National Partner
516 ARTS
Claude Smith, Education & Exhibitions Manager, claude@516arts.org
Suzanne Sbarge, Executive Director, suzanne@516arts.org
516 ARTS operates a museum-style gallery in downtown Albuquerque, offering programs that inspire curiosity, dialogue, risk-taking and creative experimentation. They showcase a mix of established, emerging, local, national and international artists from a variety of cultural backgrounds. Programs include exhibitions, collaborations with museums and organizations, public art projects, the 516 WORDS literary arts series, lectures, public forums, workshops, youth programs, performances and special community arts events like the Downtown Block Party.
Openings and events draw large, diverse crowds and generate excitement, dialogue and interaction among artists and the public. Schools and community groups visit for educational tours and activities throughout the exhibitions. 516 ARTS is known for its leadership of collaborations that have drawn national and international audiences and media coverage.
National Partner
651 ARTS
Raelle Myrick Hodges, Creative Director, raelle@651arts.org
Founded in 1989, 651 ARTS is Brooklyn’s premier presenter of contemporary dance, theater and music from the African Diaspora. Our signature programs are the mainstage Performance Series, Tradition and Transformation (finished work by emerging and established artists), Live & Outspoken (provocative artist interviews and live performances), Africa Exchange (exchange projects and access for African artists to perform in the United States), Artist Development Initiative, and Education and Community programs which engage artists in adult and youth learning.
651 ARTS is committed to presenting a high level of excellence in the contemporary performing arts of the African Diaspora. Our presentations, humanities events and artist development activities seek to further quality cultural programming by and for people representing the full breadth of the Black and African Diasporic experience.
National Partner
7 Stages
Heidi Howard, Artistic Director, heidi@7stages.org
Mack Headrick, Managing Director, mack@7stages.org
7 Stages engages artists and audiences by focusing on social, spiritual and artistic values in contemporary culture. Primary emphasis is given to the support and development of new plays, new playwrights and new methods of collaboration. Our vision is to be a global center for the creation of vital conversations through collaborative performance. We are committed to inviting national and international performances and theatre artists to our community and to bringing different cultures into intimate contact. We also maintain a multi-disciplinary performance space for other arts groups in Atlanta.
Looking specifically at physical movement, ensemble-based groups and theatre companies, 7 Stages travels nationally and internationally to identify new artists with whom we want to foster relationships. Through live encounters, video clips and electronic communications, we identify companies that fit our mission.
LANE Cohort / National Partner
All My Relations Arts / Native American Community Development Institute / NACDI
Alex Buffalohead, Arts and Cultural Engagement Manager, abuffalohead@nacdi.org
Edward Minnema, Chief Operating Officer, eminnema@nacdi.org
The Native American Community Development Institute (NACDI), located in the heart of the American Indian Cultural Corridor in Minneapolis, builds power in American Indian communities through community organizing, cultural engagement, and Indigenous arts. All My Relations Arts is an initiative of NACDI that seeks to serve contemporary Native artists and increase public access to Indigenous arts. Its robust arts and cultural programming includes the premiere midwestern gallery for contemporary Native arts with four quarterly exhibitions across a range of artistic mediums and styles. Exhibitions include national traveling shows, solo shows from local and emerging artists, and topical exhibits curated around current issues in the Native community.
National Partner
Arab American National Museum
Diana Abouali, Director, dabouali@accesscommunity.org
The Arab American National museum (AANM) is the first and only museum in America dedicated to telling the story of Arab Americans. The AANM has the responsibility and unique capacity to foster better understanding and appreciation of Arab Americans and the Arab world. The museum’s exhibits and programs are responsive to and reflective of the Arab American community, serve the diverse population of our nation, dispel stereotypes and misconceptions about Arabs, Arab Americans, and other immigrants, and help all ethnic groups recognize their shared histories, experiences, and inter- dependence. An affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, in 2008 the museum received a Coming Up Taller Award from the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. The AANM is a founding member of both the Immigration and Civil Rights Sites of Conscience Network and CultureSource. In 2013, the AANM achieved accreditation from the American Alliance of museums.
National Partner
Art2Action, Inc.
Andrea Assaf, Artistic & Executive Director, art2action@earthlink.net
Dora Arreola, Board Member, dorarreola@yahoo.com
Art2Action creates, develops, produces and presents original theatre, interdisciplinary performances, performative acts and progressive cultural organizing. We support women artists, artists of color, queer or trans* artists, and creative allies. We are dedicated to these values, and hold them to be of equal importance: Cultural Equity & Aesthetic Innovation, Artistic Quality & Community Value, Performativity & Impact.
Whether developing new work, touring, or acting as a presenter, community process and meaningful engagement is central to all our work. As a mission-driven, artist-led organization, we increase capacity, extend and deepen our impact through multi-year partnerships with local and national institutions, organizations and networks.
Art2Action is incorporated in the State of New York, and the State of Florida. As a presenter, we work closely with our Tampa partners, from the University of South Florida (USF) to The Bunker Cafe, to local community service organizations. Presenting venues vary in size and technical capacity, from 50-500 seats; identifying the appropriate partners for each residency is key to our process.
Not all residencies require a public performance. Art2Action also supports new work in development by offering writing, exploration or rehearsal residencies at our *new* in-house studio, “The Artists Enclave,” which features a 19×21 studio with a sprung wood dance floor. (For individual artists or small groups, by invitation only).
Disciplines: Theatre, Dance, Performance Art, Music, Spoken Word, Multi-Discipline
National Partner
ArtPower At UC San Diego
Jordan Peimer, Executive Director, jpeimer@ucsd.edu
Molly Clark, Associate Artistic Director, moclark@mail.ucsd.edu
ArtPower at UC San Diego builds creative experiences in music, dance, film, exhibitions, and food for our collective pleasure and inspiration. We engage diverse audiences on and off campus through vibrant, challenging, multi-disciplinary performances by emerging and renowned international artists.
Through extensive partnerships, ArtPower provides exciting opportunities for research, participation, and creation of new work, igniting powerful dialogue among artists, students, scholars, and the community.
National Partner
Ashé Cultural Center / Efforts of Grace, Inc.
Carol Bebelle, Co-Founder/Executive Director, cbebelle@gmail.com
Ashé Cultural Arts Center is the primary initiative of Efforts of Grace. Its mission is to promote, produce, create and support programs, activities and creative works that emphasize the positive contributions of people of African descent. We pride ourselves on our commitment to and experience with collaboration and on our ability to combine art, culture and community into a variety of activities, events, performances and exhibits. We are a multi-disciplinary cultural arts organization with a focus on performance art.
We encourage collaborations among and between artistic disciplines and artists in the Ashé artistic family, independent artists, and artists associated with other arts organizations. Ashé collaborates among its directing team to select artists and identify themes of interest that emerge from our artistic family and the community.
National Partner
Asian Arts Initiative
Anne Ishii, Executive Director, anne@asianartsinitaitive.org
Julia Shaw, Deputy Director, julia@asianartsinitiative.org
Asian Arts Initiative is a community-based arts center that engages artists and everyday people to create art that explores the diverse experiences of Asian Americans, addresses our social context, and imagines and effects positive community change. We are working toward a just and joyous world where all people, regardless of their race and class, are able to view and create art that reflects their lives and concerns. We present all disciplines, including but not limited to dance, performance art, spoken word, theater, music, film and the visual arts.
Our multi-tenant arts facility includes our black box performance space with a professional lighting grid and modular seating; a 1,200 sq. ft. gallery space with 20-ft. ceilings and street front windows; multiple studio spaces that we rent to local arts organizations, both short-term and long-term; and a multi-purpose 2,300 sq. ft. event space.
We focus on Asian-American artists and are open to any artist willing and able to dialogue in a sustained way with our communities. We encourage artists to provide context to their performances through pre- or post- performance discussions, workshops or lecture/ demos. Our executive director and staff select artists with the assistance and expertise of volunteer artists and community members. We also organize exhibitions at public sites throughout Philadelphia. Asian Arts Initiative uses a combination of open call processes and invitations to artists.
National Partner
Bates Dance Festival
Shoni Currier, Director, scurrier@bates.edu
Founded in 1982, Bates Dance festival (BDf) is a leading presenter of contemporary dance in northern New England. BDf brings together over 60 dance artists with 350 participants from around the globe and 5,000 audience members from across the state and region, for an intensive six-week season. The festival includes a performance series of internationally acclaimed contemporary dance, adult professional training, workshops for teen dancers and local youth, extensive community outreach activities, and commissioning and creative time residencies.
