The GROW Program
Background & Purpose
The GROW Program was created in 2021, initially providing micro-grants to increase opportunities for artists from marginalized and underrepresented communities to present original work in the Fertile Ground Festival. The ongoing goal of this program is to enrich the Fertile Ground Festival and the Portland arts landscape by supporting artists and projects that bring new perspectives, experiences, and artistic forms to our stages.
Expanded Focus
While the primary goal of the GROW Program continues to center support for a Fertile Ground project, we are excited to expand Program support to include an investment in the continued growth, development, and creative opportunities for an artist, and their work beyond a single Festival.
This year, in addition to $500 in unrestricted project funds, PATA will waive registration fees, and provide GROW Grant recipients supplementary resources to support the success of their Fertile Ground project and help increase their access to future opportunities.
Each 2027 GROW awardee will receive:
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- $500 unrestricted funds to use towards presenting a project in the 2027 Fertile Ground Festival
- Free Fertile Ground Registration for the 2027 Festival
- Guaranteed placement in a Festival Partner venue (rental fees apply)
- Professional photos of their Fertile Ground performance for their portfolio
- Featured profile in the Festival Guide, on social media, and on the Fertile Ground website
- A pre-Festival panel opportunity to share their work and process
- A one-on-one session with a local creative professional to provide personalized feedback on their Fertile Ground project
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Important Dates for 2027
September 1, 2026 – GROW Application Period Opens
October 3, 2026 – Application Deadline at 11:59pm
October 26, 2026 – GROW Recipients Announced
November 4, 2026 – GROW Recipient Agreements Due
November 10, 2026 – Fertile Ground Festival Registration Opens (Note: GROW Recipients must register for the Festival, even though the Fee will be waived)
April 9-25, 2027 – Fertile Ground Festival of New Work
GROW Grant funds will be distributed within 30 days of completing Recipient Agreement.
Funding Information
Availability
The GROW Grant panel will select 6 projects to support for the 2027 Fertile Ground Festival of New Works.
Funding Priorities
The GROW panel prioritizes projects that are intended and well positioned to have life beyond a single Festival. We also give priority to projects for which the GROW Grant resources will have the greatest impact. Projects that are able to be experienced by a greater number of audience members over the course of the Festival – due to venue capacity and/or number of performances – will generally be more competitive.
Review Process
GROW applications are adjudicated by an independent panel of local arts practitioners (see below on this page for details) who use a rubric to score each application, awarding grants to the 6 applicants with the highest numeric score.
Eligibility Requirements
- Applicants must be residents of the Portland Metro area, or surrounding communities.
- The proposed project must be either new (never presented before in any form) or in a distinctly new phase of its development. Pure remounts of previously produced work are not eligible.
- Applicants must register as a Producer and present the proposed project in the upcoming Festival
- The panel will only review one project proposal per applicant – exceptions may be made if people are applying with an individual project, and also as part of an unrelated collaborative project. If your name is going to appear as a lead collaborator on more than one project, please contact Tamara Carroll at fertileground@portlandtheatre.com to discuss eligibility.
GROW Grants are awarded based on the 4 following factors:
Representation
The voices, perspectives, and participants the project centers are under-represented in both local and mainstream forms of media (theatre, dance, tv, movies, etc). Audiences are rarely exposed to similar stories, or work by artists with similar experiences/perspectives.
Scored on a scale of 1-5
Authenticity
The proposed project is grounded in the lead artist(s)’ own identity and lived experience, or if not, the project lead has clear plans to ensure the project authentically reflects the perspectives and experiences of the identities being centered.
Scored on a scale of 1-5
Project Growth
Presenting this work in the Festival represents a meaningful step in the lifespan of this project. The project is either brand new, or has undergone significant development or changes since its last presentation. This project will clearly benefit from access to GROW Grant resources at this point in its development, and the project has an intended life beyond the Festival.
Scored on a scale of 1-5
Artist Growth
Producing this work provides a significant growth opportunity for the primary artist or artists involved. For example, artists may be taking on a new artistic role, experimenting with new forms, engaging in a new process for creating work, engaging with new collaborators, or presenting work of a greater scope or scale than they’ve previously undertaken.
