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Contacts:
Rick Miramontez / Morgan Zysman
rick@omdkc.com / morgan@omdkc.com
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, PLEASE

THE 1/52 PROJECT
ANNOUNCES
$177,500.00 IN GRANTS
DISTRIBUTED TO 11 EARLY CAREER DESIGNER RECIPIENTS

NOW IN ITS FIFTH YEAR,
FINANCIAL GRANT PROGRAM HAS RAISED OVER $675,000
SUPPORTING A TOTAL OF 46 EARLY-CAREER DESIGNERS
FROM HISTORICALLY EXCLUDED GROUPS
TO DIVERSIFY AND STRENGTHEN BROADWAY DESIGN COMMUNITY

HONOREE RECEPTION PLANNED FOR
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 28
AT CIVILIAN HOTEL

New York, NY (September 9, 2026) –The 1/52 Project, the Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre and OBIE award-winning financial grant program founded by Tony Award-winning set designer Beowulf Boritt, announced today the eleven early-career designer recipients selected for the 2026 cycle to benefit from $177,500.00 in grants. Applicants were chosen based on talent, creativity, need, innovation, and potential for future excellence in the professional theatrical field, and each of the recipients will receive grants up to $17,500.00.

The eleven 2026 recipients are Bentley Heydt (Lighting Designer), Calypso Michelet (Costume Designer), Colleen Doherty (Lighting Designer), Derek Alfano (Wig Designer), Eme Ospina-López (Projection Designer), Jonah Bobilin (Lighting Designer), Katerina Vitaly (Projection Designer), Riw Rakkulchon (Set Designer), Salvador Zamora (Sound Designer), Shartoya Jn. Baptiste (Set Designer), and Zoë Hurwitz (Set Designer).

To download the 2026 recipients’ headshots and graphic, please click here.

The eleven grants will be presented at a reception at The Civilian Hotel on Monday, September 28 from 5:30 – 8:00 PM sponsored by a generous donation from Neil Mazzella.

Founder Beowulf Boritt said, “Five years in I’m amazed this crazy idea seems to be strengthening the American theater by helping diversify the stories we tell. It’s all thanks to the generous donors who fund these grants, the volunteers who spend many, many hours to organize and adjudicate them, and especially the brilliant early career artists who inspire us all, receive the grants, and are the future of the theatre.”

The 1/52 Project was awarded a 2026 Tony Honor for Excellence in the Theatre. To view the acceptance speech, please click here. The organization was also awarded a 2024 Obie Award Theatre Grant for their honorable work in helping to change the face of theater. To view the acceptance speech, please click here.

The 1/52 Project has given out over $675,000 in grants in the past five years to 46 early career set, costume, lighting, sound, projections, hair, and makeup designers. Launched in January 2022, the 1/52 Project is primarily funded by designers with shows running on Broadway who are encouraged to donate one week every year of their weekly royalties to this fund. The project hopes to encourage early career designers from historically excluded groups, including all women, with the aim of diversifying and strengthening the Broadway design community.

BIOGRAPHIES

Derek Alfano (Wig Designer) is a New Jersey based hair & wig designer. He has designed hair for over a hundred musicals and has styled hair/wigs for several regional and national tours. Derek is the recipient of 3 NJACT Perry Awards for his wig designs of 1776; The Importance of Being Earnest; and Hello, Dolly!. Derek is employed at the Paper Mill Playhouse as the Assistant Hair Supervisor and is a proud IATSE Local 21 member!

Jonah Bobilin (Lighting Designer) is a lighting designer originally from Oʻahu, HI. He is fascinated by the spectator/performer encounter and works that examine the important contradictions of our society, and which induce the audience to enact meaningful change after leaving the playing space. He is drawn to anti-colonial stories, shows about resistance and revolution, and new plays by living playwrights. Jonah has received two Poʻokela Awards for Excellence in Lighting Design from the Hawai‘i State Theatre Council.

