2024 BIPOC PLAYWRIGHT'S FESTIVAL
Boise Contemporary Theater
DEADLINE: May 5, 2024 at 11:59pm MST
INFO: Boise Contemporary Theater is seeking submissions for its fourth annual BIPOC Playwrights Festival, which runs Aug. 14 - 25, 2024 in Boise, Idaho. Writers will receive a $1,000 stipend, transportation and lodging, and will have one week to workshop their play with a director and full cast, culminating in two staged readings on BCT's Mainstage.
2024 also marks the launch of the Young Playwrights Initiative, which will select one unproduced work by a writer between 18 and 25 years old for inclusion in the lineup.
Writers will have four days of rehearsal to workshop their piece with a director and cast, followed by two (2) staged readings of their work on the BCT mainstage.
Festival dates: August 14th - 25th, 2024
Playwrights will arrive on Thursday, August 14th.
Workshop will take place August 15th - 19th.
Readings will take place August 20th - 24th.
Playwrights will depart Sunday, August 25th
PLEASE NOTE: Exact travel and reading schedule will be confirmed in early June. Please apply with the intention of being in Boise for 10 days. However, artists may be able to leave earlier, depending on their placement in the lineup.
Travel, lodging, and a $1,000 artist stipend will be provided.
APPLICATION CRITERIA:
A completed application includes:
Script
Logline
Resume/CV
Artist statement (<200 words) describing why you would like to participate and how your play
would benefit from a workshop experience.
Please note that all plays must meet the following criteria:
Submissions must be full-length stage plays (no short or incomplete scripts, screenplays or
teleplays).
Submissions must be unproduced, original works.
Submissions may have been previously developed or workshopped in conjunction with a theater,
arts nonprofit or school, so long as they have not been fully produced.
Submissions are encouraged to include NO MORE than 5 actors. Larger casts will be considered,
but smaller shows are preferred.
Any questions can be directed to Festival Director Lily Yasuda at: ly@bctheater.org For general information on the festival, visit bctheater.org/bipoc
ABOUT BOISE CONTEMPORARY THEATER
Boise Contemporary Theater (BCT) is a professional nonprofit theater company in Boise, Idaho, whose mission is to inspire our community to examine our perspectives and better understand ourselves, each other, and the world around us by creating thought-provoking stories of the human experience. Founded in 1997, BCT is the only nonprofit professional theater within 300 miles dedicated to producing challenging new work. BCT is a recipient of the Mayor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts, a two-time recipient of the National Theater Company Award from the American Theater Wing, and the 2022-23 City of Boise Cultural Ambassador. Now in its 26th season, BCT has presented over 90 MainStage productions, including over 25 world premieres, such as Eric Coble’s The Velocity of Autumn (which continued to Broadway).
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfxIFD_NrPATWFSCNJVR6JAA6YuVF_6DL0FzJHrMQ5IPqF2rQ/viewform?pli=1
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MARBLE HOUSE PROJECT
DEADLINE: May 6, 2024 by 11:59pm EST
INFO: Marble House Project is a multidisciplinary artist residency program that fosters collaboration and the exchange of ideas, by providing an environment for artists across disciplines to live and work together. The residency integrates sustainable practices, including small-scale organic food production and waste conservation. Residents sustain their growth by engaging with the grounds while working on their artistic practice. Marble House Project is founded on the belief that the act of creating, whether in the studio or in nature, is how human potential expands and community thrives.
Marble House Project accepts approximately 60 residents and is open to artists living in the United States and abroad. You must be at least 21 years old. Each session accommodates eight artists and is specifically curated to bring together a diverse group of creative workers, to maximize potential for collaboration and dialogue while in residence and beyond.
All residents live together in the historic, eight-bedroom Manley-Lefevre house, a communal space organized around responsibilities-sharing systems which highlight sustainability and community. The residency is an opportunity to develop and carry out practices of mutual support, group conversation, and to cultivate adaptive relationships with the environment. This can take the form of discussions with guest multidisciplinary artists, thinkers, and activists and other individual and group activities that benefit our community of residents.
Residents will be paired and asked to cook for shared dinners three times over the course of their residency, Monday-Friday. . Each session culminates with a short video interview and artists are invited to share their work with our community and each other. Marble House Project provides private bedrooms, food, private studio space, and artist support. We are not able to cover costs related to travel or materials. There is no fee to attend the residency.
