, the foundation gifted the $500,000 grant as a way to more directly impact the lives of students. 

The department has created three categories for grant use: Bridges-Larson Experiential Learning Initiative, Bridges-Larson Internship Stipends and Bridges-Larson Film Production Grants. 

The Bridges-Larson Experiential Learning Initiative will give students free access to live theater events, film festivals, writer workshops and national conferences to diversify their experiences and create networking opportunities.

Bridges-Larson Internship Stipends will provide travel, lodging and living expenses for students completing internships, and the stipend will also create paid internships for the Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre. 

Bridges-Larson Film Production Grants will support the production costs of films created by both undergraduate and graduate digital filmmaking students. 

“Our thought is that these funds will go directly to what was wished for by the foundation: to have a direct impact on the student,” said Mike Gunter, interim chair of the Department of Film, Theatre and Creative Writing. 

Gunter said the department has already begun using the first installment of the grant. Graduate students in creative writing attended the Association of Writers and Writing Programs conference in Tampa, Fla., this month; film students attended this month’s SXSW Film Festival in Austin, Texas; and theater students will attend a weekend of the Humana Festival of New American Plays in Louisville, Ky.  

“Jack Larson, remarking on the 50th anniversary of The Adventures of Superman, said that ‘the biggest honor is proving Andy Warhol wrong — that we can get more than 15 minutes of fame.’ Through the continuing generosity of the Bridges-Larson Foundation, many promising students in the [film, theater and creative writing] fields have been and will continue to be given similar opportunities for success,” said Terry Wright, dean of the College of Fine Arts and Communication. 

Gunter said the department is currently planning how next year’s grant installment will further support student experiences.

For more information on the Department of Film, Theatre and Creative Writing, visit uca.edu/ftcw.