Colleen Doherty (Lighting Designer) is a Filipino-American Lighting Designer based in NYC. Her love of lighting is rooted in her belief that it is the air breathed by the performers onstage and the audience, pulling everyone into the world of the play. Recent design credits include: The Little Mermaid (Red Mountain Theatre), Broadway Backwards 2026 (BCEFA), and Machinal (New York Theatre Company). Colleen has also worked as an Associate/Assistant Lighting Designer on Broadway. MFA from Rutgers University, proud member of USA 829. www.colleenadoherty.com | IG: @colleenashleyd

Bentley Heydt (Lighting Designer) (he/him). Bentley is an NYC–based Korean American lighting designer with a limb difference. Select Designs: A Christmas Carol 2024-Present (Indiana Rep); Anastasia The Musical and Always…Patsy Cline (Geva Theatre); It’s A Wonderful Life (Milwaukee Rep); The Color Purple (KC Rep/Geva Theatre/Theatre LaƩe Da); you don’t have to do anything (HERE Arts); (no)man (IMGE Dance). Broadway: How To Dance In Ohio (ALD); Life of Pi (DMC) (2023 Tony Award). MFA, Ohio University. bentleyheydt.com

Zoë Hurwitz (Set Designer) is a set designer originally from the UK, and has designed multiple productions internationally. With a background as a visual artist, she completed her MFA in Set Design at NYU and loves both designing for new work, and reinventing classics. She is a recipient of the Linbury Prize for Stage Design and took first place in the emerging set designer category at World Stage Design 2022.

Shartoya Jn. Baptiste (Set Designer). Saint Lucian born and raised, Shartoya Jn.Baptiste, is a Scenic Designer based in Maryland. Her Caribbean heritage and dance background blend with storytelling in her designs. She’s worked with Chesapeake Shakespeare Company, Olney Theatre Centre, The Kennedy Center, Mosaic Theatre Company, among others, and is an Assistant Designer on Broadway’s Wanted. As an adjunct professor at Towson University, she advocates for protection of and access to arts education. Shartoya holds an MFA in Design.

Calypso Michelet (Costume Designer) is a New York-based costume and set designer, originally from Paris, France. Her flair for building dramatic tension has brought her to design for international world premieres, including Ruinous Gods (Spoleto Festival USA) and La Ville Dansée (Paris Dance Project). As a visual storyteller and educator, her work centers on cultural specificity and social justice. She currently serves as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Theater at Colgate University. Learn more at calypso-michelet.com

Eme Ospina-López (Projection Designer). Born and made in Bogotá, Colombia, Eme Ospina-López (they/él) is a shapeshifting storyteller and trans artivist, weaving roots in community across and beyond Chicago. As a member of many teams over the years, they have dedicated themselves to the crafting of shared experiences and bringing new works to life. Eme commits to stories that defy erasure and engage us with our roles in the making of liberated futures. They move with the conviction that being co-creators and co-participants of collective intentions and rituals, we are unveiling how deeply connected our struggles and freedoms are to one another’s. Eme cherishes how their collaborative creative practices illuminate how critically our dreams rely on learning to dismantle what’s destroying us and to rebuild together.

Riw Rakkulchon (Set Designer) (pronounced Ree-you) is a Set & Costume Designer, Animator and Chef from Bangkok, Thailand. He/They has worked at Yale Rep, Berkeley Rep, Hartford Stage, The Old Globe, Asolo Rep, Cleveland Playhouse, Alley Theatre amongst others. Off-Broadway: Mexodus, Notes From Now, Christine Jorgensen Show, Cellino v Barnes, Pericles… (Set & Costume). Broadway Associate Set Design: Pass Over, &Juliet, Parade. Board member of WithAll, a non-profit Organization on a fight to end eating disorders. IG: @riwrdesign

Katerina Vitaly (Projection Designer) (she/her) is a Projection Designer and Animator from Russia based in Brooklyn. Katerina’s focus is movement and audio-responsive visuals. Select Credits: Beautiful: The Carole King Musical (The Capital Rep), In: Formation Festival (Kenan Fellowship at Lincoln Center), Floyd Bennett Field Public Arts Festival, Awaken (Amanda Selwyn Dance Theater), Exposed (Amanda Selwyn Dance Theater), David Yurman (Commercial), Maybelline (Commercial), Outside Lands Festival (Animation).

