The South Dakota Shakespeare Festival has received a $22,000 grant from Arts Midwest.
Arts Midwest funds a set of programs called Shakespeare in american communities. It funds apprenticeships, school partnerships, and work with students in the juvenile detention centers.
The grant from Arts Midwest funds South Dakota Shakespeare Festival’s work with students at the Minnehaha County Juvenile Detention Center.
The grant allows the South Dakota Shakespeare Festival to bring programming to the Juvenile detention center including workshops, performances, and classes.
Rebecca Bailey, Executive Artistic Director of the South Dakota Shakespeare Festival told Siouxland Public Media on Friday, programming from the Shakespeare Festival allows students to find safety and confidence within themselves and helps them build positive relationships with their peers.
Bailey also said that the Shakespeare festival brought the first act of Romeo and Juliet to the juvenile detention center, and out of all the students, only one has seen live theater.
The grant will be distributed throughout the 2025-2026 fiscal year.
