higher education
medical innovation
cultural institutions
vulnerable families
The Tow Foundation supports creative undertakings in the world of music, theater and electronic media with the goal of providing opportunities for new or emerging talent to present their craft and to enhance audience access. Changes in the world mean that the younger generation has developed tastes that do not fit into classical forms and presentation. We strive to create a nurturing ground for creative people to develop their ideas and make them accessible to today’s new audiences, recognizing myriad forms of transmission and the multitude of ways the arts can be experienced.
Lincoln Center Theater
New York, NY
To construct a 131-seat theater to house LCT3, Lincoln Center Theater’s nurturing, risk-taking laboratory for new artists and audiences. Each year the theater will produce a season of new plays and musicals. Lincoln Center Theater envisions the Claire Tow Theater as an arena where emerging artist can hone their skills and possibly use their experience as a stepping-stone to LCT’s larger venues. In order to encourage attendance by a younger, more diverse audience, all tickets to performances in The Claire Tow Theater will be an affordable $20.
Brooklyn College of the City University of New York
New York, NY
Leonard and Claire Tow Center for the Performing Arts
To construct and furnish a new building that will house the College’s music and theater programs and provide collaborative access to other performing and visual arts. The design includes a modular theater, an ensemble hall, advanced performance space and rehearsal studios. This project breaks new ground as the first public/private partnership supporting higher education at Brooklyn College.
Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts
Katonah, NY
General Operating Support
To enable Caramoor to extend its reach to a broader audience and support the creative process for both pre-professional and professional musicians, as well as to introduce children, in a participatory way, to making and appreciating music. Caramoor is home to metropolitan New York’s largest annual outdoor music festival. It is also known for its year-round concerts, lectures and educational programs.
Educational Broadcasting Corporation/Thirteen
New York, NY
General Operating Support
To support core programming in news and public affairs. Thirteen is a leading provider of educational, informational and cultural products and services. It uses media to serve new audiences, offer cultural enrichment, facilitate responsible citizenship, and create opportunities for experimentation.
Long Wharf Theatre
New Haven, CT
The Claire Tow Stage
A challenge grant to support the renovation of the Long Wharf’s aging infrastructure and equipment in order to provide a more welcoming, comfortable experience for its audience. The renovations will include the installation of new, energy efficient heating and air conditioning systems; a state-of-the-art lighting grid and comfortable seats with more spacious leg room. In addition the funds raised will allow the Long Wharf to create new eye catching signage and an expanded, inviting lobby area. In honor of the Foundation’s gift the performance space within the C. Norman Schenck III Mainstage will be named for Claire Tow a long-time Director of both the Long Wharf Theater and Tow Foundation.
General Operating Support
To support the organization’s programs and activities including the Student Theatre Series, which expose middle and high school students from schools across Connecticut to live performances and post-show symposia, as well as offer educators information packets and video study guides to make the students’ experience as powerful as possible. Long Wharf is recognized as a leader in American theater, producing fresh and imaginative revivals of classics and modern plays, rediscoveries of neglected works, and a variety of world and American premieres.
New York Public Radio
New York, NY
A challenge grant to support New York Public Radio’s ambitious plans to be a leading digital presence by building an organizational infrastructure with the potential to create new sources of income. At NYPR the transition to a digital culture has been ongoing for the past several years through the successful expansion of the It’s A Free Country website and wide range of podcasts including the phenomenally popular Radio Lab and a new series, Here’s The Thing hosted by actor and political activist Alec Baldwin. The Foundation’s support will help NYPR to build the technical capacity required to move toward the creation of a more seamless integration of news content across its radio and digital platforms.