HANSBERRY-LILLY AWARD
Dramatists Guild Foundation
DEADLINE: Extended to March 7, 2025 by 11:59pm ET
INFO: The Lillys’ Lorraine Hansberry Initiative, under the leadership and vision of Julia Jordan and Lynn Nottage, has generously developed this opportunity to honor the great American Lorraine Hansberry and ensure the next generation of women and or non-binary playwrights of color is able to follow in her footsteps, regardless of their economic situation.
AWARD: Two Hansberry-Lilly awardees will be given stipends of $25,000 each year of their graduate education in playwriting. The award is a need-based scholarship to both acknowledge and combat the financial disparities between races and between genders. The awardees must be newly accepted to or currently enrolled in one of the designated MFA programs. The funds awarded are to be used to support cost of living expenses that are not otherwise covered by other scholarships, subsidized tuition, or fellowship monies. The Hansberry-Lilly Award was specifically created to ensure that our awardees have protected time to actually write, time to develop relationships with peer collaborators, and time to nurture relationships with mentors that will endure through their careers.
ELIGIBILITY:
Persons wishing to apply must:
Be a person of color
Be a woman or non-binary
Be a first-year/newly accepted into one of these graduate dramatic writing programs: Brooklyn College, Brown, Columbia University, Julliard, NYU-Tisch School of the Arts, Northwestern, Yale, University of California at San Diego, and Hunter College.
dramatistsguildfoundation.submittable.com/submit
_____
2025 Summer Institute on Environmental Justice
Black Midwest Initiative (University of Illinois Chicago)
DEADLINE: March 7, 2025
INFO: The Black Midwest Initiative (BMI) at the University of Illinois Chicago invites applications from early-career scholars, artists, and community organizers to its 2025 Summer Institute on Environmental Justice. This convening will bring together 15 participants, designated as BMI Fellows, who are doing work around environmental justice issues affecting Black people and communities within the Midwest and Rust Belt regions of the United States for a week-long series of discussions, presentations, and workshops with leading figures in the field. In alignment with environmental sociologist and Institute facilitator David Pellow, we conceive of environmental racism as a “form of violent control over bodies, space, and knowledge systems.” Accordingly, we define the parameters of the environmental justice issues applicants might propose to address broadly—from urban agriculture, toxic emissions, natural disasters, and climate change to carcerality, housing instability, residential segregation, community health and wellness, and beyond.
After the conclusion of the Institute, each Fellow will also work to develop a project, individually or in collaboration with one or more other Fellows, that will be incorporated into the Black Midwest Justice Hub (the HUB)—a digital platform we will launch in the fall of 2026 that will serve as a resource repository for the BMI Environmental Justice Collaboratory, a set of environmental justice courses that will be taught across multiple midwestern colleges and universities during the 2026-27 academic year. HUB projects may ultimately take any number of forms that can be accessed digitally, including but not limited to short films, virtual exhibits, traditional academic papers, storymaps, graphic notes, sound recordings, oral histories, interviews, and introductory essays or lectures.
INSTITUTE FACILITATORS:
Erika Allen, Urban Growers Collective
Adrienne Brown, University of Chicago
Lydia Marie Hicks, Black Eden Arts Alliance
Fayola Jacobs, University of Minnesota
Tonika Lewis Johnson, UnBlocked Englewood
David Pellow, UC Santa Barbara
LaShawnda Crowe Storm, Indianapolis, Indiana
Monica M. White, University of Wisconsin-Madison
ELIGIBILITY:
Emerging artists of all genres (including filmmakers, dancers, poets, and other literary, visual, sound, and performance artists), community organizers and activists, graduate students, junior faculty, adjunct and non-tenure track faculty, independent scholars, and postdoctoral scholars whose work deeply engages with environmental justice issues affecting Black communities in the Midwest or Rust Belt regions of the United States (ILLINOIS, INDIANA, IOWA, KANSAS, MICHIGAN, MINNESOTA, MISSOURI, NEBRASKA, NORTH DAKOTA, OHIO, SOUTH DAKOTA, WISCONSIN).
