Ten Chimneys Foundation Theatre Resource Programs

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Mission

Ten Chimneys Foundation’s Mission

Preserve and Share the buildings, furnishings, collections, and grounds of a national treasure – Ten Chimneys, the estate created by Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne.
Serve as a continuing resource and powerful inspiration for theatre, the arts, and the art of living.

Offer public programs consistent with the Lunts’ varied interests and core values, while maintaining the integrity and intimacy of this extraordinary estate.

Ten Chimneys is a National Historic Landmark, a “Save America’s Treasures” project site, and is listed in the National Registry of Historic Places. Ten Chimneys is owned by the non-profit 501(C)3 organization Ten Chimneys Foundation, Inc.

“Arts education at Ten Chimneys can be more than just an instrument to produce theatre professionals and audiences. It’s an opportunity to help develop human beings.” - David Hawkanson, Guthrie Theatre

“What’s missing in this country is a sense of leadership on arts issues. Ten Chimneys could become the Camp David of the arts.” - David O’Fallon, Minnesota Center for Arts Education

“ The Lunts were not only great actors, but they were great human beings. And their home, Ten Chimneys, should be preserved and taken care of for all time because it speaks of graciousness, of wonderful work, of extraordinary effort and beauty. We need those memories to spur us on into the 21st century.” - Julie Harris

A Home for the Arts™

Through our THEATRE RESOURCE PROGRAMS, an invitation is extended to all (profit and non-profit) theatres and established theatre-related organizations to utilize Ten Chimneys as a place to retreat, rejuvenate, and collaborate.

For decades, Ten Chimneys was a beacon to the theatre community. The “best of the best” from around the country were drawn to Ten Chimneys – and, upon arriving, were inspired. Ten Chimneys is reassuming its historic role as an important place for artistic creation, discussion, and leadership. Ten Chimneys Foundation is dedicated to being an inspirational resource to American theatre.

Hosting a program at Ten Chimneys is easy. Interested organizations submit an application to hold a program of their choosing and design at Ten Chimneys. The Theatre Resource Program Application (see download link below) requests a brief description of the proposed program, its purpose, and why the applying organization feels Ten Chimneys is an appropriate and inspiring place to convene. It also includes all information an organization needs to hold a theatre resource program at Ten Chimneys.

Once an application is approved, Ten Chimneys Foundation does not charge a fee for holding the program at Ten Chimneys. Complimentary Estate Tours are also a possibility for Theatre Resource Program groups. (Restrictions apply. Please see application for more details.) Following the program, participating organizations are asked to provide a brief written summary of their experience.

Theatres and theatre-related organizations interested in the possibility of hosting a program at Ten Chimneys are encouraged to contact Kristine Weir-Martell, Program Manager, to discuss Ten Chimneys and their idea(s) before applying. Kristine can be reached at 262-968-4161 ×203 or .

Download the Theatre Resource Program Application form (PDF, 104k)

Examples of Past Theatre Resource Programs
Retreats:	A number of theatre-related organizations have held retreats at Ten Chimneys. These have included artistic retreats attached to specific productions and casts (e.g. Goodman Theatre, Madison Repertory Theatre, Victory Gardens Theatre ), as well as board and staff retreats, usually focused on long-range strategic planning (e.g. Chamber Theatre , Renaissance Theatreworks).
Creation of New Endeavors and Institutions:	Theatre Wisconsin, the statewide association of professional theatres, was “born” at Ten Chimneys. Leaders in Wisconsin’s theatre community had been trying to bring the State’s disparate groups together for many years. They communicated that having Ten Chimneys as a draw was integral to making the inaugural (planning) meeting finally happen, and that the historic context and inspirational power of Ten Chimneys made a real impact on the positive outcome of the gathering.
Conferences:	The League of Chicago Theatres brought leaders from the top institutions in Chicago to strategize on how to strengthen the future of Chicago theatre, Theatre Wisconsin held a successful conference for Trustees of theatres in Wisconsin, and UW-Milwaukee’s PTTP and leaders in the Wisconsin theatre community gathered to have a candid discussion about the challenges and future of the PTTP.
Workshopping New Productions:	The Chicago Humanities Festival workshopped and performed Noël & Alfred & Lynn (starring Rosemary Harris), Renaissance Theatreworks workshopped Red Pepper Jelly II, and UW-Milwaukee’s PTTP workshopped and performed Beloved Celestials.
Educational Programs:	The National Endowment for the Arts held its New Career Development Program at Ten Chimneys, and Theatre Communications Group held its New Initiatives Program here. Both are major educational projects of the respective organizations, focusing on the next generations of theatre professionals (directors and administrators).

Representatives from the following organizations (among others) have participated in Theatre Resource Programs:

Every Professional Theatre in Wisconsin (through Theatre Wisconsin)

The Lunt-Fontanne Program Center

Through decades of collaboration, leadership, and mentoring, Ten Chimneys’ log cabin Studio impacted the course of 20th-century theatre and arts. In order to fulfill its mission to extend that tradition and maintain the integrity of the estate, Ten Chimneys Foundation developed the Lunt-Fontanne Program Center to serve as the “Studio for the 21st Century.”

The Lunt-Fontanne Program Center supports educational and artistic programs, including public tours, play readings, and lectures; permanent exhibitions; Theatre Resource Programs; and high school outreach tours.

In keeping with the Lunts’ love of the natural world, Ten Chimneys’ Program Center was designed to fit unobtrusively into the sloping hills of the land that inspired and rejuvenated the greats of 20th Century theatre. The thirty acres surrounding the Program Center remain a haven for lush flora and fauna. This land, in addition to the adjacent thirty-eight acre parcel the Lunts donated to the Town of Genesee as a nature preserve, is open to tour guests and program participants, walking in the footsteps of the Lunts, Katharine Hepburn, Noël Coward, Helen Hayes, and Laurence Olivier – among countless others.

While creating only a small footprint on the landscape across the road from the historic buildings of Ten Chimneys, the Lunt-Fontanne Program Center includes: a spacious lobby, engaging exhibitions, a large program hall, a museum store, and other gracious amenities. It also provides museum archives for an expanding collection and staff offices to support the Foundation’s ongoing operations.

“For much of the 20th Century, Ten Chimneys was a home for the arts – literally and metaphorically. And now, it can be again. Ten Chimneys is reassuming its role as an important site for artistic creation, discussion, education, inspiration, and leadership. Please join us!” - Sean Malone, President of Ten Chimneys Foundation.

Banner photo credit: Michael David Rose Photography.

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Theatre Resource Programs News

Milwaukee Rep Summer Conservatory

Aug 03, 2009

Northlight Theatre

Oct 10, 2008

Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship Program Launched

Sep 03, 2008

Ten Chimneys Foundation’s new ground-breaking program to serve American Theatre has been launched, in partnership with Lynn Redgrave and ten of the top regional theatres in the country.