The National YoungArts Foundation (YoungArts) will honor playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney with the 2018 Arison Alumni Award at the organization’s annual Backyard Ball January 13, 2018. The event will take place on the YoungArts Campus (2100 Biscayne Boulevard) in Miami, Florida.
McCraney, himself a 1999 YoungArts Winner in Theater and YoungArts master teacher, will be recognized for his contributions to theatre and the community.
McCraney’s plays include Head of Passes (produced at the Public Theater Off-Broadway), Wig-Out (produced at the Vineyard Theatre), and In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue, which inspired the Academy Award-winning film Moonlight. The movie tells the story of a young man coming of age in Miami during the1980s.
McCraney is the chair of the playwriting department at the Yale School of Drama, prior to which he served as Professor of Theatre and Civic Engagement at the University of Miami. He has also taught at the School at Steppenwolf, the University of Warwick, and the New World School of the Arts.
“It is a real honor to be recognized again by YoungArts,” said McCraney. “Since its inception, YoungArts has inspired and ignited so many bright young talents. I can only hope that as a teaching artist and alumnus, I can continue to inspire the next generation of artists.”
“We are honored to celebrate Tarell McCraney and to acknowledge his growing oeuvre of powerful work with the Arison Alumni Award,” said Carolina García Jayaram, YoungArts President and CEO. “Tarell is a remarkable example of an artist who is not only using his craft to spotlight underrepresented stories but is also dedicated to giving back and nurturing artists of tomorrow. As we welcome the next class of YoungArts winners, we can only hope that we are encouraging them to be bold and share their artistic point of view with the world.”
The evening will bring together artists, influential community leaders, philanthropists, and celebrities to support and acknowledge the achievements of the 2018 YoungArts winners, 757 young artists in the literary, visual, design and performing arts.
Previous Arison Alumni Awardees include Jason Moran, Tony Yazbeck, Josh Groban, Andrew Rannells, Adrian Grenier, and Kerry Washington.