DETAILS OF PARTICIPATION:
Fellows from outside of the Chicago area will be expected to arrive in Chicago on Sunday, July 20, with departure scheduled for the morning of Saturday, July 26. Most days of the Institute will feature a morning session during which facilitators will discuss their work with the Fellows and an afternoon session during which the Fellows will present their work to the group. There will also be a site visit during the week to a location TBA that is engaging critical EJ work in the Chicago metro area. Fellows will be expected to attend all sessions, including the site visit and final group dinner, to complete any readings or screenings assigned by the facilitators, and to prepare a presentation of their work to be shared during one of the afternoon sessions. The Summer Institute will be hosted at the UIC Institute for the Humanities, and all sessions will be held in person.
Each Fellow will receive up to $500 toward their travel expenses to attend the Summer Institute. Lodging will be provided in UIC campus housing for all Fellows coming from outside of the Chicago area. Breakfast and lunch will be provided each day of the Institute, as well as dinner on Friday. After the conclusion of the Summer Institute, each participant will receive a $1000 stipend to be used toward the costs associated with their HUB project.
APPLICATION:
The BMI Summer Institute Application requires a 500-word project statement and a 5-page cv or resume.
Applicants will be notified of decisions by April 10.
QUESTIONS?
Please feel free to email theblackmidwest@gmail.com with any questions.
theblackmidwest.com/summer-institute
_____
2025-2026 emerging writer fellowship
GrubStreet (Boston, MA)
DEADLINE: March 10, 2025
INFO: The Emerging Writer Fellowship aims to develop new, exciting voices by providing three writers per year tuition-free access to GrubStreet’s classes and several key publishing/industry events. Over the course of one year, each Emerging Writer Fellow will attend a combination of seminars and multi-week courses of their choosing, along with a wide selection of other topical programming, in order to enhance their understanding of craft and the publishing industry.
We hope that this year's fellows will be able to join us in-person for classes and events. Priority will be given to applicants who will be able to join us in Boston.
OVERVIEW: The Emerging Writer Fellowship will be awarded to three writers who demonstrate a passion for writing, a commitment to developing their writing abilities, and financial need. Any person 18 and older who demonstrates ability and passion for writing is eligible.
The Emerging Writer Fellowship will provide access to each of the following:
5 multi-week courses
5 three-hour seminars
Access to key annual industry events and other craft-related programs.
Access to GrubStreet's Artistic Director and/or other program staff members for quarterly (or as-needed) office hours for personalized mentorship. (Optional)
At the end of the program, fellows will also receive a complimentary one-year GrubStreet membership so they can continue enjoying extra community perks even after their program year ends.
The fellowship year begins in May.
WHO SHOULD APPLY: This fellowship is open to anyone 18 and older with a passion for writing. The fellowship specifically aims to assist writers in need of financial assistance in reaching their writing goals. We particularly encourage writers of color, ethnic minorities, those who identify as LGBTQ+, people with disabilities, and other members of communities historically underrepresented by the literary community to apply.
WHY WE CREATED THIS FELLOWSHIP: Over the years, GrubStreet encountered more and more people who loved to write but didn't have the money to invest in a creative writing education that would help advance their craft or give them a thoughtful introduction to the publishing world. As part of its mission to make sure that voices of every type and talent are heard, GrubStreet developed the Emerging Writer Fellowship to eliminate some of the financial barriers to entry. Through this program, we hope to connect writers to a literary world – a world made richer and more relevant with the contribution of these voices.
In the program's first year, we were able to offer one fellowship to one student. As of the 2018-2019 cycle, we were able to begin offering a second fellowship in memory of novelist Anita Shreve, longtime board member and dear friend of GrubStreet. Thanks to the generous support of our donors, we now offer three fellowships each year.
HOW TO APPLY:
The Emerging Writer Fellowship Application Form will require the following:
A sample of your writing that demonstrates your artistic style and voice. 5-10 pages for prose, screenwriting, or playwriting. 3-7 pages for poetry.
A personal statement—no more than 500 words please!—which should include the following:
How you envision using the fellowship.
A description of your relationship to writing. By this we mean: what excites you about it? What does it mean to you personally?
How the fellowship will help you in your growth and success as a writer.
Your writing and workshop history (Note: Prior workshop experience at GrubStreet is not required).
The Fellowship year begins in May.
All applicants can expect to hear back by early May.
grubstreet.org/write/emerging-writer-fellowship
_____
BAYARD RUSTIN RESIDENCY
Penington Friends House (New York City)
DEADLINE: March 15, 2025
INFO: Building on the social activist history of Penington’s founders, original board, and later residents, the Bayard Rustin Residency at Penington Friends House (PFH) is envisioned as an ongoing ladder to empowerment for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) working to end Systemic Racism and to create a culture of anti-Racism and intersectional equality in the United States of America. It is also intended to extend and strengthen the wider Quaker witness to equality.