The Bates Dance festival builds and nurtures artistic relationships in an effort to provide sustained support, peer engagement and a creative home. BDf director Shoshona Currier consults with artists, festival participants and colleagues to invite new artists into the BDf community, and a committee of choreographers often recommends new artists for our programs. Planning for residencies is done in collaboration with the artists to best meet our individual and shared goals.
National Partner
Bunnell Street Arts Center
Asia Freeman, Artistic Director, asia@bunnellarts.org
Adele Person, Executive Director, adele@bunnellarts.org
Bunnell was created in 1991 by and for artists to sustain artists, cultivate audiences and engage a vibrant Alaskan community. Our mission is to nurture and present exceptional innovative art in all media for diverse audiences. Bunnell presents artist residencies, artist-in-schools programs, workshops, visual art exhibitions, performances, concerts, film screenings, readings, artist talks and more. Bunnell has been a powerful force in shaping Alaska’s cultural landscape for 25 years.
LANE Cohort / National Partner
The Carpetbag Theatre, Inc.
Jonathan Clark, Executive/Artistic Director, jonathan@carpetbagtheatre.org
The Carpetbag Theatre (CBT) is an African American Legacy Theater with a rich history of service to diverse populations. As an intergenerational company, our efforts to engage communities of color and other disenfranchised communities have been constant. An ensemble company both artistically and administratively, CBT works collaboratively to fulfill our mission, to build communities and to develop social capital, emphasizing inclusion and cross-cultural dialogue. “finding voice” is not simply storytelling; it reveals an individual’s power to make change in their own life and the lives of their community. Our curatorial practice is rooted in these principles, selecting work that exemplifies an aesthetic that is inclusive and meets our standard of excellence.
National Partner
Carver Community Cultural Center
Cassandra Parker-Nowicki, Cultural Center Supervisor, cassandraparker.nowicki@sanantonio.gov
Yonnie Blanchette, Executive Director, yonnie.blanchette@sanantonio.gov
The Carver is a multicultural and multi-disciplinary arts center with an emphasis on the contributions of African and African- American artists. for over 40 years, the Carver has celebrated the diverse cultures of our world by presenting local, national and international performing and visual artists. Our programming includes performing arts presentations, visual arts exhibits, residencies, master classes and other arts education programs. Though the Carver strives to work extensively with the city’s east-side neighborhoods, all programs are available to the larger San Antonio community and beyond.
Through our programming, the Carver strives not only to preserve, celebrate and foster the creative expression of the African-American culture, but also to serve as an agent of cross- cultural awareness, exchange and tolerance. Artistic review is a year-round process.
LANE Cohort / National Partner
Central District Forum for Arts & Ideas
Sharon Williams, Managing Director, sharonw@cdforum.org
Nina Yarbrough, Business Development Manager, ninay@cdforum.org
Central District forum for Arts & Ideas is the only organization in the Seattle area solely dedicated to presenting emerging Black arts, artists, and ideas. Our mission is to present and produce Black cultural programs that encourage thought and debate, with a vision of inspiring new thoughts and challenging assumptions about Black culture. We believe in the value of cultural and geographic community, creativity, identity and passion. By focusing on community, we commit to collective efforts that celebrate the diversity of the Black experience. By focusing on creativity, we honor the role of artistic expression and disparate ideas in inspiring conversations leading to social and cultural change. By focusing on identity, we create spaces, experiences and conversations that allow people and communities to see themselves in the arts and ideas we present. By focusing on passion, we acknowledge the intensity and generosity of the work of artists, the interest of audiences, the intellect of thought leaders and the investments of supporters. These values serve as our strategic frame and guide day-to-day operations and curatorial decisions.
LANE Cohort / National Partner
Coleman Center for the Arts
Jackie Clay, Executive Director, jackie@colemanarts.org
Suzanne McGahey, Board Chair, smcgahey@prystup.com
The Coleman Center for the Arts (CCA) is a contemporary arts organization in rural York, Alabama that uses art to foster positive social change, answer civic needs, build local pride, and use creativity for community problem- solving. The CCA was founded in 1985 through the grassroots efforts of local citizens. Programs include a community-based artist-in-residence program that produces socially engaged public art projects, an exhibition program that features the work of local artists, as well as regional and national artists completing CCA projects, and an education program that offers year-round opportunities for area youth.
CCA programs offer artists and community members opportunities to work as co- participants in projects that address civic and social needs. Calling on models of contemporary art and consensus-based organizing, projects are characterized by close collaboration with the community. By sustaining long-term relationships between artists, participants and community, the CCA seeks to have a lasting effect on individuals, issues and the means of production for contemporary art.
National Partner
Contemporary Arts Center Cincinnati
Drew Klein, Performance Curator, dklein@contemporaryartscenter.org
Founded in 1939 and rebranded as the Contemporary Arts Center (CAC) in the 1950s, the organization remains committed to impacting regional and global communities by providing transformative arts experiences that challenge, entertain and educate. In 2003, the CAC moved into its current home, the Lois and Richard Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art designed by celebrated architect Zaha Hadid.
In 2011, the CAC launched its first performance program. The Black Box Performance Series presents an impressive collection of contemporary music, dance, theatre, and multimedia works from regional, national, and international artists. A dedication to presenting both emerging and established voices is matched by a strong commitment to commissioning and co-producing new works.
National Partner
Contemporary Arts Center New Orleans
Laurie Uprichard, Senior Curator of Performing Arts, luprichard@cacno.org
Tiffany Hall, Manager of Executive Affairs & Grants Manager, thall@cacno.org
The Contemporary Arts Center (CAC) is a multi-disciplinary arts center dedicated to the presentation, production and promotion of the art of our time. The CAC presents contemporary performing artists, visual arts exhibitions, unique education programs, and other events. The CAC’s Performing Arts program features bold experiments in music, dance, theater and performance art by local, emerging, and internationally recognized artists.
The CAC positively impacts over 10,000 students, teachers, families and artists annually through its education and public programs. The CAC demonstrates proactive leadership by educating children and adults; cultivating and growing audiences; and initiating and encouraging collaboration among diverse artists, institutions, communities and supporters.
National Partner
Contemporary Dance Theater, Inc.
Jefferson James, Artistic & Executive Director, jefferson@cdt-dance.org
Elizabeth Collins, President of the Board of Trustees, ecollins919@gmail.com
Contemporary Dance Theater (CDT) was founded in 1972 to promote contemporary dance. Over the years its mission has taken on a more social aspect, now described as “moving bodies, moving souls.” CDT feels this is the essence of contemporary dance. To accomplish this, CDT presents diverse dance and time arts, produces and assists the production of regional movement-based work and integrates art into community life.
Contemporary Dance Theater is first and foremost a dance presenter, but the inclusion of theater/dance offers a wide variety of artists/companies. founder and artistic director Jefferson James chooses the artists from her knowledge of the field. She also attends conferences and showcases and views videos to make those choices. She encourages audience and board members to offer suggestions. A season is chosen to reflect the variety within the field, to present familiar as well as new artists, and to challenge the audience with new ideas while keeping them eager for more.
National Partner
Dance Place
Christopher Morgan, Executive Artistic Director, christopher@danceplace.org
Sarah Greenbaum, Associate Curator, sarahg@danceplace.org
Founded in 1980, Dance Place builds a community of artists, audiences, and students through high-quality performances, commissions, training and educational programs. We are committed to enriching the field of dance locally, nationally and internationally. Our thriving campus serves as an anchor in the development of our Brookland/Edgewood neighborhood in Washington, DC.
With an effective intern program for college students and junior staff program for teenagers, the organization prides itself not only as an internationally respected presenter and theater, but also as a provider of model programs for young people. Through our free, interactive “Art on 8th” programming, Dance Place offers a series of music, dance and creative crafts for people of all ages.
In September 2017, Christopher K. morgan succeeded founding director Carla Perlo and director Deborah Riley as Dance Place’s new executive artistic director.
