Our Partners
The scholarship goes to students. The grants go to programs that apply. This page highlights who we support — the theaters and school programs the foundation puts its name behind for a whole season, because a student with something to say still needs somewhere to actually say it.
Debate and drama are the two disciplines where the work does not exist until someone says it out loud, in a room, in front of people. The theaters and school programs on this page are those rooms, and every one of them is here on the Wasatch Front.
Sponsoring now — the 2026 season
Marquee Sponsor · 2026
Courage Theatre
A Salt Lake county nonprofit built on one premise: the arts should be accessible to everyone. Ticket prices across the industry keep climbing, which quietly prices out the families, teachers and friends who came to watch someone they love. Courage Theatre keeps its seats affordable on purpose, and every dollar of profit from its productions goes back into supporting local students.
They describe themselves as a launchpad for life for youth and young adults from across the Granite School District and beyond. As Marquee Sponsor for 2026, the foundation underwrites their season, which is what lets the ticket price stay where it is.
Season Sponsor · every show, 2026
Mad King Productions
Mad King produces classic, original and modern work with a little extra edge that can be hard to find in the Beehive State, out of Mad King’s Fellowship Theater at 167 S Rio Grande in Salt Lake City. They cast according to the ability of the actor rather than a character description, and they set out to be a safe and open space for performers of every culture, orientation and identity.
The foundation sponsors every show in their season. The whole argument was that a young person has something worth saying and deserves a stage to say it on. A company that casts for ability and makes room for everyone is that argument, staged.
Joining for the 2027 season
Next season the same support extends to one of the largest community stages in the valley and to four high school theater programs.
West Valley Arts
The West Valley Arts Foundation is a 501(c)(3) running the West Valley Performing Arts Center on Decker Lake Drive — the region’s leading semi-professional theatre. Its Theater360 program puts youth classes, summer camps and scholarships alongside a full production season, and its stated aim is breaking down barriers to arts access. wvcarts.org
Four Granite School District theater programs
- Cottonwood High School Theatre
- Olympus High School Theatre
- Taylorsville High School Theatre
- Kearns High School Theatre
- and more to come
All four are Granite School District schools. A high school theater budget is usually the first line cut and the last one restored, and what a program runs out of money for first is unglamorous: royalties, scripts, sets, costumes. That is exactly where this goes.
Not on this list yet?
If you run a theater, speech or debate program for young people in Utah, you can apply to us directly — public and private secondary schools, school districts, community theaters and nonprofits are all eligible. It starts with a letter of inquiry that takes about ten minutes. Inquiries are accepted year round and reviewed quarterly, so apply well ahead of your production.