Beginning in September of 2025, this residency will provide up to one year of room and board to a person who demonstrates a strong project that addresses ending Systemic Racism and who has a necessity to be in New York City for up to one year. They will reside at the Penington Friends House located in New York City’s Lower East Side of Manhattan. The Bayard Rustin Resident will demonstrate a need to live in Manhattan. Areas of focus of their work can include activism in the arts, policy change, human rights, community organizing, and other areas of activism focusing on ending racism and strengthening equality. Residents will meet regularly with the Residency Manager and will be expected to share their progress with the New York City community in the form of presentations or workshops.
The resident does not have to be Quaker but their work should be shaped by and in harmony with our tenets of Simplicity, Peace, Integrity, Community, Equality, and Stewardship. The resident will be expected to be a full-time resident of PFH and be participating member of this intentional community. This includes eating chef prepared dinners with the other residents and participating in shared light house chores. ( 1 1/2 hour commitment per week on average.) The Penington Friends House’s approach to living collaboratively may be new to you. We encourage to look at our website and instagram account (@Penington_friends_house) to gain a better understanding of what we are. Feel free to call us as well with questions. We are LGBTQ embracing community. We believe Black Lives Matter. We are always working to be a safe space and an anti-racist community.
Resident selection is made through a BIPOC committee of Quakers and non-Quakers and is based on the strength of the applicants work and proposed project. Final approval of the Bayard Rustin resident is made by the Penington Friends House Residents and staff, in the same interview process that all other residents are approved to live at the Penington. Applicants should note that the Bayard Rustin Resident bedroom is on the 4th floor of an historic Brownstone. An elevator is not available. Bathrooms are shared with other floor residents. This residency covers the cost of rent, boarding (food) provided 5 nights a week, internet, cable, and heat/AC. Limited access ( starting at 3:30PM weekedays) to a studio space may be available. A stipend is NOT currently provided by this residency.
Here are a few types of artists and activists activities that we would be interested in considering. Please contact us before applying if you are not sure your project would fit our call. Questions can be directed to Todd Drake at outreach at penington dot org.
An artist working on a body of art that addresses racism and/or intersectional issues.
A writer working on a new book, play, screenplay, or collection that addresses racism and/or intersectional issues.
A performer creating a new dance piece that addresses racism and/or intersectional issues.
A community based artist designing or carrying out a community based project that addresses racism and/or intersectional issues.
An activist organizing communities to address racism and/or intersectional issues.
A social entrepreneur that is starting a non-profit focused on addressing racism and/or intersectional issues.
An inventor or designer working on solving a problem associated with systemic racism and/or intersectional issues.
A graduate student that has a strong and well defined anti-racism project that needs support and time to launch.
BACKGROUND: The residency is named after Bayard Rustin who was a Quaker and an attender at 15th Street Monthly Meeting in New York City. This meeting (Quaker house of worship) is next to the Penington Friends House. Rustin worked commitedly for the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. He was an advisor to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on nonviolence. Rustin was also a chief organizer of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and a founding member of the Freedom Riders. He was an early advocate for gay rights. Rustin’s later work included a heavy focus on refugee affairs. Rustin served as Vice Chairman of the International Rescue Committee, helped to found the National Emergency Coalition for Haitian Refugees, and was Chairman of the Executive Committee of Freedom House. He died in 1987. In 2013, President Barack Obama posthumously awarded Rustin the Presidential Medal of Freedom. ( Source rustinfund.org)
We are currently accepting applications for the 2025-2026 Bayard Rustin Residency. This is our 5th Bayard Residency.
The Bayard Rustin Residency is supported with funds from the Society of Friends (Quakers) New York Yearly Meeting, the New York Quarterly Meeting, the Brooklyn Monthly Meeting, the Mertz-Gilmore Foundation, and the Board of Penington Friends House. Donations are currently being accepted.
penington.org/rustin-residency/
_____
Theatrical Fellowship Program
Playwrights Horizon (New York, NY)
DEADLINE: March 28, 2025 at 11:59pm ET
INFO: The Playwrights Horizons Theatrical Fellowship Program provides hands-on learning opportunities for the next generation of leaders in the performing arts industry.