National Partner
Diaspora Vibe Cultural Arts Incubator / DVCAI
http://dvcai.org
Rosie Gordon-Wallace, Founding Executive Director, rosie@dvcai.org
Diaspora Vibe Virtual Gallery is an online format to support the mission to nurture, promote and exhibit the works of emerging Caribbean and Latin American artists. Headquartered in Miami for the past 15 years, Diaspora Vibe supports contemporary emerging artists who explore and experiment with new forms and themes that challenge traditional definitions of Caribbean and Latin American art. The gallery is guided by the conviction that contemporary art is a vital social force that extends beyond the art world and into the broader culture. Our purpose is to engage diverse audiences ranging from arts professionals to those less familiar with contemporary art.
Our exhibition programs include three brick-and-mortar exhibitions (the Caribbean Series, Off the Wall Experimental Series, and the International Cultural Exchange), artist-in- residency programs, international cultural exchanges, and education and outreach activities that celebrate Miami-Dade County’s rich cultural and social fabric.
National Partner
DiverseWorks
Xandra Eden, Executive Director & Chief Curator, xandra@diverseworks.org
Ashley DeHoyos, Assistant Curator, ashley@diverseworks.org
DiverseWorks commissions, produces, and presents new and daring art in all its forms through innovative collaborations that honor each artist’s vision without constraint. founded by artists in 1982, DiverseWorks is one of Houston’s most innovative multi-disciplinary arts organizations, with an astonishing record as a cultural agitator — helping to shape the arc of contemporary art nationally over the last 30 years.
DiverseWorks presents work by local, national, and international artists, with particular attention to work that expands the definitions of contemporary art and crosses the boundaries that have traditionally separated dance, theater, performance art, literary art, and visual art.
DiverseWorks values freedom of artistic expression in all forms, the artist’s role in provoking understanding of social issues, authenticity and dependability in our professional practice, artistic excellence that is born through a coupling of risk and imagination, interactions between artist and audience, diversity and inclusivity. While our work can be rigorous and challenging, we pride ourselves on being welcoming, friendly, and fun.
National Partner
Flynn Center for the Performing Arts
Madeline Bell, Programming Manager, mbell@flynncenter.org
Steve MacQueen, Artistic Director, smacqueen@flynncenter.org
The Flynn Center for the Performing Arts is the largest arts organization in Vermont, presenting world-class performances, extensive arts education classes, programs and workshops, as well as exhibitions. It encompasses a beautifully restored landmark 1,411-seat Art Deco Theater, a 180-seat black box experimental space, two studios, and a gallery in downtown Burlington. It is home to many Vermont performing groups and the box office serves as a regional ticketing agency. With broad-based community support, the Flynn has over 2,500 members; local, regional, and national donors; and serves over 200,000 audience members each season.
The Flynn’s curatorial vision is guided by its mission to present a diverse range of high-quality performances that expand the community’s cultural experiences and support artists in the development of new work. Flynn programming includes a balance of recognized masters and emerging new voices in dance, jazz, music, theater, family programs and multi-disciplinary performance. We plan our programs one to two years in advance.
National Partner
Fusebox
Anna Gallagher-Ross, Curator, anna@fuseboxfestival.com
Ron Berry, Artistic Director, ron@fuseboxfestival.com
Fusebox champions innovative art across a variety of mediums. The Fusebox festival is an annual contemporary hybrid-arts festival that takes place each spring. The festival acts as a catalyst for new ideas, new artistic models, and approaches to help us engage with the issues and questions that define contemporary life.
Fusebox presents local, national, and international work, including theater, dance, music, literature, visual art, and everything in between. most Fusebox presentations occur during the context of the festival, but some work is presented throughout the year. We are interested in creating a dynamic platform for conversation and ideas. We support artists who are pushing things and helping us re-imagine possibilities. Encountering different ideas outside of one’s immediate sphere is central to our understanding of creativity. To this end, we strive to create a space for different artists from different backgrounds (different disciplines/ geographies) to come together to share ideas and present work. Simultaneously, we’re also interested in using the festival as a mechanism to engage with place and community in interesting, meaningful new ways.
National Partner
GALA Hispanic Theatre
Abel López, Associate Producing Director
GALA Hispanic Theatre is a professional Latino theater company that produces and presents for a diverse audience in the Washington metropolitan region. Since 1975, GALA has presented a bilingual season of classical and contemporary plays, music, dance, poetry, spoken word and performances for youth by Hispanic artists from Spain, Latin America, the Caribbean and the U.S. It also commissions plays and translations of works by Latino playwrights.
GALA presents its performing arts program in its new theater and at various venues, including the Washington Performing Arts Society, Dance Place, Cultural Institute of Mexico and Lisner Auditorium at George Washington University. Artist presentations are selected based on quality of work and conformance with GALA’s mission to promote and present the Latino arts. Artists should submit project proposals and work samples at least one year in advance of the September season opening.
National Partner
Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center
Jorge Pina, Director of Programs, jorgep@guadalupeculturalarts.org
The Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, founded in 1980, is located in the heart of San Antonio’s Westside. It is one of the largest community-based, multi-disciplinary organizations in the U.S. The GCAC provides programming across six disciplines (dance, theatre, visual arts, music, film and literature), offers year- round educational programming through its Guadalupe Academy and free community events, and also produces the annual Tejano Conjunto festival and Cinefestival.
Since 1984, The Guadalupe Theater has been an epicenter for the creation and presentation of contemporary Teatro Chicano. The Guadalupe is committed to programming that gives voice to the Latino, Chicano, and Native American experiences while providing a platform for new generations of artists to practice and develop their craft. The Guadalupe is also home to the Guadalupe Dance Company, a professional dance ensemble founded in 1991 that performs traditional Mexican Folklorico and Spanish flamenco dance. With the artistic guidance of visiting artists, the Dance Company produces both contemporary and traditional dance productions throughout the year.
National Partner
Hammonds House Museum
Leatrice Ellzy, Executive Director
Leatrice Ellzy, Executive Director
Hammonds House museum and Resource Center of African American Art is a fine arts museum established in 1988 and housed in an early 19th Century Victorian home. The mission is to preserve, exhibit and increase public awareness about art of the African Diaspora. Hammonds House museum attendees gain greater understanding and expanded knowledge about the contributions that artists of African descent make to world culture.
Hammonds House museum is known for presenting artists of merit and artistic excellence. The museum’s curator and curatorial committee use a stringent review process to select exhibiting artists two to three years in advance. The museum remains sensitive to local and/or emerging artists by providing alternate opportunities for exposure, self-development assistance and avenues to realize additional income streams. Hammonds House museum offers a year- round calendar of exhibitions, panels, lectures and symposia, workshops and demonstrations, youth programming, concerts and other unique events.
LANE Cohort / National Partner
The Hayti Heritage Center / St. Joseph’s Historic Foundation, Inc.
Angela Lee, Executive Director, alee@hayti.org
Melody Little, Director of Operations, mlittle@hayti.org
The Hayti Heritage Center opened in 1975 under the management of St. Joseph’s Historic foundation. Hayti is a cultural enrichment and arts education facility that preserves and advances the heritage and culture of historic Hayti and the African American experience through programs that benefit the broader community locally, nationally and globally.
The Hayti Heritage Center features an acoustically flawless 400-seat Performance Hall, upper and lower galleries, classrooms, a dance emporium, a community room with kitchen, a board room and offices. In addition to core programs (Bull Durham Blues festival, film festival, Concert Series, Raise A Reader Book fair, Dance and Aerobic Boxing Classes, Jambalaya Soul Poetry Slam), Hayti is available for tours and facility rentals.
National Partner
Highways Performance Space & Gallery
Leo Garcia, Executive Director / Artistic Director, leogarcia@highwaysperformance.org
Patrick Kennelly, Artistic Director, patrick@highwaysperformance.org
Highways promotes the development of contemporary, socially involved artists and art forms. Its mission is implemented through three core programs: the performance space, workshop/lab program and two galleries. Annually, Highways co-presents over 250 performances by solo performance artists, theatre ensembles, dance companies, spoken word artists, new music artists, interdisciplinary and mixed media artists. It also mounts contemporary visual art exhibitions with work that explores the boundaries between performing and visual art, commissions and premieres work by outstanding local performing artists, and organizes special events and festivals. In addition, Highways offers residency and educational programs through the Performance Lab. The performance space is curated by artistic director Patrick Kennelly with executive director Leo Garcia. Highways balances a strong commitment to nurturing often-ignored community voices with a willingness to critique and assess that community. Our vision embraces art that addresses challenging topics and issues within and between communities in the interest of greater understanding, social justice, individual and group empowerment and unity.
