Founded: 1978
Closed: June 2008
With corporate philanthropy drying up, landmark cultural institutions are in danger of disappearing as they face declines in both ticket sales and the grants they rely on to survive. In June, Minneapolis' Theatre de la Jeune Lune closed its doors after a three-decade run.
"When you approach the foundations and the corporations, they are asking for the five-year plan and a business model," co-founder Dominique Serrand told the Associated Press in July. "That's not how art is created."
Jeune Lune won national acclaim for its visionary, free-spirited shows that mixed re-created classics - Hamlet as a comedy; combining the work of Moliere and Mozart to create a modern Don Juan Giovanni - with dozens of opulent original productions. It picked up a Tony Award in 2005 for excellence in regional theatre, but the company continued sinking further into debt, borrowing money against its warehouse headquarters. In July, the company's board announced the theatre's closure and put its building up for sale.
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