Saturday, January 31, 2015

Elements of Talent (Conversation with a Friend)

I was gushing about a writer I admire for his daring plays and fearlessness when the conversation veered into theories.  This was a high evening of theatre at HERE Arts Center, a macrobiotic dinner, and a blistering shock of winter wind that flowed through the West Village. On the way back to the train, I talked to a friend about traits of successful people; particularly this artists, but also artists in general.

My friend just left it all at the feet of talent, but I think it's more than that. Success doesn't equal talent. There are a plenty of talented people who never go anywhere. So then I started thinking about intelligence which I would define as an adaptable, critical-thinking, problem-solving drive that's both conscious and subconscious. Intelligence balances planning and improvisation. But there are many intelligent talents who also can't put something into action. And then I thought about self-will, or the ability to actualize something. I think that forms the triangle of success: talent, intelligence, and self-will. And the three must be in alignment. If one overpowers the other then usually there's a disaster. If self-will becomes too powerful then the conscious mind begins to 'force' things and the nebulous nature of talent suffers. The same is true for intelligence, which has to play nice and balance itself with discipline of self-will. And if talent gets too big, then self-will and rational intelligence suffers.

Talent is the most undefinable element out of the three. What does that even mean? Granted, this is was all walking-to-the-subway hypothesizing (to distract ourselves and keep warm during a freezing winter night) but I began kicking that idea around as I rubbed my hands against the inside of my jacket for heat.

If I had to write a textbook on talent it would start with a simple triangle graph of these three things: actual skill, emotional perception (that I will call 'passion') and then a quantum aspect of timing.
The skill part is easy to define: that's just the ability to externalize some intelligent and dynamic understanding through some instrument or form of communication. Piano, pen, architect's draft board, a dancer's body. The skill is the superficial and mechanical process.

Emotional perception or 'passion' is the drive of the talent. It's the inexplicable, wordless energy that must get out through whatever skill is at hand. This is what drives the mechanical process of talent. It doesn't necessarily mean hot-blooded or a romanticized version of 'passion.' It's just an emotional engine. Passion can be cold, hot, anxiety-riddled, horrific, transcendentally spiritual. But there is just an urgency.

The final thing which popped into place was timing. This is the funniest aspect of talent. It's the ability to move the passion into skill at the appropriate pace to create something. I've experienced passion that's out of whack with skill and it's just a million thoughts running through my head that I can't funnel at the right pace into the mechanics of writing. And I've experienced staring at a blank page with a full outline, and the only thing that's missing is passion or the emotional trigger.

We were lost in tangential thoughts when we arrived at our subway station, warmer and wiser from the conversation.

Sunday, January 25, 2015

Riding Round w/ J

Riding ‘round in a burgundy Mercury Tracer.
Purple lean dripping down
the falsetto wails of crying doves.
Prince sounds like the devil
through theraflu fog banks that
clash against candy apple interiors
of a crashing rocketship keening
down i-95 tail lights.
So here I am:
No one.
Nowhere.

My cat was killed last week
by a dirt bike stunt.
Jumping the curb
and skidding into my yard.

It’s good that she’s dead.
She was the part of me that
needed to die: the fluffy part,
the kindness that needed killing.
The vacuum left by love
was filled with the sacred wish
to immolate myself like the Vietnamese
protesting the war. Like a Tibetan monk
mourning for Shangri Lai.
My cynical friend shattering
the one final myth with ‘you know no one does that any more, right?
The flames, the ash. It’s all CGI.
Pixar and Dreamworks co-produce all the suicides
in a Pasadena studio.

But before my cynic can destroy fantasy,
I am an incandescent pyramid,
a tinder-ed pyre.
Full-lotus gasoline doused pose
in the middle of the highway
as I bring the smoldering
cigarette to my scalp.
A surrendering ‘whoosh’ and crackle.
I open my mouth to scream,
the flames leap down my throat.
My lungs burst into twinkling cinders,


Truckers chain yank the horns
of their 18-wheelers, masturbating
to my shrine of flames.
My jaw dissolves unhinged
and my chin cranes open
and my tributary tongue tumbles out
laid roadside like police flares.
Caution. Slow down. You are about to miss an accident
to rubberneck. A scenic selfie.
My body rocks and keels over like a pot of chalk
shattering open an ashen cloud.

Here I am
No one
No place.

Shuffle playlists
jumps to the Beach Boys
added merely for irony,
their surfer blond harmonies
echoing through operatic streets.

In my car’s cup holder is
the candle flickering glow of amateur stunts on my iPhone,
playing ping pong with my eyeballs and road lights.

