Hudson valley shakespeare receives more than $500,000 in federal funding for free/reduced-cost public school arts education expansion
(February 12, 2026 – Garrison, New York) Hudson Valley Shakespeare (Davis McCallum, Artistic Director; Kendra Ekelund, Managing Director) is thrilled to share that the company has received $534,000 in Federal Funding for free and reduced-cost Public School arts education expansion thanks to U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer and U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. The funding, part of nearly $30 million earmarked for the Hudson Valley, was recently signed into law as part of the Fiscal Year 2026 Consolidated Appropriations bill.
This funding will expand performances and on-site educational opportunities for school groups, offering on-site student matinees and arts education programming over the course of the summer and fall to provide roughly 4,500 local students and educators with outstanding Shakespeare performances. The funding will also be used to defray costs for the schools’ transportation.
“We are immensely grateful to Senators Schumer and Gillibrand for their tireless efforts in supporting not only HVS, but the entire Hudson Valley region,” said Managing Director Kendra Ekelund. “These funds will ensure that the residents of this region continue to enjoy access to the highest quality of arts performances and arts education opportunities for decades to come, allowing the Shakespearean tradition of storytelling to continue on with future generations.”
HVS previously travelled to schools in the spring or fall, bringing pared down productions to students. With this funding, the company can welcome students and educators into its theater space for dedicated morning matinees. Audiences will experience full-scale productions of Shakespeare’s classics, alongside the natural landscape integral to the HVS campus and the region. This season, students will see As You Like It and King Lear with the Hudson Highlands as the backdrop.
HVS will open its new theater space, the Samuel H. Scripps Theater Center, this spring, with many community events celebrating the new space to be announced. The first season in the Scripps Theater Center will begin on June 10, and will feature William Shakespeare’s As You Like It, directed by Miriam Laube (OSF’s Much Ado About Nothing) and featuring original music by Amanda Dehnert (HVS’s Love’s Labor’s Lost); Shakespeare’s King Lear, directed by Artistic Director Davis McCallum (HVS’s The Matchmaker) and featuring Kurt Rhoads in the title role; and, by arrangement with Cameron Mackintosh, a new production of Boublil and Schӧnberg’s Les Misérables, presented by arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI) and CAMERON MACKINTOSH LTD, directed by Jenn Thompson (HVS’s Into the Woods) with music supervision by Amanda Morton (Operation Mincemeat).