WE’RE WAITING FOR YOU

If you’re on this page, you are a CHAMPION to Rude Mechs. If you are already a regular giver, we are truly humbled by and grateful for your friendship and support. You built us up from raw heart and dirt into a nationally-recognized theatrical force going strong for 20+ years. You did it. Blame yourself. And THANK YOU!

If you are a new giver, we have so much to share!

Did you hear that we just opened CRASHBOX? It’s a small but mighty clubhouse of a venue where the whole community can create and showcase their stuff. We’re cramming CRASHBOX full of amazing art this year and cannot WAIT to hang out with you there.

We’ve got a potent line-up of premieres, workshops, symposia, and special events. All that’s left is your partnership. We’re asking you to support Rude Mechs for the long haul, with a recurring donation.

Your monthly gift sustains Rude Mechs and the whole Austin performing arts scene,  spreading adventurousness, excellence, and general badassery throughout the community and providing jobs for over 100 actors, designers, technicians, musicians, teachers, choreographers, videographers, writers, and theatre-makers-at-large.

With a spanking new venue to make and show work in, and an ever-growing collective of incredible local artists, we’ve got an exciting plan for the upcoming year. Please keep us going strong and make a sustaining gift today.

What you are giving

In this climate of growing enthusiasm but also stark economic realities, we invite you to make an investment in local arts and artists to help preserve and develop the character of Austin as we settle into the 21st Century.

Your contribution supports Rude Mechs and everyone that creates work at CRASHBOX, including:

  • Our own new-play creation
  • Crashbox and the 150 artists that use it each year, and the audiences that benefit from our cultural contributions.
  • Why We’re Here – providing a platform for artistic expression to the refugee community in Austin.
  • Rude Fusion – our co-producing program helping other theatre companies get their shows on their feet.
  • Our lending library of scenic materials free to Austin artists.

And just right there, you made the world a little more worthwhile. Thanks!

Support this awesome lineup of new Rude work.

Since our inception, Rude Mechs has:

  • collaboratively created and produced 31 original full-length plays;
  • toured 53 times around the US and abroad with ten of our productions;
  • produced six plays written/created by other people;
  • co-presented shows by 23 solo-performance artists in our Throws Like a Girl series and Crossing Borders;
  • co-produced 28 shows in our Rude Fusion and Second Stage series;
  • hosted Black Arts Movement Festival for four years and Fusebox Festival for ten years;
  • managed a multi-disciplinary arts and culture venue and studios, providing the most affordable rental rates in town for 20 years;
  • served as the venue for over 120 independent performances per year by local Austin theatre and dance companies and performers, with an annual audience total of roughly 16,000.

Foundation and Government Support

  • Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Arts Innovation and Management Program
  • New England Foundation for the Arts
  • Creative Capital Foundation
  • The Multi Arts Production (MAP) Fund
  • The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation
  • The Tony Randall Foundation
  • American Theatre Wing
  • Impact Austin
  • Austin Community Foundation
  • Meadows Foundation
  • Mid-America Arts Alliance
  • American Association of University Women

Rude Mechs is supported in part by the Cultural Arts Division of the City of Austin Economic Development Department, and by a grant from the Texas Commission on the Arts and in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts. This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts. To find out more about how National Endowment for the Arts grants impact individuals and communities, visit www.arts.gov.