Scored on a scale of 1-5
Application Process
Apply for the GROW program via online application anytime between September 1 and October 3, 2026. You may preview the applications questions by clicking the link below.
Applicants must submit a project budget as an attachment. Please download and fill in the Fertile Ground Project Budget Template below for this piece of the application.
NOTE: There is no way to save an application in progress – if something happens midway through filling out the application your progress will not be saved. Therefore, applicants are highly encouraged to prepare answers to application questions in advance, in a separate document.
For assistance with your application, please contact Fertile Ground Festival Director Tamara Carroll at fertileground@portlandtheatre.com
FAQs
Q: If I have received a GROW Grant in the past, am I able to apply again?
A: Yes! We are happy to support any artists who are interested in continuing to present their work in Fertile Ground, as long as they are presenting new work that is helping them advance their artistic practice.
Q: Can I apply with a project I have presented at Fertile Ground in the past?
A: Yes! The purpose of Fertile Ground is to provide growth opportunities at many phases of a project’s development. Please be sure to detail in your application the ways that this second (or third, or fourth) iteration of your project is a significant step forward in the further development of this new work.
Q: Am I required to present my project in a Fertile Ground Partner venue?
A: Nope. We are happy for you to present your project wherever makes the most sense for the project, and we are happy to try and support you in finding the right venue if none of the Festival Partner venues meet your needs.
Q: How much does it cost to present a project in Fertile Ground?
A: The cost varies based on the project’s needs, but Festival costs include the rent for your venue, and any related staffing or artist compensation. (If you are presenting in a partner venue, the rental rate is approximately $150-$200 per performance.) The Fertile Ground Registration Fee ($145) will be waived for GROW recipients.
GROW Grant Review Panel
Ki Ridenour-Starnes
(they/fae/she/+) is a multi-disciplinary indigenous (ᏣᎳᎩ + Chicane) artist, an embodied emergence based theater-maker, and a knowledge sharer. Their work focuses on the welfare of community; working from the idea that artistic expressions are inherent to our collective existence, survival, and future. They love to explore immersive, audience driven pieces that work on sparking direct action to empower communities and the alchemization of their healing and growth.
In 2021, they graduated with an MFA in Directing from the University of Portland and was a member of the 2020/21 Cohort for the Institute for Contemporary Performance. They’ve worked in Portland on pieces including The Flame, And So We Walked, 1984, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, El Público, Wolves Eat Elk, Clown as Protest: Build a Bougie, Shroom Show: A Foraging Tour, and more! When not working they are likely hanging out with their baby, hiking with their pup, cooking up a video game themed dish, clowning around with their troupe, or wandering through rabbit holes of knowledge.
Jasmine Cottrell
is delighted to be joining the GROW Committee. Recent credits include #Matter (Shaking the Tree Theatre), Bliss (Or Emily Post is Dead!) (Defunkt Theatre), Evolve (August Wilson Red Door Project), Jump (Confrontation Theatre and Milagro Theatre), The Great God of the Dark Storm Cloud (LineStorm Playwrights), Cottonwood in the Flood (Vanport Mosaic), and Sibling Rivalry (Confrontation Theatre). Jasmine is from Alabama, and she earned her B.S. in theater education from TROY University. She has been working as an educator, actor, and Front of House manager here in Portland since 2017.
Sarah Andrews
is a Portland-based artist, Co-Founder of Crave Theatre Company, professor in the Multimedia Department at PCC, and Nonprofit professional. She holds a BFA in Acting from Central Washington University and completed her Master’s in Arts and Culture Leadership and Management from Colorado State University in 2022. Sarah works hard to support the Portland Art Community whom she loves dearly. As an artist, Sarah is deeply committed to community-based performance and has volunteered for theatre projects in Oregon state prisons and taught puppetry workshops at the Kennedy Center Theatre Festival in Boise, ID. She looks forward to continuing to explore new creative possibilities in the future.