Applications are accepted in all creative fields including but not limited to writing, dance and choreography, performance, music composition and sound, film and video, visual arts, and culinary arts. Applications are reviewed by a jury of alumni and staff. Artists are selected based on quality of work, commitment to practice, and project description. Please choose the application that best describes your work. Two artists may apply together as a collaborative, and should complete one application. Within each application you will be asked to select the session dates best for you.
RESIDENCY DATES FOR 2025
March 11th - April 1st
April 6th - April 29th
May 6th - May 27th
June 3rd - June 24th
July 8th - July 22nd. Parent / Artist Residency
Parent artist residency. This residency is only for parent artists who will be attending with their children. Children must be four years old by the start of the residency. Please note that if you only apply for this residency it is very competitive. If you choose other dates you will also be considered for those as well. To find out more about the family friendly residency please visit http://www.marblehouseproject.org/residencyprograms/
October 7th - October 28th
November 3 - November 24th
marblehouseproject.submittable.com/submit
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I AM SOUL Playwrights Residency Program
National Black Theatre
DEADLINE: May 13, 2024
INFO: Launched in 2012, The I AM SOUL Playwrights Residency Program uniquely serves the best and brightest emerging Black playwrights from around the nation. Through this program, NBT seeks to foster mutually-beneficial relationships between Black institutions and creatives to re-establish historically Black theatrical institutions as the foremost supporters and producers of Black artistry.
This 18-month residency aims to unleash the souls of two to three Black playwrights per cycle. Coined as a dream MFA program, this program is about process, not product, so playwrights experiment with form, style, and narrative to develop, hone and explore new ways of artistic expression in a nourishing environment. Each resident is provided a financial stipend, dramaturgical and developmental resources, a full production team, and three 29-hour workshops.
IMPORTANT DATES:
Finalists / Semi- Finalists Notifications - June 10, 2024
Residents notified - June 28, 2024
Residency Begins - Sept 4, 2024
nationalblacktheatre.org/playwrights-residency
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2024-2025 BIPOC CRITICS LAB COHORT
The Public Theater
DEADLINE: May 15, 2024
INFO: Are you interested in being a part of the next generation of BIPOC arts journalists? Join our next BIPOC Critics Lab Cohort, in partnership with founder & cultural critic, Jose Solís! Applicants who were not accepted to any past cohorts are encouraged to apply again; previously accepted Lab participants are ineligible to re-apply. Applications are now open until Wednesday, May 15. The application asks applicants to answer a series of general background questions, as well as upload answers to three prompts:
Please upload a resume of your proudest moments.
Please respond to the question, “What are my dreams for criticism over the next year?” in the medium you see fit.
In 100 words or less per review, please write three short reviews of the listed topics.
The Public Theater is hosting cultural critic Jose Solís’ BIPOC Critics Lab in the 2024-25 season. After successfully hosting the 2023-2024 cohort, The Public is honored to continue Solís’ commitment to creating an educational space for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) writers in the realm of cultural criticism.
Sessions for the Lab will span the course of The Public’s 2024-25 season. Those chosen to participate will receive offers to join the cohort in late June, with the cohort officially beginning in mid-September. This iteration of the cohort will be a hybrid model of online sessions and option in-person activities.
The program begins with ten 90-minute weekly sessions on Zoom for cohort members to define “What My Criticism Will Be”, to take place in Fall 2024. Additional learning opportunities will take place in the spring on a semi-regular basis. Participants who meet the attendance requirements will be assigned a future commissioned piece with compensation.
ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS: Members are required to attend the first cohort session, and eight out of ten of the weekly sessions in Fall 2024. If a member misses the first session they are automatically removed from the cohort, and if they miss a later weekly session, they are expected to watch the recording.
Please reach out to us at BIPOCCriticsLab@publictheater.org for any inquiries.