The stuntmen: runaways, drug addicts, sexually maimed
and abused refuse hauled into highway motels
Termite panels shaking
from the 75 mph curtains.
Truckers blasting through this no place.
moving past without a glance
at the $10/a day room lights, camera, action.
And in this boarded-up town, in this lost state
rusting from nostalgia’s tears,
hitch hiking faggots hang at the
gas station glory hole,
hoping to find someone to cargo them to the next nowhere,
crucify or slice their throats into extinction.

The stuntwomen pimped into hash
and haggling 30% more for double penetration,
they say it’s for the kids,
but the railroad on her arm tells it differently.
Sunglasses and wig shuttering
from the 75 mph pelvic pumps,
jacking her forehead into the molding bedboard.

Here I am. Again.

Saturday, January 10, 2015

Give and Take: Tong-Len Living

At the end of 2014 I got the news that Steve (one of my classmates) had passed away from lung cancer. I was on a video shoot working for a client. I lamented about all the conversations we had about quitting smoking and his inability to stop. The rest of the day proceeded as expected, I finished the job, and moved on.

Last week I got an email from the client. He said that our conversation about Steve's premature death caused him to quit smoking. I had completely forgotten about it. I wasn't trying to get the client to give up nicotine, but I was just speaking aloud about regrets. He mentioned that in addition to quitting cigarettes, he's gone off dairy, wheat, and sugar. I got curious about his transformation. He wasn't trying to get me to change my diet, just speaking about his experience.

My client wasn't trying to get me to change my diet. He was just speaking his truth. It's been a week of cravings, watching these urges pass and come back, and noticing without running to the substance. I feel better. It's funny how we both helped each other out, by just speaking from our truth. 

Sunday, January 4, 2015

Eating My Shadow

I came across this term yesterday. While the discovery might have been coincidental for me, it wasn't by accident. Eating the shadow is a Jungian term for devouring the shameful, hidden, ugly, darkness of our personality.

In starting off the new year, I often think about goals, positive affirmations, and all those logical above-ground conscious mind things we do to program ourselves. But this year I was examining shadows. In particular I was looking at my own shadows, or the hideous part of me.

In psycholog-ese, eating the shadow means examining the hideous. And devouring it. To take the pain, body issues, the basic shame humans have over the body's grossness (smells, defecation, urination, oozing of fluids, dirt), to take all those emotions and feelings and to examine them without judgment but in the light. Once in the light, they can be laughed at, transformed, and symbolically consumed back into the personality.

I can see the shadow as a black cloud, a negative x-ray, and heavy energy. Today I saw it as a long train at the end of a dress. A train that runs for miles behind me that I take with me into every room. And the train is smeared with all my habits and hysterics, all my neurosis, psychosis, prejudices, anxieties, stinking and reeking of filth and darkness. And I withhold judgment and condemnation. I just examine this shadow me and how it replicates itself in my world, my surrounding environment, the things I'm attracted and repulsed by, my enemies who keep re-appearing with the same characteristics that I keep manufacturing from my subconscious. Overriding this entire shadow is one common thread that weaves it all together, that makes it grow and fester: fear.

The primal fear comes from the reptilian brain and is a wordless dread of abandonment, love loss, non-acceptance, not being worthy, being doomed to punishment from God or some higher power. The fear that all my life will be lead with no purpose and leave no mark on the world. The fear that this is all a mistake, an accidental big bang of chemicals, and that we are all here stumbling from cradle to grave in comic error. I take this dark matter and love it. Forgive it. I absolve this fear, and thus my shadow self.

The shadow becomes the light, and then I absorb it back into myself.

I thought about sitting down to a feast of my shadow. No shame, no worry about judgment in my past errors. I devour it and the poisoned darkness becomes the light-giving sustenance of life.

A few days ago one of my friends noted that no one says 'you're welcome.' He was at a spiritual retreat and at the end of it everyone was saying 'thank you, thank you, thank you.' But no one was saying 'you're welcome.' We were talking about the lack of 'you're welcome' in the spiritual community. He said it probably came from the general sense of false humility and feelings of unworthiness. 'You're welcome' sounds presumptuous and arrogant. But he noted that 'you're welcome' is actually just as important as saying 'thank you.'  It is acknowledging and receiving the gift. It's welcoming someone into your heart. Without this, a 'thank you' just becomes the gifted and re-gifted Christmas fruit cake that gets passed around. And a present unopened is a present wasted, like saying 'no, don't come close, I don't want this gift, I don't want this love, this attention.' The lack of 'you're welcome' comes from a deep negative shadow: lack of self-esteem. A well-balanced person can both give and receive gifts, love, and signs of appreciation.

I definitely think this is lack of 'welcome' is a part of my shadow. I'm hoping that the new year will usher in a chance to welcome more gifts and love into my heart. No shame, no fear, no hate. Only light. 