Heath Hyun Houghton
is a Korean American writer, actor and director. To support and develop organizations that endeavor towards creating environmentally and socially responsible products and services. Heath hopes to work as an advocate for fair trade, for the freedom of information, for our rights as citizens and consumers to have transparency and equality in our business practices. Member playwright of Line Storm Playwrights, Ensemble Member of Fuse Theatre, Ensemble Member of Theatre Vertigo, Member of the Dramatists Guild, Member of USA Gymnastics.
Jane Comer
a part of the Portland theatre scene since the 1980’s, is sometimes called a trans pioneer of theatre. Jane has decades of experience making theatre both from before and after transition. An actor, writer and director, her work recently has focused on solo performance. Her latest work, The Fear of Speaking , was workshopped at the 2020 Fertile Ground Festival, and was featured as the mainstage production of the 2020 Outwright Theatre Festival. Jane currently serves on the board of Fuse Theatre Ensemble.
Samson Syharath
is a Laotian-American performer, director, educator, playwright, theatre producer, and co-founder of Theatre Diaspora, Oregon’s only AAPI theatre company, where he served as Artistic Director. He received a BA from the University of Arkansas Fort Smith. After studying at the Portland Actors Conservatory, he helped start Theatre Diaspora, a nonprofit committed to celebrating and creatively advocating for the Asian American/Pacific Islander experience through stage work and post show discussion. He is also a member of the Accountability Collective and the EDI Committee Chair with the Portland Area Theatre Alliance. He received the Leslie O. Fulton Fellowship and was named part of the Theatre Communications Group Rising Leaders of Color Cohort in 2017. Outside the theatre, he’s a maker and small-business owner, running CraftedWChaos with his partner, Andrés.
Ashley Song
is an actor, producer, and co-founder of Desert Island Studios, a Portland-based film production company and studio facility. She has performed as a theatre actor at Seattle Rep, Profile Theatre, 21ten Theatre, Portland Shakespeare Project, Corrib Theatre, Chapel Theatre, and the Fertile Ground Festival of New Works. She has produced narrative films/documentaries Mother of Color, Borrufa, The 100-Year Effect, Empano Gleasium and Private Chat, and has worked for commercial clients including xfinity, Straightaway Cocktails, Rice Krispies, National Geographic, and Dell. Ashley is a board member of Catalyst Film Collective and a graduate of NYU’s acting program. ashley-song.com, @ashleysongofficial, @desertislandstudiospdx
Melody Erfani
is a director, interdisciplinary artist, and founding artistic lead of LES Shakespeare Co. She creates movement-driven, collaboratively devised work centering marginalized voices and combines research, physical composition, and immersive design to explore identity, access, and belonging. Her projects include Bee زنبور, inspired by her Iranian grandmother and produced in New York and Portland; 97 Orchard St., drawn from immigrant women’s histories; and The Words Will Come, an immersive exploration of dyslexia produced at Shaking the Tree Theatre. She holds an MFA in Directing, is an alum of the Lincoln Center Directors Lab, and a Drama League resident.
Dré Slaman
Dré earned her MFA in Acting at Northern Illinois University where she studied the Meisner Technique under master teacher Kathryn Gately. She has also studied at the Moscow Art Theatre, the William Esper Acting Studio (NYC) and received her BA in Theatre Arts at University of Pacific. Dré can been seen in theatres up and down the West Coast and on screen including, locally, at Portland Center Stage, Artists’ Rep, Profile Theatre, Third Rail, and more.
She co-founded local company Farm to Fit in 2011. As a pioneer of the healthy prepared meal delivery concept in Portland, Farm to Fit was listed in the top 100 fastest growing companies and top 100 best places to work by the Portland Business Journal.