National Partner
Indianapolis Contemporary (I/C)
Brent Aldrich, Director of Programming, brent@indcontemporary.org
Michael Barclay, Director of Exhibitions, mbarclay@indymoca.org
Founded in 2001 by arts benefactors and enthusiasts with the mission “to bring contemporary exhibitions and programs to our community to stimulate minds, inspire new discoveries and demonstrate the vital connections between visual culture and life,” the Indianapolis Contemporary (I/C) is Indianapolis’ only museum dedicated solely to contemporary art.
Showcasing innovative exhibitions by emerging and mid-career artists in two locations, I/C strives to present artwork that increases the understanding and appreciation of contemporary visual culture, provoking dialogue and encouraging the discovery that art is all around us. Executive director Paula Katz and director of exhibitions mike Barclay, along with invited guest curators, curate I/C’s exhibitions and programs. Artists are intentionally selected to create a balanced exhibition program, celebrating the diversity of makers of contemporary art and the variety of media this field encompasses.
National Partner
International Sonoran Desert Alliance / ISDA
Aaron Cooper, Executive Director, aaron@isdanet.org
Vicki Tapp, Artist Liaison, vicki@isdanet.org
ISDA is a tri-national creative place-making organization dedicated to preserving and enriching the environment, culture, and economy of the Sonoran Desert. Located in Ajo, Arizona (formerly the three separate, segregated communities of Indian Village, Mexican Town, and the Ajo Anglo Townsite), ISDA uses arts and culture to bring people together across long-standing racial and ethnic divisions, and to build community across the U.S., Mexico, and Tohono O’odham Nation borders.
For the last decade, ISDA has been renovating historic buildings in Ajo’s town center where ISDA now manages 30 affordable live/work artist apartments, an indoor/outdoor performance venue, and the new Sonoran Desert Inn and Conference Center created for meetings, arts gatherings, and artists-in- residence. ISDA presents local, regional and national performing artists. ISDA takes a special interest in presenting community and folk arts, and art that evokes or addresses issues of social justice and racial equity.
National Partner
John Michael Kohler Arts Center
Ann Brusky, Curator for Public Programs, abrusky@jmkac.org
Amy Horst, Associate Director, ahorst@jmkac.org
The John Michael Kohler Arts Center encourages and supports innovative explorations in the arts, fostering an exchange between a national community of artists and the public to realize the power of the arts. The Arts Center serves as a laboratory for the creation of new works, nurturer of interdisciplinary initiatives, originator of exhibitions, presenter of performing arts, educator, community builder and advocate for arts issues, functioning as a catalyst for ideas that will impact the lives of artists and the public.
The Arts Center works with community partners to develop goals and priorities for each season. Program coordinators attend booking conferences and related events, then research performing artists, other presenters and commissioning organizations. The staff makes the final selections based on input provided by community partners, audience members and colleagues in the field. The Arts Center presents a variety of performing arts disciplines, including contemporary dance, dance theatre, world music and contemporary theatre by local, national and international artists. At least one community-based performing arts commission is also presented each year.
LANE Cohort / National Partner
Junebug Productions
Stephanie McKee-Anderson, Executive Artistic Director
Stephanie McKee-Anderson, Executive Artistic Director
Founded in 1980 as the organizational successor to the free Southern Theater (FST), Junebug’s mission is to create and support artistic works that question and confront inequitable conditions that have historically impacted the African-American community. We challenge ourselves and those aligned with the organization to make greater and deeper contributions towards a just society.
The story circle process developed by FST and Junebug Productions is central to its work. Artists who value storytelling and whose mission and values are complimentary to Junebug Productions are presented in performance residencies to support its community engagement, leadership development and social justice objectives.
National Partner
Kelly Strayhorn Theater
janera solomon, Executive Director, janera@kelly-strayhorn.org
Ben Pryor, Senior Producer, benpryor@kelly-strayhorn.org
The mission of the Kelly Strayhorn Theater (KST) is to serve as a catalyst for creative expression and the active engagement of audiences. focusing on the performing and media arts of our time, KST takes a diverse, multi-disciplinary, inclusive and international approach to the presentation and understanding of the arts. KST programs examine the questions that define and inspire us as individuals and communities.
Our mission supports a vision in three parts. We are a leading presenter of innovative works in dance, theater, music, live and literary arts; a community resource for youth education, emerging artist support and community partnership; and a neighborhood destination accelerating the transformation of Pittsburgh’s East Liberty neighborhood as a destination for art, culture and economic opportunity.
National Partner
The King Arts Complex
Jevon Collins, Performing Arts Program Director
Jevon Collins, Performing Arts Program Director
The King Arts Complex is located in the oldest area of African-American life in Columbus, Ohio. The Complex preserves, presents and fosters the contributions of African-Americans through creative expression and education. The Complex has built artistically strong offerings that represent the spectrum of the performing and cultural arts, establishing it as a primary African-American institution in Ohio. The Complex houses three performance spaces, two dance studios, an art gallery and three permanent interactive learning areas. The Complex sponsors community events in the adjacent public park and hosts a variety of education programs. Artist selection and review is a year-round process. The traditional performing arts season runs September through June, with artist selections finalized by the prior April.
Permanent and traveling exhibits are selected for the educational and aesthetic content that fits the mission of the King Arts Complex. A team comprised of the program director, program associate, curator, and education director research the content matter of exhibitions as well as the artists who develop them. This process presents the opportunity to bring powerful African-American and multicultural art to the Greater Columbus and Central Ohio community.
National Partner
Legion Arts
F. John Herbert, Executive Director, john@legionarts.org
Mel Andringa, Producing Director, mel@legionarts.org
Legion Arts began in the 1980s as The Drawing Legion, producing original performance works under the direction of Mel Andringa and F. John Herbert. Since 1991, the organization has been known as Legion Arts and has been based at CSPS, a century-old former Czech social hall near downtown Cedar Rapids, Iowa. In addition to generating original productions, Legion Arts now manages CSPS as a regional center for contemporary arts, hosting up to 20 exhibits and 70 performing arts events each year. Through artist-based partnerships, Legion Arts is also involved in advocacy, education and community development initiatives.
Independent, nonprofit and fiercely multi- disciplinary, Legion Arts is a vigorous and varied grassroots presenter, tending to exhibit emerging visual artists or established artists whose work is moving in a new direction. We generally book performing artists (especially musicians) who already have engagements in the area. We are also able to bring in regional, national, and occasionally international, artists for residencies and special projects. We have had over 200 exhibits at CSPS; nearly a third of those have been site-specific. Proposals are accepted on an ongoing basis, and we’re always happy to hear from artists we’re not familiar with. Send an artist’s statement and work sample (old-school slides, CD/DVD, website), then update us regularly about what you’re doing.
National Partner
Links Hall
Stephanie Pacheco, Executive Director, info@linkshall.org
Founded in 1978, Links Hall encourages artistic innovation and public engagement by maintaining a facility and providing flexible programming for the research, development and presentation of new work in the performing arts. Through creation and curatorial residencies, co-presentations with self-producing artists, commissions, and touring exchanges, Links Hall provides artists with space, time and support to take artistic risks. Links Hall’s doors are open to performing artists at any stage in their careers interested in creating new work, to any organization or institution interested in being a generous partner, and to any audience member who wants to deepen their relationship with contemporary performing arts practices. To help bridge divides between artist/audience, artist/ presenter, artist/administrator, Links Hall strives to foster vested interest in the artistic process and collaboration across disciplines, geographic borders, and left and right brain processes. Since 2013, Links Hall’s multi-use, shared venue with music presenter Constellation has allowed Links to expand its offerings while remaining true to its roots as an artist-led incubator.
National Partner
Live Arts Miami
Kathryn Garcia, Executive Director, kgarcia4@mdc.edu
Jenni Person, Managing Producer, jperson@mdc.edu
Live Arts Miami has a celebrated history of bringing exceptional national and international performing artists to Miami. Annually, it produces a diverse series of stellar performances, presenting today’s most exciting artists while creating meaningful encounters between these artists, the students of Miami Dade College, and the community through workshops and residency activities. We seek artists from across the globe who represent a diverse range of voices and forms that push boundaries. honor traditions relevant to our multicultural and multi-lingual community, and introduce voices from beyond the region.
The program’s primary goal is to engage the public directly with the arts, providing new opportunities for profound and meaningful arts experiences. Live Arts Miami offers programming that challenges audiences in order to increase awareness and understanding of diverse cultures and points of view. With each of our presentations, we offer a bridge between cultures and ideas, creating new opportunities for the increasingly diverse population of Miami to come together through shared live arts experiences.
