Teatro del Corazón | Heart Theatre

Teatro del Corazón | Heart Theatre is a women and Latino owned production company.  Our mission is to be a sanctuary for all hearts that have been beaten down by the state of the world. We promote love, one performance at a time.

We believe that getting Teatro del Corazón | Heart Theatre in front of as many people as possible can help inspire and mobilize people to make change, take action, love more, and hate less. And we want to help as many people as possible lead healthier lives.

We know that there is a 24/7 365 day a year persuasion campaign of hate being waged on humanity. Messages of division and discord abound, and there is a concerted attempt to sow further conflict through politics and manufactured oppression.

But another movement has been afoot for decades. Artists such as Dolly Parton, Walter Mercado, B Corps companies, like Patagonia, and nonprofits such as Corazón Latino are putting love into their artistry, products, and programs.

Imagine a world with a theater on every block. 

Imagine a world where everyone has access to the arts.

Imagine a world where happiness and love abound.

Heart theatre provides access to all through in-person, 2D and 360 experiences. 

Our team fosters the growth of its artists in residence and provides access (to anyone around the world) to high quality and uplifting art, music, and theater. 

Statistics show that the arts suffer insurmountable losses during COVID. We want to bring back a new and different model for building supporters of the arts. Most importantly our work, through our sister organization, Corazon Latino, that Latinos are the ones most affected by climate change and other serious global challenges. So our goal is to bring joy and humanity to the world through productions that will give people hope. 

It seems pollyannaish, and perhaps that's true, but 100s of our fans have written in thanking us for making them understand how precious life is. Some have talked about their deep depression as a result of being separated from their loved ones during the pandemic, but that our productions made them smile and feel better.

We know the arts work to change the world for the better. And no matter what we will continue our work.

Together we can change the world. 

Problem:
Uneven access to the arts

Solution:

Teatro del Corazon meets audiences where they are online and offline giving access to underrepresented communities the opportunity to experience the healing that art brings. Our audience for now is approximately 95% Latino, but we are expanding our programs to include African Americans and Native Americans as well. Our goal is to reach as many people as we can.

We are connecting audiences around the world fostering love without borders. We are providing access to the arts in places that are only now gaining access to the internet. We have already begun to support causes, for example, Earth Day, by creating the first of its kind event with Calle Sur out of Iowa. Our purchase of a block of love in Decentraland or Sandbox will allow us to plan events with artists from Armenia to Zanzibar. 

Going forward, artists will collaborate across time and space fundamentally shifting the idea and narrative of how music, art ,and even theatre are created. Imagine a concert with the musicians writing and rehearsing without ever physically meeting which then culminates in a live performance in a virtual world platform.

In the best of times, the arts create connection, community, belonging, and joy. In the worst of times, the arts create all of that and more—and most of all, the arts create hope. 

Our solution allows everyone to have access to the arts. And we know that is the first step in building a more resilient world.

Like our sister org, we are are a non-profit organization that seeks to generate social, environmental, and conservation initiatives that foster natural resource stewardship.

We mobilize the passion, love, unity, solidarity, and resources of individuals, communities, organizations, and government entities to advance the common good through art.

Our audiences to date are mainly Latinos in the, Washington, D.C., Virginia, the broader US, and in Mexico. However, we are building out our programming to include a more diverse slate of stakeholders.

Productions for the common good
We catalyze conceptualization, design, and implementation of culturally relevant productions to inform, empower, and mobilize diverse communities around the arts

Youth engagement
We are in the process of designing, developing, and implementing initiatives to support and ignite the next generation of arts enthusiasts and patrons by engaging underrepresented communities through innovative, culturally relevant, and linguistically appropriate productions.

We are operating mainly in Washington, D.C. and Virginia, but our reach is worldwide.

We help to sustain small businesses in that we are building the capacity of self employed actors, musicians, and artists. We believe that they should be prosperous and have the skills and business acumen they needed to succeed.

We are building out a professional artist in residence program that will be a year long endeavor.

Our theory of change is simple and is based on this quote.