Dré serves on the Boards of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization, Oregon Arts Watch, and is a proud member of SAG-AFTRA. Her proudest work, however, is mom to her 12-year-old daughter Pierce.
ashley hollingshead
(they/them) is a director/performer/collaborator. ashley has a MFA in experimental theater and a MA in clinical mental health, which means they’re very into feelings. Recent projects include: Queer Fantasia (director), They Were a Dracula (performer), All My Little Words (performer/creator), Dance Dance Revolution: Emma Goldman’s American Years (director/writer). In addition to Portland they have presented work in Chicago, Berlin, Philadelphia, and Denver.
Olga Kravtsova
is a Portland-based interdisciplinary performance artist creating devised, movement- and material-based performance works. Drawing from physical theater, Butoh, and collaborative creation, she develops original performances that explore migration, memory, womanhood, and the relationship between body and place by combining movement, material, sound, and image. Her work has been supported by the Regional Arts & Culture Council, CoHo Theatre, and Grow Grants.
Tracy Cameron Francis
is a first-generation Egyptian-American director working across different disciplines, genres, and mediums including the development of new plays, works in translation, site-specific performance, multi-media performance, and film and T.V.
She is currently the Artistic Director of Boom Arts, was a 2017 TCG Rising Leader of Color fellow, is a core member of Theatre Without Borders and serves on the steering committee for the newly formed Middle East and North African Theatre Makers Alliance. She holds a B.A. from Fordham University in Middle Eastern Studies and Theatre, is a member of the Lincoln Center Director’s Lab and an associate member of SDC.
Francis has developed new work through staged readings and workshops at Atlantic Theatre Company, New York Theatre Workshop, O’Neill National Musical Theatre Conference, Red Bull Theatre, Portland Center Stage, Artists Repertory Theatre, Corrib Theatre, the Lark, T.B.A. Festival and others.
Daye Thomas
(they/them) is a queer filipinx whose artistic focus is on multicultural storytelling, community building, and identity naming. They are involved with Concerned Artists of the Philippines Portland and have been delving into art creation that breathes in the history of marginalized experience, and exhales in a way that uses our voices, bodies, canvases, and stages as weapons of resistance and hope. In the past year, Daye’s work has spanned art journalism, sound design, composing, directing, devising, stage management, and acting with Gather Rep, Clackamas Rep, Artists Rep, OR Artswatch, Profile, Theatre Diaspora, Portland Revels, Vi Arts Co., Roots and All, Fuse, PETE, 21Ten, and Corrib (where they work as Engagement Director)!
Previous GROW Recipients
2026
Kristin Tehrani & Alisha Christiansen – When I Was A Mexican: A Bollywood Musical
Story Inspired by Kristin Tehrani; Book & Lyrics by Alisha Christiansen
Mentored by Jesse J. Sanchez
Musical Theatre – When I Was a Mexican: A Bollywood Musical celebrates the joy of friendship, the human longing for belonging, and the deep-seeded need for understanding one’s roots, one’s family. Exploring Kristin Tehrani’s thinly veiled real-life story with the energy, life, and mystery of a musical like Mamma Mia! underscored with Bollywood rhythms, it’s an intentionally ambiguous pairing of what’s wonderful in modern musical theatre.
Meg Schenk – Sudden & Severe Hunger
Written by Meg Schenk
Mentored by Sara Jean Accuardi
Original Script – Capitalism never sleeps. Neither do the dead. When the zombie apocalypse hits, life still goes on. And for siblings Sam and Liv, it feels like them against the world. This new play by Meg Schenk takes a satiric, darkly comedic spin on the apocalyptic zombie genre. Sudden & Severe Hunger sinks its teeth into disability politics, the struggle to maintain humanity when survival demands ignorance, and the intimacy and hurt that can only come from a sibling relationship.
Karen Romero – Miss Happy, Señorita Feliz
Created by Karen Romero
Mentored by Jenn Hartmann Luck
Theatre/Puppetry/Young Audiences – An uplifting bilingual (English/Spanish) interactive theatrical show for children ages 3-8 – and the child within all! When Miss Happy, a superhero from the future, loses her happy powers, she travels back in time to get them back… but accidentally lands on a Portland stage in 2026! With her lively Abuelita, the brave Bubo, and adorable puppet friends, she begins a heartwarming journey to rediscover her spark. Filled with music, silliness, and interactive fun, Miss Happy, Señorita Feliz celebrates creativity, Mexican culture, and the power of happiness.