National Partner
Living Arts of Tulsa
Heather Duncan, Interim Executive Director, director@livingarts.org
Since 1969, Living Arts facilitates the presentation and development of critically engaged, interdisciplinary artwork. Living Arts contains a 5,500-sq. ft. gallery/ performance space, two installation spaces, a sprung wood dance floor/performance space, and an education/workshop space. Living Arts’ Artist in Residence Program is a three to six-week research and development residency that allows artists to generate new content: engendering empowered relationships between artistic practice and the Tulsa community.
Living Arts exhibitions include performance, dance, spoken word, music, visual, and media artwork. Programs, projects, and exhibitions are selected through invitation and juried panels comprised of the artistic director and program committees. The Artist in Residence program and exhibition proposal details can be found on the website.
National Partner
Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions / LACE
Sarah Russin, Executive Director, sarah@welcometolace.org
Daniela Lieja Quintanar, Curatorial Associate, daniela@welcometolace.org
LACE fosters artists who innovate, experiment, explore and risk. We move within and beyond our four walls to provide opportunities for diverse publics to engage deeply with contemporary art. In doing so, we further dialogue between, and participation among, artists and those audiences. Since 1978, LACE has nurtured several generations of young and under-recognized artists, and championed newly emerging art forms such as installation- based work, performance art and video art.
LACE programs reflect the organization’s abiding interest in the creative process as much as the product. We believe this transforms the art experience from passive to active. LACE understands the importance of making time for artists to encounter each other and work together in a peer-to-peer setting. This environment allows for discovery and collaboration with time and space to bring together artists and audiences.
National Partner
Maui Arts & Cultural Center
Colleen Furukawa, Vice President - Programming, colleen@mauiarts.org
Maui Arts & Cultural Center (MACC) is the most comprehensive multi-disciplinary arts center in Hawaii, with five theaters — from a 5,000-seat amphitheater to a 250-seat black box and pa (hula stage), all accessible to people with disabilities. Annually, more than 200,000 people attend more than 1,700 events. Since opening in 1994, MACC has become the only arts presenter in Hawaii that produces a diverse range of offerings year-round, bringing high- quality artists from around the world, as well as the finest from throughout the state. forty percent of our diverse and multicultural season offerings are free to our community.
We present a wide range of genres: work that is easily accessible, work that pushes boundaries, authentic work of Hawaii‘ and the Oceanic regions of the Pacific, work that reflects the stories and cultures of Maui’s multi-ethnic populations, and popular entertainment that draws a broad-based local audience. Comprehensive residency activities reach nearly 9,400 residents (6 percent of our population). MACC has commissioned and produced new work by Hawaiian artists who have toured statewide, nationally and internationally. Annually more than 17,000 students and 500 classroom teachers participate in MACC’s nationally recognized arts education programs.
National Partner
McColl Center for Art + Innovation
Bob Scheer, Vice President of Development, bscheer@mccollcenter.org
Alli Celebron-Brown, President + CEO, acelebronbrown@mccollcenter.org
Located in a retrofitted Gothic Revival church, McColl Center for Art + Innovation empowers artists to advance contemporary art and community through the creative process. The Center believes artists and art are catalysts for change. We promote the public understanding of the value of artists to society. McColl Center advances its mission through artists-in- residence, exhibitions, community engagement, and the Innovation Institute.
Artists-in-Residence (AIRs) are the Center’s core program. Emerging, mid-career, and established artists are invited to be in residence for one to eleven months. A total of 12 to 18 artists are in residence annually at the Center. Since it opened in 1999, the Center has hosted more than 400 AIRs. Our business model and our broad network of partnerships enhance our ability to directly address issues critical to Charlotte’s future through facilitated relationships with area institutions.
National Partner
Miami Light Project
Elizabeth Boone, Artistic and Executive Director, beth@miamilightproject.com
Regina Moore, Grant Writer, regina@miamilightproject.com
Founded in 1989, Miami Light Project presents live performances by innovative dance, music and theater artists from around the world, supports the development of new work by South Florida-based artists, and offers educational programs for students of every age. Miami Light Project is a cultural forum to explore some of the issues that define contemporary society. In 2010, Miami Light Project established The Light Box at Goldman Warehouse as our permanent home, a center for creativity and innovation in the heart of the Wynwood Arts District and a space where new work is experienced in its various stages of development. At The Light Box we partner with artists and the neighborhood to create programming including workshops, open rehearsals, performances, encounters with artists, informal exhibitions, arts camps for youth, international cultural exchange and research opportunities among and across disciplines. Our space provides a creative setting in which artists are able to interact with audiences in new ways.
LANE Cohort / National Partner
Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana / MACLA
Anjee Helstrup-Alvarez, Executive Director, anjee@maclaarte.org
Letetia Rodriguez, Director of Operations, letetia@maclaarte.org
MACLA is an inclusive contemporary arts space grounded in the Chicano/Latino experience that incubates new visual, literary and performance art in order to engage people in civic dialogue and community transformation. founded in 1989 as the result of a broad mobilization in the City of San José and nationwide on behalf of multicultural arts, MACLA promotes a vision of arts programming as a vehicle for social equity. more than 30,000 people of all ages participate in the fifty programs each year.
We commission at least one significant performance every year to further the field of contemporary Latino art. We also support local, regional and national artists rooted in a hybrid aesthetic that mixes pertinent societal issues, popular culture and sociological interests with established art forms.
Gallery exhibitions feature innovative work by artists in various points of their careers, in a range of media. Thematically, MACLA’s exhibitions deal with issues of particular societal urgency: labor, politics, gender, identity, sexuality, globalization and immigration. MACLA also has an annual priority to commission new work in the visual arts. Commissions include financial support, an exhibition at our gallery and a catalog to further the lifespan of the exhibition and contribute to the larger field of contemporary art.
National Partner
Multicultural Education and Counseling through the Arts / MECA
Alice Valdez, Founder/Executive Director/Artistic Director, alicevaldez4@gmail.com
Ana Medellin, Finance Director, medellinana@yahoo.com
MECA is a community-based nonprofit organization committed to the healthy development of underserved youth and adults through arts and cultural programming, academic excellence, support services, and community building. A Latino-based multi- disciplinary and multicultural arts organization, MECA has been a leader in providing culturally based arts education for youth for almost 40 years from its home in the Old Sixth Ward Historic District of Houston. MECA also programs live performances and visual art exhibitions by local, national and international artists through the series, MECA Presents.
MECA Presents is a platform to convene community through the arts and encourage dialogue about issues ranging from social justice and equity to diversity and community transformation. from incubating works in progress to presenting local and touring work, MECA seeks to collaborate with innovative and socially engaged artists whose work expands the boundaries of tradition and practice. MECA is especially interested in projects that bring to light the experiences of life on the margins of societies, economies and cultures.
National Partner
Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts / MoCADA
The Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts (MOCADA) uses the visual arts as a point of departure for exploring new artistic production across a variety of disciplines. Through exhibitions and programming, MOCADA incites dialogue on pressing social and political issues facing the African Diaspora, and fosters a dynamic space for the creation and continuous evolution of culture.
Focusing on contemporary issues impacting people of the African diaspora, MOCADA serves people of all generations, with an emphasis on underserved communities of color, through a diverse range of exhibitions, education and community programs.
National Partner
Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago / MCA
Kendall Karg, Associate Director of Performance, kkarg@mcachicago.org
The mission of the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) is to be an innovative and compelling center of contemporary art where the public can directly experience the work and ideas of living artists and understand the historical, social and cultural context of the art of our time. The museum boldly interweaves exhibitions, performances, collections and educational programs to excite, challenge and illuminate our visitors and to provide insight into the creative process. The MCA aspires to engage a broad and diverse audience, create a sense of community and be a place for contemplation, stimulation and discussion about contemporary art and culture.
The MCA presents more than 20 different projects yearly involving close to 100 performances in dance, theater, music and interdisciplinary performance. MCA champions U.S., international, and Chicago-based artists and pursues innovation, collaboration and community engagement. Audience-engaged residency activities are integrated with the public performances. The performing arts programming actively promotes diversity, featuring the voices of culturally and racially diverse artists. The MCA works with arts and community cultural organizations to co- organize and co-present about one-third of the performing arts programs, thereby utilizing the MCA as a shared resource for the city.