Thursday, January 1, 2015

GET WHAT YOU WANT: January 2015



ARTIST RETREATS/RESIDENCIES
1.
Anderson Center Artist Retreats
Deadline: February 1st
Website: http://www.andersoncenter.org/resapp.htm
The Anderson Center provides retreats of two to four weeks duration from May through October each year to enable artists, writers, and scholars of exceptional promise and demonstrated accomplishment to create, advance, or complete works-in-progress. For writers, the primary focus is toward non-fiction and fiction writers as well as poets. A rotating Peer Review Panel comprised of professional artists, writers, and scholars annually screens and selects all applicants.


This program is the largest of its kind in the Upper Midwest. Since the Center opened in 1995, more than 700 artists, writers, and scholars from over 45 states and 40 foreign countries have participated in the program.


The Center also engages in artist exchange programs with the city of Salzburg, Austria, and with Red Wing's Sister City, Quzhou, China. The Center participates in annual scholarship programs with the University of Minnesota, Pacific Lutheran University in Washington, and the Institute for Latino Studies of the University of Notre Dame.


In addition to working on a clearly defined project, resident-fellows are asked to make a substantive contribution to the community. Each year Center residents visit schools, senior centers, civic organizations, adult and juvenile detention centers, and other arts institutions in Red Wing and its nearby rural communities, with over 2300 people, from primary school children to senior citizens, benefiting from these community presentations, workshops, and classes.


The Anderson Center in Red Wing, MN recently received a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to host five Deaf American artists as part of its annual Residency Program in June, 2014. Through a grant from the Jerome Foundation of St. Paul, the Center will also devote the month of August, 2014 to encourage the work of emerging artists from New York City and Minnesota.
2.
*The Arctic Circle Residency Program
Deadline: Jan. 15th
Artist and scientist led, The Arctic Circle is an annual expeditionary residency program. The Arctic Circle brings together international artists of all disciplines, scientists, architects, and educators who collectively explore remote and fascinating destinations aboard a sailing vessel.
The Arctic Circle takes place in the international territory of Svalbard, a mountainous Arctic archipelago just 10 degrees from the North Pole. Our vessel, a traditionally rigged Tall Ship, is equipped with work space, common areas and ample room for privacy and creativity.
The program provides the opportunity for artists and innovators to pursue their personal projects on board while exploring collaborations with the expedition’s fellow participants.
The Arctic Circle provides a shared experience for its participants to engage in a myriad of issues relavant to our time and to develop professionally through interdisciplinary collaborations, exhibit opportunities, and public and classroom engagement.
*there is a sizable participation fee if you are selected to be a part of the residency program. Check the website for more details.
3.
Bogliasco Foundation
Deadline: Jan. 15th
Website: http://www.bfny.org/
Spend a month in Italy working on your craft. The Bogliasco Foundation's Study Center provides residential fellowships for qualified persons working on advanced creative or scholarly projects in the arts and humanities. The Study Center is one of the few residential institutions in the world dedicated exclusively to all of the humanistic disciplines: Archaeology, Architecture/Landscape Architecture, Classics, Dance, Film/Video, History, Literature, Music, Philosophy, Theater, and the Visual Arts.


During their month long stay at the Center, Bogliasco Fellows are provided with living quarters, full board, and a separate private studio.
4.
BAU Institute-Camargo Fellowship Residency
Deadline: Feb. 15th
Website: www.bauinstitute.org/index.php?page=cassis-france-2015
BAU Institute is a non-profit 501(3)C based in New York City. The mission of the BAU Institute is to support visual artists, creative and dramatic writers, composers, performance artists and other arts professionals in the creation and exhibition of new work. BAU Institute offers residencies in France and Italy to provide uninterrupted time and space for the development of new work in settings of cultural interest and extraordinary natural beauty. The BAU Institute arts residency originated in 2004 in Otranto, Italy an ancient port city on the coast of Puglia and will again be in session June 2015.


In 2014, a new residency was launched in Cassis, France, hosted by the Camargo Foundation. The BAU at Camargo Summer Arts Residency provides BAU Institute funded Fellowships for the realization of projects in the arts. Creative professionals who demonstrate a serious commitment to their craft and a desire to work independently within an international community are welcome to apply. The one month residency will take place from July 22 to August 20, 2015. The majority of fellowships are for one month with a limited number of two week places available.


Optional group studio visits take place at the end of the residency. There will be a public exhibition and reading at FiveMyles Gallery in Brooklyn, NY in December 2015, to showcase and celebrate the new work created at the residency. The gallery will publish a catalogue documenting the exhibition.