Niels Truman – Online Now
Written by Niels Truman
Mentored by Josh Hecht
Original Script – A queer domestic thriller that follows Dizzy, a 23-year-old aspiring actor, as he juggles relationships with his committed boyfriend Brendon and a nameless man from a sex app he exclusively interacts with online. Online Now is a propulsive and surprising new play about what it’s like to be alive in the world right now, as themes of depression, addiction, online existence, queer life, and the struggle to survive under late-stage capitalism are explored through a thrillingly entertaining and compact story.
Jennifer Wright – Taking Liberties
Created by Jennifer Wright
Mentored by Rebecca Lingafelter
Performance Art/Music – Taking Liberties is an interactive performance art piece that interrogates complicity in the loss of female autonomy. On an empty stage, two female musicians play a meditative, perpetual motion duet on a piano. As the performers play without pause, viewers are invited to apply masking tape to the performers in any way and amount the viewers choose (within defined limits). The performers’ brief is to remain focused on playing their lyrical music – without reacting to or interacting with the audience, regardless of what transpires – for as long as possible. This piece is meant to create a space for considering uncomfortable possibilities and revealing hidden realities.
Rogue Pack Theatre – Generation Share the Love
Producer: Rogue Pack Theatre
Created & Performed by Rogue Pack Inter-Gen Workshop Participants
Mentored by Tamara Carroll
Devised/Multimedia – A devised show based on the inter-generational story circle collaboration between Rogue Pack Theatre and Willamette View Retirement Home. Ten “Older Adults” from Willamette View and ten “Younger Adults” from Rogue Pack paired together to collaborate on stories, focusing on cross-generational themes like travel, pop culture, jobs, music, and the LGBTQ+ experience. These shared stories became the basis of this show, and a catalyst for transcending gaps in communication across generations.
2025
Olga Kraftsova – Harvest of Woman
Created and Performed by Olga Kravstova
Movement/Immersive Design – Harvest of Woman comes from a deep need to give voice to the unseen labor, endurance, and quiet power of women. It began as an exploration of caregiving and sacrifice, but is evolving into something more—an experiment in what happens when women are allowed to exist fully, as both light and shadow, nurturers and destroyers
Samson Syharath – Hanuman’s Shadow: Echos of Laos and America
Created and performed by Samson Syharath
Movement/Circus/Storytelling – This solo dance and aerial trapeze performance explores the intersection of myth, identity, and hidden histories, weaving together the story of Hanuman, his journey in the Ramayana/Pralak Pralam, with the Secret War in Laos and lesser-known events in U.S. history. The performance delves into the secrets and shadows of history that have shaped the identities of marginalized peo- ples globally, including the impact of U.S. intervention in other countries and territories.
Jonathan Hernandez – The Mask I Wear
Written and performed by Jonathan Hernandez
Storytelling/Solo Show – A powerful solo show that explores the internal struggles of a Latino actor caught in the cycle of typecasting and cultural stereotypes. Set in the dreaded waiting room of a casting office, actor Jonathan battles with the limitations placed on him by the industry, while confronting Johnny H – a successful but compromised actor who has embraced stereotypical roles – and J-call-him-what-you-like, a talented performer paralyzed by self-doubt. Through these character shifts, Jonathan reflects on his own journey, facing the pressure to conform while yearning to break free.
Pearson Kunz – Predator Pray
Written by Pearson Kunz
Original script – A gripping new thriller and haunting drama that explores the extreme lengths people will go to in the name of faith. When young Joseph returns from his Mormon mission, he discovers his queer best friend has mysteriously gone missing, sparking the unraveling of beliefs and deception within his devout home.
Jody Read – Exemplar
Written by Jody Read
Immersive Staged Reading – Originally conceived as a gender- swapped Mad Men, which placed men in the same vulnerable positions women have so often found themselves in both in and out of the workspace, Exemplar evolved to explore the inherent drawbacks of the binary, asking “what purpose has the binary served throughout history, and what service is it to us now?”
