July 2026 News
August 14, 2026 • 6 minute read
“We have the right to be moved: Being moved to exhilaration, rage, joy, or tears calls us into life.” I returned to this message from the Design Studio for Social Intervention’s Aesthetic Justice Manifesto this month, as I’m reflecting on my 10-year anniversary as NPN’s President & CEO and we dive deep into a new strategic planning process. A decade in, I’m still exhilarated by what NPN helps make possible.
This month’s news issue includes stories about how place, identity, and justice intertwine: from Geeta Dave’s paintings that bring the imagery of her childhood in India to Prairieville, Louisiana; DiverseWorks’ message of why writing off a place as culture-free is irresponsible; Mixed Metaphor’s lesson on what goes wrong when programs are built for a community instead of with it; a save-the-date for NPN’s 2027 conference in Philadelphia; and much more.
And last but not least, this issue includes NPN’s 2026 Creation Fund awards — 18 artists and nearly 50 co-commissioners from Homer, Alaska to Ajo, Arizona to Lewiston, Maine — celebrating new work that moves us and calls us into life.
Thank you for sharing a decade of rage and joy with me, and being part of NPN’s beloved community. Onward!
Caitlin Strokosch
President & CEO
National Performance Network
“I grew up with the parrot, with the sparrow, with the peacock.”
An Interview with Take Notice Fund Artist Geeta Dave
Geeta Dave is a painter from Prairieville, LA, whose work incorporates the wildlife and culture of her childhood in India. In this colorful interview, part of the NPN Take Notice Fund’s commitment to bring more visibility to Louisiana artists of color, Geeta talks about growing up surrounded by animals, how she was drawn to art from an early age, and the evolution of her artistic career after she moved to the United States.
“Now I think I have that command over my work, and I can be a competitive artist. But, I don’t want to lose my culture. I don’t want to lose my Indian touch. My question is how can I incorporate it and come up with an idea that everyone will understand. That is a wonderful, but challenging, opportunity.”
Read the full interview on our Voices from the Network blog.
NPN 2027 Conference
Save the Date for NPN’s 2027 Conference in Philadelphia
Mark your calendar – our next conference will take place October 18-21, 2027 in Philadelphia, PA. We welcome people across the arts and social justice sectors in building a collective future rooted in justice and joy. We hope you’ll join us!
Announcing the 2026 Creation Fund Artists
NPN is proud to announce the 18 artists and collectives of the 2026 Creation Fund, which supports the development of new artistic works that advance racial and cultural justice. This year’s liberatory projects include a dance series set to the music of Kendrick Lamar; a community project that honors Filipino/a/e and Latino/a/e migratory stories; and a reclamation of African American percussive traditions through stepping, body percussion, and storytelling.
Through the 2026 Creation Fund, NPN will distribute $319,000 in direct funds and co-commissioner matches from nearly 50 organizations from across the U.S., seed funding for 18 projects with combined budgets expected to exceed $900,000.
Strata: DiverseWorks
Mixed Metaphor: Designing With, Not For
“Normally I’m used to providing the leadership. But this was a little different, the exercise of listening to what other people are saying.”
Design justice breaks down the hierarchies that white supremacy creates about knowledge and expertise. It’s a framework that reminds designers and consultants to find pathways that align with how people are already moving forward, then build from there through co-creation and shared leadership. The “Design Justice” section of the Mixed Metaphor Workbook (pages 62-65) offers resources and reflections that can help you further explore the concept of design justice.
Explore the Mixed Metaphor Workbook and its companion, the Mixed Metaphor Learning Deck.
Announcements & Opportunities
Untangling Censorship: Risk, Solidarity, and the State of Artistic Expression
A new miniseries, UNDOXX: Artists Untangle Censorship!, explores stories about safeguarding freedom of expression and the power of collective action in an era of risk and surveillance. Co-created by artists and activists zavé martohardjono, maura nguyễn donohue, Maya Simone Z, and Yanira Castro, the series is a part of Hope Mohr’s podcast the body is the brain in collaboration with UNDOXX. Castro and Mohr have both been part of NPN’s network as artists, commissioners, and colleagues, and the miniseries represents the contributors’ deep practices at the intersections of art and social change.
Dance/USA’s Fellowships to Artists Program to End
Since 2018, Dance/USA’s Fellowships to Artists program has provided more than $2.7M in unrestricted funds to 86 outstanding artists who have committed their lives and work to social transformation through movement and dance. The DFA program has been made possible with generous, multi-year support from the Doris Duke Foundation, whose funding is ending later this year.
“It has been a privilege to help steward this work alongside an extraordinary community of artists, advisors, panelists, peer readers, colleagues, and partners,” says Haowen Wang, Dance/USA’s Director of Regranting and a member of NPN’s Board of Directors. “Together, we built a program that sought to center trust, accessibility, artist leadership, and care.”
As the Fellowship program comes to a close, Dance/USA is focused on documenting and sharing the program’s learnings, celebrating the artists “whose work continues to challenge, inspire, and reshape our understanding of what dance can contribute to our communities,” says Haowen.
Beyond Borders: A Tri-national Puppet Procession
Beyond Borders, a new short form documentary from our National Partner International Sonoran Desert Alliance (ISDA) in Ajo, Arizona, is now available to watch on YouTube.
Beyond Borders captures a co-creative community arts project in the Sonoran Desert. The communities of Ajo in Arizona, U.S.A.; Pisinemo on the Tohono O’odham Nation; and Sonoyta in Sonora, Mexico each worked with artists Christopher Lutter-Gardella and Jose Buck Sandoval to create larger than life avatars that came together for a processional in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in March 2025. The documentary also draws attention to the existential danger posed by secondary border wall construction to sacred sites like A’al Vaipia / Quitobaquito Springs in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.
Upcoming Artist Activities
Riddims of Graffiti, a solo exhibition by Izia Lindsay
Now through August 31st, 2026, at DVCAI, Barry University (Miami, FL).
More info.
Dancing Through Time: Donna Sternberg, a Retrospective, 1970 to 2026.
August 1st, 2026 – January 10th, 2027 at the Fresno Art Museum (Fresno, CA).
More info.
Between Goodbyes Film Screening, directed by Jota Mun.
August 20th, 8-10 pm at CMU Melwood Building (Pittsburgh, PA).
More info.
STORY BALLET premiere, slowdanger.
September 25th-26th at 7:30 pm, September 27th at 3:00 pm at Charles W. Eisemann Performing Arts Center (Richardson, TX).
More info.
What We’re Reading
Each month, NPN’s staff and board engage with a reading that helps shape our analysis of our sociopolitical landscape and deepen our understanding of how to embed liberatory practices throughout our work. The Collective Learning Series is organized by NPN’s Department of Racial Justice and Movement Building (DRJaM).
Last month, we read Chapter 4: “Power”, from Rebecca Subar’s book, When to Talk and When to Fight: The Strategic Choice between Dialogue and Resistance. Subar taught Peace and Conflict Studies at West Chester University from 2005 to 2019, and her work has guided political negotiators, organization-builders, and movement strategists alike. NPN chose her article “When to Comply, and When to Resist: Strategic Decision-Making in a Time of Authoritarianism” for the Collective Learning Series earlier this year, and we continue to return to Subar’s writings as we navigate times of conflict.
NPN is generously supported by:
Barbara and Amos Hostetter, Doris Duke Foundation, Ford Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, Lambent Foundation, Louisiana Division of the Arts, Mellon Foundation, South Arts, Surdna Foundation, Vilcek Foundation, and our generous donors.
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