Florida Studio Theatre Receives $150,000 Grant

Florida Studio Theatre has received a $150,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Sarasota County to support the naming of the Mainstage Sound and Lights Booth in the McGillicuddy Arts Plaza, honoring the legacy of the late Muriel O’Neil. Funding for this project has been provided by the Muriel O’Neil Fund for the Performing Arts.

Upon retiring to Sarasota after accomplished careers, sisters Muriel O’Neil and Dr. Gertrude Hight immersed themselves in the city’s arts community, focusing on forging connections with the organizations they loved. Muriel, who had written and published with American Heritage and The New York Times, passed away in 2013. To continue their shared dedication to the arts, Dr. Hight established the Muriel O’Neil Fund for the Arts at the Community Foundation.

This generous grant continues a longstanding partnership between FST and the Community Foundation. In 2018, The Muriel O’Neil Fund also provided essential support to renovate FST’s Arnold Simonsen and Ronda Montminy Theatre Wing and the Roberta Leventhal Sudakoff Theatre Wing. Now, this new grant will create and name a vital, state-of-the-art Mainstage Sound and Light Booth in a newly constructed Mainstage Theatre.

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