LANE Cohort / National Partner
Myrna Loy Center
Krys Holmes, Executive Director, krys.holmes@myrnaloycenter.com
Retta Leaphart, Arts Eductation, myrnaloycenter@aol.com
The Myrna Loy Center for Performing & media Arts presents contemporary indie films and performing arts of all disciplines; supports the creation of new works by Montana state, regional, and national artists; and nurtures a lifelong love of the arts through arts education and residencies. The Myrna Loy Center is one of the nation’s premier rural arts organizations, presenting 20–30 performances per year to audiences in the high mountain valley of Central Montana. Housed in a historic county jail, the Myrna Loy Center focuses on community engagement and connecting Montana audiences with the national creative conversation. The Myrna is a multi-discipline/hybrid house with small audience bases for many different works. When grant support allows, the Myrna Loy Center brings experimental/cutting edge work to Montana.
National Partner
New York Live Arts
Janet Wong, Associate Artistic Director, jwong@newyorklivearts.org
Kyle Maude, Director of Producing and Touring, kmaude@newyorklivearts.org
Located in the heart of Chelsea in New York City, New York Live Arts is an internationally recognized destination for innovative movement-based artistry offering audiences access to art and artists notable for their conceptual rigor, formal experimentation and active engagement with the social, political and cultural currents of our times. At the center of this identity is artistic director Bill T. Jones, a world-renowned choreographer, dancer, theater director and writer. We commission, produce and present performances in our 20,000 sq. ft. home, which includes a 184-seat theater and two 1,200 sq. ft. studios. Each year, nearly 100 performances are presented in our theater, and our annual season includes world premieres of works commissioned by New York Live Arts through the Dance Theater Workshop Commissioning fund. New York Live Arts also supports the continuing professional development of artists. We have a deep commitment to continuing Dance Theater Workshop’s legacy of developing choreographic talent, supporting many of the country’s most outstanding choreographers long before they became well known. The 2014- 15 season marked its 30th year of programmatic support, having supported more than 700 projects and more than 1,000 independent artists through our fresh Tracks program.
National Partner
On the Boards
Rachel Cook, Artistic Director
Rachel Cook, Artistic Director
Founded by artists in 1978, the mission of On the Boards (OtB) is to introduce audiences to international innovators in contemporary dance, theater and music while developing and presenting new work by Northwest performing artists.
As one of the leading organizations of our size and focus in the U.S., OtB produces unique performance projects by leading artists and creates one-of-a-kind experiences for our audiences. We program approximately 12–15 productions per year from September through June. We present contemporary performance from all disciplines; typically companies are in residence for one week. Production residencies and commissions are selected on a case-by-case basis as part of our overall programming curation. OtB is committed to a range of resources and events that provide in-depth information and complimentary social experiences to frame the art on our stages and create dynamic access for our audiences. Alongside our live performances we also create and distribute films of full-length performance through our OntheBoards.tv initiative.
National Partner
Outpost Productions, Inc.
Tom Guralnick, Executive Director, tguralnick@comcast.net
Established in 1988, Outpost Productions is based at The Outpost Performance Space, Albuquerque’s nonprofit, member-supported, 160-seat Performing Arts Center. Outpost also presents in larger venues in Albuquerque and Santa fe, notably during the New Mexico Jazz festival. Outpost presents 100 concerts annually — jazz, experimental, folk and roots, spoken word, teen nights and more — plus classes for youth and adults. Outpost hosts visual arts exhibits in its Inpost Artspace. While an important presenter of touring acts, Outpost also remains committed to supporting local performers. Dedicated to a mission of linking with other organizations, Outpost collaborates with an ever-growing number of partners. Founding executive director Tom Guralnick makes booking decisions with the active input of staff, presenting partners, artists and community members. Outpost seasons run from October to December; march to may; and June to August. Booking decisions are made anywhere from 18 to 24 months in advance of each season. Interested performers should send inquiries to Tom Guralnick.
National Partner
Painted Bride Art Center
Laurel Raczka, Executive Director, laurel@paintedbride.org
LaNeshe Miller-White, Marketing Coordinator, laneshe@paintedbride.org
For over 40 years, the Painted Bride, located in Old City Philadelphia, has offered a space like no other to experience leading-edge contemporary artists with distinct voices that reflect the rich cultural mosaic of our city. The Bride’s mission is to “collaborate with emerging and established artists to create, produce and present innovative work that affirms the intrinsic value of all cultures and celebrates the transformative power of the arts. Through performances and exhibitions, education and outreach, the Bride creates a forum for engagement centered on contemporary social issues.” With a jam-packed season of jazz, world music, dance, theater, performance art, poetry/spoken word and educational and community events, the Bride presents artists from around the world and in the region. The bi-level gallery offers exceptional exhibitions by artists who are breaking new ground in the visual arts. Submissions are accepted on a rolling basis and are reviewed by curators and members of the community. For Jazz on Vine and World music programs, submit a CD, press kit and a self-addressed stamped envelope. For Dance with the Bride and Performance in the Present Tense, submit a video/DVD, resume, press kit and SASE. For visual arts, submit a letter of intent, representative slides of the proposed exhibition and a resume and references for the curator’s consideration.
LANE Cohort / National Partner
Pangea World Theater
Meena Natarajan, Artistic & Executive Director, meena@pangeaworldtheater.org
Adlyn Carreras, Office Manager, meena@pangeaworldtheater.org
Pangea World Theater illuminates the human condition, celebrates cultural differences and promotes human rights by creating and presenting international, multi-disciplinary theater. Pangea constitutes a vital new force in American theater, bringing an international perspective to the Twin Cities’ community. Since its founding in 1995, Pangea has been dedicated to the production and presentation of work that brings together people from different backgrounds and ethnicities, and the contextualization of work by artists from all backgrounds for a multiracial audience. Our theater works, drawn from multiple sources and multiple traditions, have always challenged dominant European-American paradigms and definitions of theater. As we create work that is truly inclusive in its scope and artistic aesthetic, we are also developing a critical language to describe our work. We are engaged in work that involves a cross-cultural perspective, illuminating issues of social justice and human rights.
The artistic and literary directors select the artists we present. members of the ensemble and staff make recommendations. In addition, we have created a community committee that helps with audience development. The selection process is ongoing. We prefer to see live work but documentation is also considered. Our aesthetic is not fixed; it includes the voices and artistic visions of multiple voices and realities.
LANE Cohort / National Partner
La Peña Cultural Center
Tara Dalbo, Deputy Director, tara@lapena.org
Natalia Neira, Co-Director, natalia@lapena.org
La Peña promotes social justice and cultural understanding through the arts, education and community action. Annually, La Peña presents over 200 events with emerging and established music, theater, dance, multi-disciplinary, literary, video and visual artists, produces new works by local artists; presents internationally and nationally renown artists; offers ongoing free and low-cost art classes for youth and adults; and houses a Latin American café.
Each year La Peña staff, in conjunction with its board and input from the community, sets the programming plan. Selection of artists for NPN residencies comes out of this process, which is active and continuous. Artists speak to us about their ideas, and we approach artists with our ideas about community programming. La Peña presents all disciplines with a focus on music, theater and multi-disciplinary work, as our space is limited for dance presenting.
National Partner
Performance Space New York / PS122
Benjamin Kimitch, Senior Creative Producer, benjamin@performancespacenewyork.org
Paula Bennett, Institutional Giving Manager, paula@ps122.org
Performance Space 122 (PS122) is one of New York’s ultimate destinations for cutting-edge theatre, dance, music, live art and multimedia. PS122 is dedicated to supporting and presenting artists who explore innovative form and provocative content and who rigorously challenge the boundaries of contemporary performance. PS122 is committed to a steadfast search for pioneering artists from a diversity of cultures, nations and beliefs. For over 30 years, PS122 has been a hub for contemporary performance and an active member of the East Village as well as the wider cultural community in New York City and across the globe. Under the curatorial vision of artistic directors Mark Russell (1985–2005), Vallejo Gantner (2005–2016), and Jenny Schlenzka (2016–present), PS122 has raised the curtain on more than 9,000 performances and supported the work of more than 7,200 artists, performers, choreographers, playwrights, directors and designers. PS122 passionately advocates for U.S. artists in New York City and across the world. Our organization and the artists we present are reclaiming their relevance to wider social discourse by engaging audiences and community leaders in cultural, economic and environmental debates about what it means to live in contemporary society.