This program offers excellent practical experience and training for a career in arts administration or stage management, and an opportunity to collaborate closely with and learn from Playwrights staff members and professionals in the industry. We are proud that many program alumni have gone on to become some of the most active directors, writers, composers, and administrators in the country, and in addition, many former fellows have joined the Playwrights staff.
The fellowships that are currently offered are:
Stage Management
Artistic/Literary
Casting
Marketing
General Management
Fellows are paid $16 per hour, and in 2025 will be paid $16.50 per hour. Fellows also receive unlimited MetroCards for the duration of their fellowship.
FELLOWS WILL…
Be invited to attend a series of seminars that include talks with seasoned professionals in the industry
Have access to a professional development stipend
Be invited to participate in Opening Nights, Community Events, and other staff events
Receive theater tickets and tickets to PH’s shows
_____
The Democracy Cycle
The Perelman Performing Arts Center / Civis Foundation
DEADLINE: April 1, 2025
INFO: Over a five-year period, The Democracy Cycle will commission and develop 25 new performing arts works across the fields of theater, dance, music, opera, and multi-disciplinary performance. The commissioned works, to be selected over the course of three annual Rounds of Open Calls (2024, 2025, and 2026) will explore themes relating to the nature, practice, and experience of democracy.
Civis and PAC NYC have come together because of our shared beliefs to create this commissioning program. These shared beliefs are:
We believe that democratic values are a global expression of humanity’s striving to live with one another with respect and in peace.
We believe that democracy, as practiced in the United States of America, includes a history of founding exclusions and that it has been, and must continue to be, the ongoing work of our society to expand upon the inclusive ideals embedded in our founding documents.
We believe that democracy faces significant perceived and actual threats in the current moment, both domestically and internationally.
We believe that the intersection of capitalism and democracy creates both opportunities and tensions.
We believe that artists are the beating heart of democratic values because of their ability to imagine new worlds, envision new possibilities, and provoke meaningful discourse across any number of divides.
Our hope is that projects commissioned as part of The Democracy Cycle will enrich and expand the discussion around and participation in democracy – be it in the national, state, regional, or hyperlocal community realm – as it is practiced both within the United States and worldwide.
The Cycle will provide $60,000 in support to each awarded project, consisting of a $30,000 commission as well as an additional $30,000 towards each commissioned project’s development process (research, readings, workshops etc.). The commissions will be awarded across three annual Open Calls, beginning in January 2024. In each Open Call, The Democracy Cycle will commission at least eight projects.
For more information, please read the following material and review our FAQs. Updated Submission Guidelines will be posted before the start of each Open Call.
Alongside this Request for Proposals or RFP, applicants are encouraged to review PAC NYC’s mission and Civis’ mission before submitting proposal materials.
HOW WILL PROJECTS BE SELECTED?
The application consists of narrative questions and supplemental materials, including artist statement, project description, project development schedule and projected budget, work samples, and artist resume/CV and bio.
Please note: You will need to make a free account for yourself on Submittable in order to apply.
In February 2025 The Democracy Cycle staff will host a webinar and give an overview of the steps to apply and the application elements, with an opportunity for questions and answers at the end.
PAC NYC / Perelman Performing Arts Center
PAC NYC is a new home for emergent and established artists in theater, dance, music, opera, film, and media from New York City and around the world. Flexible in design, the center is fully responsive to artists’ creative visions. Intimate in scale, PAC NYC fosters an immediate connection between artists and audience members. The center’s projects will sometimes involve significant community participation and will always strive to have audiences reflect the work onstage.
PAC NYC’s mission is to create connections by cultivating bonds between extraordinary artists and communities, with exemplary performances in active dialogue across the arts, and in our flexible, intimate spaces, inviting conversation and new relationships. Our art and our audiences reflect the dynamic energy of all five boroughs of New York City. Our work asks all of us to consider and embrace the complexities of society. Together, we welcome the entire world. The center is where the world trades ideas.
Civis Foundation
Civis (a Galvan Initiatives affiliate) advances the Common Good through investments in root cause advocacy, cultural work, and facilities that illuminate our interdependent future. We pursue our work independently and in collaboration with others whose missions align.
Civis believes that coalitions and partnerships can create winning campaigns for meaningful societal change. By leveraging the unique strengths of private sector companies, government programs, and nonprofit organizations, we are nurturing an American democracy with the constant capacity to effectively serve the welfare of all people residing in this country.