“The country is so wounded, bleeding, and hurt right now. The country needs to be healed—it's not going to be healed from the top, politically. How are we going to heal? Art is the healing force.” Robert Redford, National Arts Policy Roundtable 2012

Teatro del Corazón democratizes the arts and makes positive change in people's lives through love and compassion. 

By meeting people where they are online and in person, we know that we can and will affect positive change.

Teatro del Corazón productions amplify messages of kindness and love through art in a concerted effort to soothe what ails us as humans. 

We support live events in many different spaces. As creatives ourselves, we crave the impact of performing live in front of an audience. But here’s the rub: Our spaces, both physical and virtual, produce live performances with only one caveat -- Each work, no matter what, must uplift and inspire humanity. Plays must induce laughter, music must bring joy, and other productions must allow each one of us to understand that we are more alike than different, and that hate can be neutralized. 

Heart Theatre is the first of its kind center for art, and is a digitally-native and in-person hybrid production performing arts company. We produce existing works that uplift humanity while at the same time commissioning new pieces from established and new artists.  

While we will have a physical space, and will center some of our work there, we will harness new technologies to bring the arts to everyone. This year will see us produce Theatre in the metaverse as a way to expand our audience to individuals in virtual world platforms (like Decentraland or Sandbox).

In essence, we are a borderless theatre performing around the world, live, online, and in the metaverse. 

Today we serve 5 and in one year 10 and then the sky's the limit!

We are mainly reaching U.S. Latinos with our work for now.

Our solution is global and local.

Our board and audience influences our work to ensure that everything we do is culturally relevant. 

When we conceptualize a new production we reach out to our stakeholders for iterative feedback.

This is our biggest strong suit. 

We are a community based organization that uplifts artists that may never get the chance to succeed. We find them and support them so they can succeed.

We both have deep roots in the communities we serve.

Creating genuine compassionate productions and programming and that highlight the positive traits of humans.

We have a robust Facebook presence. Each production is shared through digital and traditional media in the U.S. and around the world.

Impact is to reach 50 million people around the world through our 360 productions.

We will create new and innovative programming in VR to ensure that content is uplifting. We know that most of the content being developed already is very gaming focused and we want to ensure that we develop content that counters much of the violent content that exists in VR and in the metaverse. 

Felipe Benitez has more than 20 years of experience designing and implementing strategic communications programs to enhance and protect the reputations of organizations, governments, companies, and brands. Through his prior work with leading organizations like United Way Worldwide, Fenton Communications, and Ogilvy Public Relations, Benitez has designed and implemented communications and outreach strategies for advocacy campaigns worldwide, from protecting the fundamental rights of indigenous groups in the Amazon to fighting climate change to helping protect the rights of immigrants in the United States.

Stacy Whittle

In addition to Teatro del Corazon, Stacy is the Co-Founder of Front Page Live, a simple, skimmable website of viral news and actions campaigns. She is also an award-winning stage actor based in DC. Stacy spent much of her early career working in international development as a creative communicator, most recently as the Communications Director for SERVIR, a joint NASA/USAID project focused on climate change. She serves on the advisory boards of the Virtual World Society, an organization aimed at using emerging technology to make the world a better place, the Goji box, the world’s lightest in flight entertainment system, and Corazón Latino,a national non-profit organization that seeks to generate social, environmental, and conservation initiatives that foster natural resource stewardship.

We are so honored to be a potential recipient of this grant. Felipe and I have spent our entire lives trying to help humanity through our work in communications for nonprofits around the world. We believe that the future is bright. We want our children to be part of a thriving world, one that is full of hope and love. Our small part is important: Everyone loves the arts. Everyone wants love. Everyone deserves to have access to the theater, music, and art.

No matter what, we will continue, but we sincerely hope that we can join the Truist Foundation and MIT Solve family.

Thank you so much for reading our application. 

We know that United and Connected, we can change the world.

Just as we partner with people in the community, we too seek help with capacity building. We are confident that with your help we will grow and become a successful organization that will lift humanity one performance at a time.

Any and all. We are open.