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Fertile Ground Festival
Fertile Ground, a flagship program of the Portland Area Theatre Alliance, is a new works performing arts festival spanning the entirety of the Portland Metro Area. The Festival was founded in 2009 by Tricia Pancio Mead and flourished for over a decade under the leadership of Festival Director Nicole Lane.
Fertile Ground features the new work of local artists, performers, and resident theater companies from Portland and the surrounding areas, ensuring that the festival’s artistic and financial benefits stay in the community. Where other new works festivals are typically curated by one entity, this Festival is collaboratively shaped by community participation, uplifting a variety of aesthetic voices.
In 2021, Fertile Ground created the GROW Grant program to increase marginalized and traditionally underrepresented artists’ access to presenting work at the Fertile Ground Festival. Through the GROW program, Fertile Ground seeks to support the artistic and professional growth of these artists and to enrich the Portland arts landscape by providing direct support to artists from underrepresented communities.