National Partner
Portland Institute for Contemporary Art / PICA
Erin Doughton, Performing Arts Program Director, erin@pica.org
Founded in 1995, PICA is a multidisciplinary art center with the mission of acknowledging and advancing ideas in contemporary art. Through exhibitions, performances, artist residencies, publications and public programs, PICA enables artists and audiences alike to push the limits of artistic expression and provocative ideas. PICA’s new home in a converted warehouse in NE Portland includes two flexible programming spaces and Resource Room library. PICA’s annual TBA (Time-Based Art) festival brings together a diverse group of artists from around the city, the country and the world for ten days of performances, exhibitions, workshops, lectures and late-night events each September. The festival and year-round programming take place in our home space as well as venues around the city.
Performing arts director Erin Boberg Doughton, visual art curator Kristan Kennedy and community engagement director Roya Amirsoleymani curate PICA’s programs, working closely with artists and partners to research and invite artists for residencies, commissions and programs on an ongoing basis — there is no formal submission process or timeline for programming.
National Partner
Portland Ovations
Aimée Petrin, Executive & Artistic Director, ampetrin@portlandovations.org
Laura Stauffer, Associate Director of Programming, lstauffer@portlandovations.org
Since 1931, Portland Ovations has evolved from an all-volunteer, classical music organization into one of New England’s leading multi-disciplinary presenters. Ovations curates an annual season of 20–25 public performances; five to eight school-time performances; and more than 120 collaborative community and school-based education/outreach activities. Ovations supports artists from Maine and across the country in the creation of new work through regular co-commissioning. Ovations is committed to excellence and diversity of programming, bringing the enjoyment of the performing arts to the broadest possible audience and enhancing the understanding of our world’s cultural traditions. Our goal is to make the arts available to all who seek them, while promoting the importance of the arts in nourishing a vibrant, respectful community.
Artists are chosen for their artistic excellence but also for a body of work that enables Ovations to move offstage and into its community, allowing for meaningful interaction between artist and audience. Ovations uses an inclusive approach to programming to attain a season that is diverse in its offerings and geared toward various audiences. Staff, board, community partners and patrons all have some input on the decision, which is ultimately made by the executive director.
National Partner
Pregones Theater / Puerto Rican Traveling Theater
Alvan Colon-Lespier, Associate Artistic Director, acolonlespier@pregones.org
Arnaldo López, Managing Director, ajlopez@pregones.org
Pregones Theater is a Bronx-based ensemble whose mission is to create and perform original musical theater and plays rooted in Puerto Rican/Latino cultures, and to present other performing artists who share our twin commitment to the arts and civic enrichment. Founded in 1979, the company is known for creating plays with dynamic visual and rhythmic character, mining connections between theater and popular culture, and galvanizing multiple generations of artists and theater-goers. flagship programs are mainstage, Presenting, Education and Touring. Since 2005 Pregones operates its own professional theater in the heart of the South Bronx Cultural Corridor.
Pregones presents artists working in theater, dance, music and related disciplines. The primary goal of our Presenting program is to give a diverse home audience an opportunity to sample the full range of contemporary performing arts. Artist compatibility with our mission is crucial in the selection process, as are scheduling and budget.
National Partner
Real Art Ways
Will K. Wilkins, Executive Director, wwilkins@realartways.org
Tricia Haggerty Wenz, Development Director, thaggertywenz@realartways.org
Founded in 1975, Real Art Ways is one of the country’s early alternative arts spaces, presenting and producing new and innovative work by emerging and established artists, and serving as a crucial connection for audiences and artists regionally, nationally and internationally. The organization has sustained itself through committed support for new ideas and disciplines and has steadily built a diverse and unique audience that crosses lines of race, sexual orientation, economics and age.
Real Art Ways is a contemporary art space with a special link to its own community. With films, concerts, performances, readings, exhibitions and a lounge where people gather before and after events, Real Art Ways is a unique place for people of widely varying backgrounds to come together around art and ideas. Depending on the event, the audience at Real Art Ways can range from suburban grandmothers to transgendered patrons, from area business people to urban teens, from well-respected artists to inquisitive children.
National Partner
RedLine Contemporary Arts Center
Louise Martorano, Executive Director, louise.martorano@redlineart.org
Robin Gallite, Deputy Director, rgallite@redlineart.org
Founded by artist and philanthropist Laura Merage in 2008, RedLine’s mission is to be a diverse urban laboratory where art, education, and community converge. Our vision is to foster forms of social practice in the arts that inspire inquiry and catalyze change. RedLine also connects artists with the community. RedLine encourages artistic growth in our two-year residency program that provides an environment where artists can cross the red line to lose the inhibitions that may hold an artist back, while gaining support systems to excite the senses and realize one’s dreams. Artists are required to share their experiences and their personal creativity with the community as part of their residency.
National Partner
Roy and Edna Disney, CalArts Theater / REDCAT
Edgar Miramontes, Deputy Executive Director & Curator, emiramontes@calarts.edu
REDCAT, a center for contemporary performing, visual and media arts, introduces diverse audiences and artists to the most influential developments in the arts from throughout the world and provides Los Angeles artists with opportunities to develop new work. Opened in 2003 by the California Institute of the Arts, REDCAT is located in the frank Gehry-designed Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles. REDCAT features a flexible black box performance space and a 3,000 sq. ft. exhibition space.
REDCAT’s programming values artists who blur the boundaries between artistic disciplines, cross international borders in their collaborations, experiment with artistic traditions and invent or use new technology in developing new forms of expression. Each year as many as 200 events are presented, including performances, screenings, discussions, readings and exhibitions. most performing artists are selected 12 to 18 months in advance. The gallery director and curator program the exhibitions.
National Partner
Sandglass Theater
Shoshana Bass, Co-Artistic Director, shoshana@sandglasstheater.org
Eric Bass, Co-Artistic Director, eric@sandglasstheater.org
Our mission is to present, develop and support innovative theatrical work, to provide our audience with a broad interpretation of theater, and to encourage dialogue across ages and cultures. Sandglass is a touring company dedicated to the use of the puppet as a theatrical medium, often in collaboration with artists and composers to explore identity, memory and relationship to place. We are interested in other media, current issues and a range of ensemble theater forms and processes. We have been presenting guest artists since 1996, including an annual series in our 60-seat barn theater and a biannual international puppet festival in local venues.
Located in a small village in southern Vermont, we serve a rural extended community of about 30,000. There is strong interest in multicultural, urban and world affairs; much of our programming is focused on current issues around multicultural identity and diversity. We present an annual theme-based series, Voices of Community, which develops an extended dialogue over several weeks around cultural identities and a biannual International Puppet Festival, among other series and events.
National Partner
Skirball Cultural Center
Jen Maxcy, Assistant Director, jmaxcy@skirball.org
Adele Lander Burke, VP and Director of Programs, aburke@skirball.org
The Skirball Cultural Center is a place of meeting guided by the Jewish tradition of welcoming the stranger and inspired by the American democratic ideals of freedom and equality. We welcome people of all communities and generations to participate in cultural experiences that celebrate discovery and hope, foster human connections, and call upon us to help build a more just society.
We serve Los Angeles’ many and varied communities. Through an eclectic program of music, performing arts, films, talks and conversations, we strive to bring people together across cultures and difference, creating a space where all people will feel welcome. We are a platform for building creative community committed to making the world a better place.
We seek to work with groundbreaking artists and thinkers who engage, challenge and inspire us, who are formally and creatively adventurous, who are generous of spirit and rich in imagination.
National Partner
South Dallas Cultural Center
John Spriggins, Manager, john.spriggins@dallascityhall.com
Daniel Hanchett, Performing Arts Coordinator, daniel.hanchett@dallascityhall.com
The Center’s program places a high value on works that explore contemporary issues facing the African world community, particularly those that seek to inform the audience about the inter-relatedness of people of color. SDCC commissions work from local artists through its Diaspora Performing Arts Commissioning Project and sponsors the annual South Dallas Dance festival.
The 34,000 sq. ft. facility features a black box theater, two visual arts galleries, studios for dance, 2- and 3-dimensional arts and digital photography, a digital recording studio with a Pro Tools system and a video production studio with final Cut Pro editing systems.