Roots and All Theatre Ensemble – Every Pretty Thing
Producer: Sophina Flores
Co-created by Alanna Fagan and Ken Yoshikawa
Performed by Alanna Fagan
Devised/Immersive Design – Part social experiment, part avant garde performance art resulting in a guerrilla theatre experiment unlike any other audience experience, Every Pretty Thing examines the impact social media and pop psychology have on modern connection.
2024
Amber Ball – Finding Bigfoot
Produced and Created by Amber Ball
Finding BigFoot is a coming of age story following a band of cuzzins’ journey to their traditional homelands in Southern, Oregon. Fueled by joy, intergenerational trauma and energy drinks, this band of cuzzins traverse time, familial wounds… and BigFoot?? Originally ideated within the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde’s Indigenous Plackeeping Fellowship.
PlayWrite – YouthWorks Showcase
When youth at-risk are challenged to write and direct their own short plays, surprising stories of trauma, tenderness, wisdom, and wit erupt onto the stage. An evening of student- created one-acts performed by some of Portland’s finest actors.
Olga Kravtsova & Julia Rahmanzaei – Far From Home
Far From Home depicts two stories: the story of a young woman who immigrated to the US as she faced a ban on acting in her home country, Iran; and the story of an immigrant man preparing all his life for the American Dream, and ultimately surrendering to destiny, as told by his daughter.
PDX Playwrights & CoHo Theatre – Faena
Written by Dylan Hankins
The story of an arrogant matador and a murderous bull brings into question not only the hotly- debated topic of bullfighting, but also the ethics of veganism, murder, capitalism, activism, fame, and sex.
Rogue Pack – Six String Showdown
A demonstration of the combined might of metal music, martial arts, and fantasy in an epic rock musical adventure for kids and families.
Theatre Diaspora – Ten Minute Tapestry – AAPI Writers’ Showcase
Short Plays – Featuring short plays celebrating diverse identities of Asian American writers. Enhanced by a visual arts tapestry created by local AAPI community members, the project transcends storytelling boundaries, offering a rich tapestry of narratives exploring the depth and diversity of the Asian American experience.
PATHWAYS (Artists Repertory Theatre) – Wild/Caught
Devised/Collaboratively created short play – PATHWAYS presents a first reading of WILD/CAUGHT—illuminating how the multi-generational relationships between immigrant women factory workers turn assembly lines into raging currents of revolution.
2022
Yatnra Productions – Cosmogonos
Creative Producer Ajai Tripathi
Stop motion/Animation – Cosmogonos is a multimedia presentation of creation myths told through shadow puppetry and stop-motion animation.
Fools House Art Collective – Heart of Stone
Dance – Heart of Stone is the tale of a gifted youth from a small village in Kazakhstan who dreams of a starring role under the white lights of the Moscow stage, only to discover that he must hold on to the colorful threads of his own off-limits culture in order to be free. This is the never-before told story of the coming-of-age of award-winning Russian choreographer Alisher Khasanov, Moslem and Uighur, poetically told in dance, music and multi-media.
Project C.O.C.O.A. – Knowledge of Good and Evil
By Valerie Yvette Peterson
Short Film – Three African-American brothers are faced with difficult decisions that will challenge their shared upbringing, spirituality and moral compass.
DM & Associates – PLEDGE The Musical
By Don Merrill
Musical Theatre – PLEDGE The Musical is a three act play that focuses on nine days in the life of a public radio station, run by a small, conservative Arkansas college. KKAR’s (KKAR.org) staff, led by station manager Ava Sanchez, navigates technical problems, political attacks and personnel issues, all while trying to successfully pull off the all important, twice yearly pledge drive.
Street Scenes – Enemy of the People
Written by RaChelle Schmidt
A modern-day reimaging of Henrik Ibsen’s classic play An Enemy of the People. Dr. Katherine Garcia dares to expose an inconvenient truth and faces a swift backlash and unfortunate consequences.
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