The 1/52 Project Announces Latest Round of Grantees

The 1/52 Project announces the 11 early-career designer recipients selected for the 2026 cycle to benefit from $177,500.00 in grants. Applicants were chosen for talent, creativity, need, innovation, and potential for future excellence in the professional theatrical field, and each recipient will receive a grant of up to $17,500. The eleven recipients are Bentley Heydt (lighting designer), Calypso Michelet (costume designer), Colleen Doherty (lighting designer), Derek Alfano (wig designer), Eme Ospina-Lopez (projection designer), Jonah Bobilin (lighting designer), Katerina Vitaly (projection designer), Riw Rakkulchon (set designer), Salvador Zamora (sound designer), Shartoya Jn. Baptiste (set designer), and Zoe Hurwitz (set designer).

The grants will be presented at a reception at The Civilian Hotel on Monday, September 28, from 5:30 - 8:00pm sponsored by a donation from Neil Mazzella.

Beowulf Boritt, founder of the The 1/52 Project, says, "Five years in, I'm amazed this crazy idea seems to be strengthening the American theater by helping diversify the stories we tell. It's all thanks to the generous donors who fund these grants, the volunteers who spend many, many hours to organize and adjudicate them, and especially the brilliant early career artists who inspire us all, receive the grants, and are the future of the theatre." The 1/52 Project was awarded a 2026 Tony Honor for Excellence in the Theatre.

The 1/52 Project has given out over $675,000 in grants in the past five years to 46 early-career set, costume, lighting, sound, projections, hair, and makeup designers. Launched in January 2022, the 1/52 Project is primarily funded by designers with shows running on Broadway who are encouraged to donate one week every year of their weekly royalties to this fund. The project hopes to encourage designers from historically excluded groups, including all women, with the aim of diversifying and strengthening the Broadway design community.

Derek Alfano, based in New Jersey, has designed hair for over 100 musicals and has styled hair/wigs for several regional and national tours. He is the recipient of 3 NJACT Perry Awards for his wig designs of 1776; The Importance of Being Earnest; and Hello, Dolly!. He is employed at the Paper Mill Playhouse as the assistant hair supervisor and is an IATSE Local 21 member.

Jonah Bobilin is a lighting designer originally from O'ahu, Hawaii. He is fascinated by the spectator/performer encounter and works that examine the important contradictions of our society and induce the audience to enact meaningful change after leaving the playing space. He is drawn to anti-colonial stories, shows about resistance and revolution, and new plays by living playwrights. Jonah has received two Po'okela Awards for Excellence in Lighting Design from the Hawaii State Theatre Council.

Colleen Doherty is a Filipino-American lighting designer based in New York City. Her love of lighting is rooted in her belief that it is the air breathed by the performers onstage and the audience, pulling everyone into the world of the play. Recent design credits include: The Little Mermaid (Red Mountain Theatre), Broadway Backwards 2026 (BCEFA), and Machinal (New York Theatre Company). She has also worked as an associate/assistant lighting designer on Broadway. With an MFA from Rutgers University, she is a member of USA 829.

Bentley Heydt is a New York-based Korean American lighting designer with a limb difference. Select designs include A Christmas Carol (Indiana Rep); Anastasia The Musical and Always...Patsy Cline (GeVa Theatre); It's A Wonderful Life (Milwaukee Rep); The Color Purple (KC Rep/GeVa Theatre/Theatre Latte Da); you don't have to do anything (HERE Arts); (no)man (IMGE Dance). Broadway: How To Dance In Ohio (ALD); Life of Pi (DMC) (2023 Tony Award). He has an MFA from Ohio University.

Zoe Hurwitz is a set designer originally from the UK and has designed multiple productions internationally. With a background as a visual artist, she completed her MFA in set design at NYU and loves both designing for new work and reinventing classics. She is a recipient of the Linbury Prize for Stage Design and took first place in the emerging set designer category at World Stage Design 2022.

Saint Lucia born and raised, Shartoya Jn. Baptiste is a scenic designer based in Maryland. Her Caribbean heritage and dance background blend with storytelling in her designs. She's worked with Chesapeake Shakespeare Company, Olney Theatre Centre, The Kennedy Center, Mosaic Theatre Company, among others, and is an Assistant Designer on Broadway's Wanted. As an adjunct professor at Towson University, she advocates for protection of and access to arts education. She holds an MFA in design.

Calypso Michelet is a New York-based costume and set designer, originally from Paris, France. Her flair for building dramatic tension has brought her to design for international world premieres, including Ruinous Gods (Spoleto Festival USA) and La Ville Dansee (Paris Dance Project). As a visual storyteller and educator, her work centers on cultural specificity and social justice. She currently serves as a visiting assistant professor of theatre at Colgate University.

Born and made in Bogota, Colombia, Eme Ospina-Lopez is a shapeshifting storyteller and trans artivist, weaving roots in community across and beyond Chicago. As a member of many teams over the years, they have dedicated themselves to the crafting of shared experiences and bringing new works to life. They commit to stories that defy erasure and engage us with our roles in the making of liberated futures. They move with the conviction that, as co-creators and co-participants of collective intentions and rituals, we are unveiling how deeply connected our struggles and freedoms are to one another's. They cherish how their collaborative creative practices illuminate how critically our dreams rely on learning to dismantle what's destroying us and to rebuild together.

Riw Rakkulchon is a set and costume designer, animator and chef from Bangkok, Thailand. He has worked at Yale Rep, Berkeley Rep, Hartford Stage, The Old Globe, Asolo Rep, Cleveland Playhouse, Alley Theatre, among others. Off-Broadway: Mexodus, Notes From Now, The Christine Jorgensen Show, Cellino v Barnes, Pericles... (set and costume). Broadway associate set design: Pass Over, &Juliet, Parade. He is a member of WithAll, a non-profit organization fighting to end eating disorders.

Katerina Vitaly is a projection designer and animator from Russia based in Brooklyn. Her focus is movement and audio-responsive visuals. Select credits include Beautiful: The Carole King Musical (The Capital Rep), In: Formation Festival (Kenan Fellowship at Lincoln Center), Floyd Bennett Field Public Arts Festival, Awaken (Amanda Selwyn Dance Theater), Exposed (Amanda Selwyn Dance Theater), David Yurman (commercial), Maybelline (commercial), Outside Lands Festival (animation).

Salvador "Suavecito" Zamora is a sound designer, composer, producer, and dancer. He's passionate about his border town communities, Latinx culture, and the connection between sound and movement. Originally from San Diego, California, he holds a BA in interdisciplinary computer and art major (ICAM) and his MFA in sound design, both from the University of California, San Diego. He is a 2023 recipient of the Princess Grace Award, and a company member of Colt Coeur.

The 1/52 Project works with Players Philanthropy Foundation as their Fiscal Sponsor.

Anyone is welcome to make a tax-deductible contribution at: www.oneeveryfiftytwo.org/contribute.