Salvador “Suavecito” Zamora (Sound Designer) is a sound designer, composer, producer, and dancer. He’s passionate about his border town communities, Latinx culture, and the connection between sound and movement. Originally from San Diego, California, Salvador holds a BA in Interdisciplinary Computer and Art Major (ICAM) and his MFA in Sound Design, both from the University of California, San Diego. He is a 2023 recipient of the Princess Grace Award, and a proud company member of Colt Coeur. @suavecito_sounddesign | www.suavecito.design

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Two Years ago, the 1/52 Project invited businesses who are part of the Broadway community to participate. 4 Wall Entertainment, Christie Lites, Global Scenic Services, The John Gore Organization, IWeiss, Masque Sound & Recording Corp. , The Miranda Family Fund, The Morgan Fund at Seattle Foundation, PRG, Proof Productions, Rose Brand, Showmotion Inc., United Scenic Artists Local 829  have all also made generous donations to this initiative.

This year’s donor list features: Thomas Schumacher, Neil Mazzella, Nevin Steinberg & Paige Price, John Chenault, Tyler Micoleau, Scott Pask, Sue Frost, Carl Mulert, Tal Yarden, Barbara Whitman, Marcia Goldberg, Sam Ellis, Christopher Moore & Bill Rauch, John Lee Beatty, Paul Tate DePoo, Tony Meola, Robert Brill, Abbie Strassler, Geoffrey Gund, Barbara Cokorinos, Jim Bay, Jenny Steingart, Roger Gindi, Lauren Callahan, Charlotte Gund, Joe Tilford, Michael Wolk, Mike Lavoie & Carlee Briglia, Ben Stanton, David Lander, Mikiko Suzuki MacAdams, Sarafina Bush, Julie Taymor, Richard Hudson, David Rockwell , Ken Posner, Hana Kim, J. Jared Janas, Tom Watson, Paul Tazewell, Josh Schmidt, Paloma Young, Peter Nigrini, Elaine McCarthy, dots, Brett Banakis, Daniel Lundberg, Brad Ward, Kai Harada, Natasha Katz, Robbie Butler, Takeshi Kata, Jennifer Tankleff, Anna Fleischle, Heather Gilbert, Beowulf Boritt, James Lapine, Kevin Adams, Emily Mann, Lawrence Schober, Derek McClane, Lynne Klugman, Cory Pattak, Cody Spencer, Mia Neal, Teresa L. Williams, Amanda Zieve, Paige Seber, David Brian Brown, Connor Wang, Mikaal Sulaiman, Cricket Myers, Bradley King, Don Holder, Jane Cox, Adam Honore, Rachel Hauck, Alejo Vietti, Jeff Croiter, Brittany Bland, & Kenny Leon.

The 2026 1/52 Project Steering Committee

Krystal Balleza: Hair, Wig, & Makeup Designer
Stefania Bulbarella: Tony Nominated Projection Designer
Sarafina Bush: Tony Nominated Costume Designer
Kirk Cambridge-Del Pesche: Make-up Designer
Alan C. Edwards: Lighting Designer
Amith Chandrashaker: Tony Nominated Lighting Designer
Jiyoun Chang: Tony Nominated Lighting Designer
Wilson Chin: Set Designer
Kai Harada: Tony Winning Sound Designer
Rachel Hauck: Tony Winning Set Designer
Palmer Hefferan: Tony Nominated Sound Designer
Sun Hee Kil: Sound Designer
Nikiya Mathis: Tony Winning Hair & Wig Designer
Elaine McCarthy: Projection Designer
Lawrence Moten III: Set Designer
Alejo Vietti: Costume Designer
Anita Yavich: Costume Designer
Jeanette Oi Suk Yew: Projection Designer

1/52 Project Volunteer Staff

Beowulf Boritt: Tony Winning Set Designer, Founder & Co-Manager
Bethany Weinstein Stewert: Production Manager, Co-Manager
Jeff Croiter: Tony Winning Lighting Designer, Treasurer
DKC/O&M: Public Relations
Simon Harding: Projection Designer, Website Supervisor 

1/52 Advisory Committee

Robert Brill: Tony Nominated Set Designer
Jeff Croiter: Tony Winning Lighting Designer
Natasha Katz: Tony Winning Lighting Designer
Nikiya Mathis: Tony Winning Hair & Wig Designer
Nevin Steinberg: Tony Winning Sound Designer
Jeff Sugg: Tony Nominated Projection Designer
Alejo Vietti: Costume Designer

The 1/52 Project works with Players Philanthropy Foundation as their Fiscal Sponsor.
Anyone is welcome to make a tax-deductible contribution at: https://www.oneeveryfiftytwo.org/contribute

For more information go to: oneeveryfiftytwo.org.

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