About the BIPOC Critics Lab
The BIPOC Critics Lab was founded in 2020 by Jose Solís as a first-of-its-kind program designed to train and create work by emerging BIPOC theater journalists. Solís noticed a gap in training based on his own experience as a cultural critic in the field and created an educational space for BIPOC writers who had not been welcomed into cultural criticism, whether due to systemic oppression, lack of opportunity, or because they didn’t know they were allowed to see themselves as critics. Solís solicited applicants for the first cohort through Twitter where over 100 BIPOC participants expressed interest in participating. From 2021-2023, The Kennedy Center hosted the BIPOC Critics Lab online as a part of the American College Theater Festival. In the summer of 2023, a cohort was also co-hosted by the Stratford Festival and Intermission Magazine. During its 2023-2024 season, The Public Theater hosted its first BIPOC Critics Lab cohort. Alumni of the program have gone on to write and work as editors for outlets such as The Los Angeles Times, Andscape, Elle, Glamour, American Theatre, Broadway News, 3Views, Brooklyn Rail, and Token Theatre Friends.
Following the tenets of dialogue, compassion, and nurturing one’s unique voice, future critics who participate in the cohort will contribute to the creation of a custom program that fits their specific needs and encourages them to pursue the path of criticism that best serves them. Participating in the cohort is at no cost to members. Selected members will have the opportunity to learn all aspects of arts journalism through a variety of mediums beyond the written word. BIPOC experts in the field also serve as guest speakers for the Lab. Writers who meet the attendance requirements at the culmination of the program will be assigned a futurecommissioned piece with compensation.
publictheater.org/programs/bipoc-critics-lab-cohort/
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The 2024 AGE Legacy Playwright Grants
Advance Gender Equity in the Arts
DEADLINE: May 15, 2024 at 8:30pm
INFO: Advance Gender Equity in the Arts (AGE) seeks to change the American Theatre canon by increasing the representation of BIPOC playwrights of marginalized gender*, 40+ years of age. Three playwrights will receive individual unrestricted grants of $10,000 each. AGE is intentional in making our grant funding unrestricted. When funders dictate how grant money is used and require complex systems of documentation, it can disempower the recipient. Shared power is a core value for AGE. We are mindful of the layered history of oppression, trauma, and disempowerment for BIPOC women and gender-diverse people.
AGE is accepting applications for our AGE Legacy Playwright Grant 2024. Eligibility criteria is listed below. The playwright will submit their piece with the intention of creating lasting change both in gender and racial equity and in the canon of the American Theatre. A panel of professional BIPOC theatre artists, both Portland-based and nationwide, will adjudicate the submissions anonymously. Playwrights are asked to submit full-length play or musical. Special consideration will be given to plays/musicals that have at least one principal character who is gender diverse or of marginalized gender, is a BIPOC person, and is 40+ years of age.
ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA:
To be eligible for this grant, you must be able to answer in the affirmative for all of the following:
Identify as BIPOC
40+ years of age
Identify as a person of marginalized gender or gender-diverse. *We use the terms “marginalized gender” or “gender-diverse” to refer to our community of members who experience marginalization due to their genders. This includes cisgender women, transgender women, transgender men, non-binary people, among many other marginalized gender identities. Please note- marginalized gender is not the same as a marginalized person, nor does it relate to sexuality.
Identify as an emerging artist. Emerging means that the playwright has had no more than one play/musical fully produced in one or more professional theatre(s). Readings and workshop productions are exempt.
Have an original draft of a full length play/musical completed at the time of application; while not necessary, it is highly encouraged that the script have at least one principal character who is a BIPOC person of marginalized gender, 40+ years of age. Special consideration will be given to plays that fulfill this suggestion.
Live and work in the United States or Puerto Rico and are able to submit a W9 if chosen as a Finalist or Recipient.
ageinthearts.submit.com//show/10
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VCCA RESIDENCY
DEADLINE: May 15, 2024
APPLICATION FEE: $30
INFO: Residencies can be transformative to an artist’s process and the effect on an artist’s career profound. A residency at VCCA gives artists the time and space to explore and go deeper into their work. Away from the constraints of “the real world” and in an accepting environment of talented peers, one can dream and create with the feeling that anything is possible.
VCCA’s Mt. San Angelo location in Amherst, Virginia, typically hosts 360 artists each year in residencies of varying lengths (no minimum; up to six weeks) with flexible scheduling. A residency at Mt. San Angelo includes a private bedroom with private en-suite bath, a private individual studio, three prepared meals a day, and access to a community of more than 20 other artists in residence.
Nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, VCCA is surrounded by natural wonders and hiking trails. Many local sites and additional inspiration can be found in short drives to Lynchburg (20 minutes), Charlottesville (1 hour), Roanoke (1.5 hours), or Richmond (2 hours).