National Partner
Space One Eleven
Peter Prinz, Co-Founder and CEO, peterprinz@spaceoneeleven.org
Cheryl Lewis, Director of Programs, cheryllewis@spaceoneeleven.org
Founded in 1986, Space One Eleven (SOE)’s mission is to support visual artists by a commitment to artistic freedom, by paying professional artist fees and by providing opportunities for artists to exhibit and teach. SOE presents innovative contemporary art by diverse artists who address universal themes through the lens of Birmingham, Alabama’s history and its meaning to the world, providing a forum for public understanding and appreciation of contemporary art.
Space One Eleven’s curatorial team invites artists and curators to organize projects that are challenging and that prompt discussions of current social, artistic and cultural issues. SOE encourages artists to investigate the role that the Deep South plays in political matters such as economic disparity, equal access to education and healthcare, immigration, gender equity and aging. Exhibitions and visual art installations take place in the gallery and storefront windows. Art education activities are held in the pottery and multi-media studios.
National Partner
Straz Center for the Performing Arts
Jeanne Piazza, Director of Programming, jennifer.gonzalez@strazcenter.org
Maggie DiPietra, Grant Writer, maggie.dipietra@strazcenter.org
The Straz Center is more than a beautiful riverside facility with five theaters (from 2,600 to 100 seats) and an on-site, accredited performing arts conservatory. We are also a presenting, producing and educating institution, a community resource, and the cultural cornerstone for the Tampa Bay region.
Our programming serves more than 500,000 people each year and includes Broadway tours, grand opera, ballet and contemporary dance, theater, cabaret, comedy, music and more. Our resident opera and theater companies produce challenging works not otherwise available. Overall, the Straz Center’s arts education programs serve over 50,000 children and adults each year and include on-site training as well as extensive off-site outreach to more than 40 partnering Title I schools, service agencies, shelters, hospitals and community centers. We are mission-driven to inspire, educate and enhance our community through the transformative power of the performing arts.
LANE Cohort / National Partner
Su Teatro Cultura and Performing Arts Center
Mica Garcia de Benavidez, Organizational Manager, mica@suteatro.org
Tanya Mote, Associate Director, tanya@suteatro.org
Su Teatro Cultural & Performing Arts Center’s mission is to promote, produce, develop and preserve the cultural arts, heritage and traditions of the Chicano/Latino community, to advance mutual respect for other cultures, and to establish avenues where all cultures may come together. Su Teatro, the resident theater company born out of the Chicano Civil Rights movement, is the third-oldest Chicano theatre in the U.S. While having a strong theatrical bent, Su Teatro also presents music, poetry, visual and film artists.
Artist collaborators are programmed into Su Teatro’s season that also includes the Chicano music festival and the Neruda Poetry festival. Artist collaborators fit within the Chicano aesthetic and represent an emerging vision of the Latino World experience. Residencies are structured within the curriculum of Su Teatro’s Cultural Arts Education Institute.
LANE Cohort / National Partner
The Theater Offensive
Harold Steward, Producing Co-Executive Director
Harold Steward, Producing Co-Executive Director
The Theater Offensive creates innovative artistic/activist programs in diverse lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (queer) communities. Growing out of a guerrilla theater troupe in 1989, we became a charter Resident Theater Company at the Boston Center for the Arts in 1993. The Theater Offensive’s OUT In Your Neighborhood strategy covers all our programming. We work with and within the Boston neighborhoods of Roxbury, Dorchester, Jamaica Plain and the South End to create relevant performances, then collaborate with neighbors, businesses and community groups to present works locally. The population we serve is about two-thirds people of color, which is reflected in our staff and the artists we present. Each NPN residency artist we present works inside our neighborhoods to develop relevant shows.
National Partner
Walker Art Center
Philip Bither, Senior Curator, philip.bither@walkerart.org
Julie Voigt, Senior Program Officer, julie.voigt@walkerart.org
An internationally respected contemporary art center, the Walker is a catalyst for the creative expression of artists and the active engagement of audiences. We take a multi-disciplinary approach to the creation, presentation, interpretation, collection, and preservation of art. The Walker houses one of the largest museum-based performing arts departments in the country and annually supports dozens of commissions, developmental residencies, and presentations. The McGuire Theater, opened in 2005, serves not only as a stunning platform for presentations but also as a working laboratory and production center, offering innovators the support, time, and resources to finish technically mounting large-scale work. The Walker commissions and presents new work on local, national, and international levels and continues to present a wide range of global work. We support established and innovative masters, mid-career artists and a range of emerging voices in contemporary dance, dance theater, experimental theater, new music-theater, performance art, new puppetry, avant-jazz, electronic music, contemporary classical music, international/global music and experimental pop/rock. We mainly select artists with whom we have ongoing relationships or those we have researched and sought out, but we remain open to receiving proposals and inquiries from artists who fit our mission and who are forging new directions.
National Partner
Wexner Center for the Arts
Lane Czaplinski, Director of Performing Arts, lczaplinski@wexarts.org
Ashley Stanton, Performing Arts Program Manager, astanton@wexarts.org
Wexner Center for the Arts is a multi-disciplinary complex at The Ohio State University dedicated to the contemporary arts and their audiences. With active programs in performing arts, visual arts, media arts, and education, the Center also serves as a creative research laboratory, sponsoring commissions and creative residencies annually. In 2016–2017 the Wexner Center provided creative support for new productions by Faye Driscoll, Bebe Miller, and Sam Green with Kronos Quartet.
We strive to provide unique arts experiences to the students of OSU, the Columbus community, and this region. Presenting global perspectives from international arts leaders is a priority, as is providing contextual material about the ideas that inform new work for our audiences. Artists are selected for our performing arts season of dance, theater, and music events by a curatorial process.
National Partner
Women & Their Work
Chris Cowden, Executive Director, cowden@womenandtheirwork.org
Women & Their Work serves as a catalyst for new ideas in contemporary art. Our mission is to foster the artistic growth of women visual and performing artists by encouraging them to take creative risks and make new, adventurous work. Since 1978, we have created significant opportunities for artists and audiences to experience contemporary art through ambitious exhibitions, commissions of new work, performances and programs that inform audiences of all ages. Through these programs, we seek to develop, educate and sustain audiences for the art of our time.
Known for our pioneering spirit and embrace of artistic innovation, Women & Their Work (W&TW) presents more than 50 events a year. Our goal is to enrich and diversify the cultural ecosystem of Austin, of Texas, of the United States and beyond. W&TW reviews proposals from performing artists throughout the year in dance, music, theater, spoken word, multimedia work and performance art, usually scheduling for the following year.
W&TW also presents ongoing exhibitions of visual art. We reserve five exhibitions a year for the work of Texas women artists and present two shows featuring national and international artists. We review proposals from non-Texas artists throughout the year, usually scheduling for the following year. We prefer that the dominant artistic voice be that of a woman; however, all performers need not be female to be presented here.
National Partner
The Yard
Alison Manning, Executive Director, Co-Producer, alisonmanning@dancetheyard.org
Chloe Jones, Director of Development/Associate Producer, chloejones@dancetheyard.org
The Yard supports diverse, contemporary dance-makers and related artists in their creative processes through paid creative residency, public performance, long-term education, and artist-driven civic engagement. We serve all ages and cultural populations on Martha’s Vineyard, and work collaboratively with artists, producers, and other cultural organizers within regional, national and international contexts.
The Yard achieves its mission through an integrated ensemble of artist residencies, public performances, local education programs, and year-round community building activities. The YARD ARTS Summer Season runs late may through mid-September, while the new WINTER YARD series populates the period November to may. MAKING IT, The Yard’s intergenerational dance-making and creativity initiative, is now active year-round in all island schools, as well as in after-school programs, libraries, senior centers, at the YMCA, on The Yard’s own Chilmark campus, and in other partner organization sites around the island.
National Partner
Youth Speaks, Inc. / Brave New Voices / Living Word Project
Joan K. Osato, Producing Director
Youth Speaks creates safe spaces to empower the next generation of leaders, self-defined artists and visionary activists through written and oral literacies. We challenge youth to find, develop, publicly present, and apply their voices as creators of societal change. Founded in 1996, Youth Speaks is a multi-faceted organization that believes that the power, insight, creativity and passion of young people can change the world. In addition to a wide variety of arts education, youth development and civic engagement programs that serve thousands each year in the Bay Area, we are the founders of Brave New Voices, an annual event and national network of young poets and youth development organizations, and the Emerging Arts fellows Program which prepares fellows for leadership and artistic opportunities in the performing arts field.