VCCA Fellows are selected by peer review on the basis of professional achievement or promise of achievement in their respective fields. Separate review panels are created for each category (poetry, fiction, nonfiction, playwriting/screenwriting, children’s literature, performance, film/video, book arts, drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, installation art, music composition, etc.). Panelists undergo periodic review and rotate regularly to ensure VCCA admission decisions are guided by high caliber artists who represent a diversity of styles and tastes.
All VCCA residency and fellowship applications are accepted online via SlideRoom. The standard application fee is $30. If the application fee presents a significant barrier to application, artists should reach out to Artists Services at vcca@vcca.com to request an application fee waiver at least five days before the deadline.
FELLOWSHIP OPPORTUNITIES: A variety of fully-funded fellowship opportunities are available at each application deadline. In addition, significant financial assistance is available throughout the year.
vcca.com/apply/residencies-at-vcca/
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The Studios at Key West
DEADLINE: May 15, 2024
INFO: The Studios of Key West, the premier arts organization at the Southernmost Point of the United States, offers a residency program for emerging and established artists and writers from around the world. We provide residencies to visual artists, writers, composers, musicians, media artists, performers, and interdisciplinary artists.
The program grants nearly 40 artists each year the time and space to imagine new artistic work, engage in valuable dialogue and explore island connections.
The Studios’ residency program is community-based and built upon the hope that visiting artists will take inspiration from Key West’s rich artistic past and present, and will engage with — and be inspired by — the remarkable people and culture that surrounds them.
Key West’s official motto, “One Human Family” reflects our commitment to living together as caring, sharing neighbors dedicated to making our home as close to paradise as we can. To that end, we encourage artists of all races, nationalities, gender identities, sexual orientations, and abilities to apply.
DURATION: Our residencies are one month; they run from the 2nd day of the month to the last day of the month. For example: if you are awarded a residency in June, you would plan to arrive on June 2, and would plan to depart by June 30.
We’re sorry, but we are currently unable to offer residencies of less than one month. If you are accepted to the program, please plan to be in residence for the full month.
COST: There is no fee for the residency once an artist has been accepted into the program. However, artists are responsible for their travel to Key West, as well as living expenses and incidentals.
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MONSON ARTS RESIDENCY
DEADLINE: May 15, 2024
INFO: Monson Arts’ residency program supports emerging and established artists and writers by providing them time and space to devote to their creative practices. During each of our 2-week and 4-week programs throughout the year, a cohort of 5 artists and 5 writers are invited to immerse themselves in small town life at the edge of Maine’s North Woods and focus intensely on their work within a creative and inspiring environment. They receive a private studio, private bedroom in shared housing, all meals, and $1,000 stipend ($500 for 2-week programs).
Applications for a residency at Monson Arts are open to anyone at any stage of their career, working in visual arts, writing, and related fields (i.e. audio, video, photography, movement, screen and playwrights). Open calls for residency applications currently take place 3 times throughout the year with deadlines on January 15, May 15, and September 15. Each application period corresponds to specific residency offerings 3-6 months out.
Residents’ studios are located in newly renovated Main Street buildings that have been designed specifically for visual artists and writers. All of our studio spaces are outfitted to be as flexible as possible so that we can accommodate a variety of creative practices. Our visual arts studios are spacious and light-filled with large work tables and sinks. Shelving and portable storage carts are available as needed. Access is available to woodshop and metal shop facilities in nearby buildings for any fabrication needs. Our writing studios are comfortably furnished with work tables, office chairs, bookshelves, and reading chairs. For those working in time and sound based media: apply to the Writing category if quiet contemplation would be best for your project or the Visual Arts category if you need room and the opportunity to make and play sounds out loud.
Residents live in newly renovated historic homes throughout town, within walking distance to studios and everything that downtown Monson has to offer. These are mostly 3 bedroom structures that are fully furnished and comfortable all four seasons of the year. Houses all have shared kitchens, bathrooms, and common areas with laundry machines, telephone, and other amenities as well. Wifi is available in all of our buildings through high speed fiberoptic service.
APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS:
Up to 5 pages of work samples / 15 pages for playwright or screen writing
A letter of intent for your time at the residency
C.V. or Resume (limited to 6000 characters)
Two reference names