The BAU at Camargo residency provides Fellowships at no cost to visual artists, writers, composers, and other creative professionals, who demonstrate a serious commitment to their craft and a desire to work independently within an international community.
Applications are open to international artists and writers. No applications will be accepted from current full time students. Fellowship selections are made by peer committees in Literary, Visual arts, and musical composition.
2015 Dates
One month: July 22 – August 20
First two weeks: July 22–5
Second two weeks: August 6–20
On-line applications are accepted between November 17, 2014 and February 15, 2015 at 11:59PM EST online via submittable:
There is a $40.00 application fee. Notification of the admission committee decision will be in late March. Upon acceptance a refundable security deposit of $250.00 is due.
BAU at Camargo provides live/work housing at no cost. There is no fee to attend.
Cassis: France
Cassis, France The BAU at Camargo Fellowship provides artists with live-work apartments in Cassis, France at no cost. The Camargo foundation staff is in residence to provide information and support for transportation, reservations, translation and regional information. A BAU Institute Director will be in residence at all times. The campus is located directly on the Mediterranean with breathtaking views of the harbor and Cap Canaille, one of the highest maritime cliffs in Europe. The buildings and grounds contain apartments, a reference library, a music-conference room, gardens, a Chinese Terrace, and an outdoor Greek Theater, all of which are available for use by the residents. The Foundation is a five-minute walk from the village of Cassis and approximately 30 minutes by train, bus, or car from Marseille and Aix-en-Provence. The train station in Cassis is a five minute taxi ride to the campus.
5.
Carmago Foundation Core Fellowship Program
Deadline: Jan 13th
Website: https://camargofoundation.submittable.com/submit
The Camargo Foundation, located in Cassis, France and founded by artist and philanthropist Jerome Hill, is a residential center offering programming in the humanities and the arts. It offers time and space in a contemplative environment to think, create, and connect. The Foundation encourages the visionary work of scholars, artists, and leading thinkers in the arts and humanities.


Established more than 40 years ago by Jerome Hill, the Camargo Foundation has always welcomed artists and scholars. Today, the Foundation receives artists and scholars of any nationality to work on specific projects or research areas alone or collectively.


For the core Fellowship program the Foundation offers four to eleven week residential fellowships to :
• Scholars working in French and Francophone cultures, including cross-cultural studies that engage the cultures and influences of the Mediterranean region;
• Artists, in all disciplines, who are the primary creators of new work; and
• Leading thinkers in the arts and humanities


For more information and a link to the online application form, please visitwww.camargofoundation.org/toapply.asp
6.
Odysseys Costa Rica
Deadline: on-going
Website: www.artistresidencycostarica.org/
Founded by Royce Clay Slape Seiger, Intercultural ODYSSEYS Costa Rica is a Civic, Social and non-governmental organization (NGO) offering a one-of-a-kind, community based artists' residency. Because the time you dedicate to your art is precious, we offer unique home stay accommodations with local host families, meals included. Our artist-in-residence program is open to writers and artists in all disciplines, emerging or established, from anywhere in the world.
A different kind of artist colony: Applications are accepted year-round, reviewed through a committee-selection process. Because of our unique accommodations, applications on short notice are also encouraged.
Visual artists are given the opportunity for a solo exhibit at the prestigious National Gallery located in the Costa Rican center of Science and Culture:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costa_Rican_Center_of_Science_and_Culture
Two meals or one meal and one local outing are hosted by ODYSSEYS each week. This is an opportunity for all artists in residence to share a meal with each other and with the Program Director. As part of these events artists will have the opportunity (always optional) to share work: open studios, presentations and readings, etc... When possible these opportunities will also be provided publicly at least once during an artist's residency, often at the end, at appropriate local venues such as the Figueres Museum and Cultural Center.
San Ramón, Alajuela: Costa Rica
San Ramón is a one-hour drive northwest of the capital city of San José in one direction or to the Central Pacific beaches in another; 45-minutes from San Jose's International Airport, or 1-1/2 hours from Arenal Volcano. Average temperatures run in the mid-70sF (25 degrees C) year-round. Yet, on even the sunniest days, as if to remind us that we are indeed in the cloud forest, a soothing mist rolls in, bathing the surrounding mountains, including the nearby hills of Las Musas (The Muses), with an impression worthy of the finest Monet. More details here: http://odysseyscostarica.org/Our_Location.html A comfortable local bus goes direct from San Ramón to Puntarenas in 45 minutes. This is a lovely beach that attracts surfers and beach combers from abroad, and is also the casting off point for Ferry departures to other spectacular Costa Rican beaches and exotic locations.
7.
Elsewhere Residency
Deadline: Jan. 11th
Website: http://www.goelsewhere.org/residencies
Located in Greensboro, North Carolina, this is an eclectic residency for a wide variety of artists. Elsewhere invites creative individuals across disciplines to join us in building a living museum from a former thrift store that contains a 58-year collection of surplus. Residents create site-specific responses to the living museum, collection, and evolving community. Residents discover a creative process that is both immersive and responsive, challenging their practice with public parameters and critical perspective. Elsewhere is an experiment and adventure, a foray into the stuff of the recent past in order to design creative futures. There are a plentitude of resources, concepts, and collaborators with which to imagine new approaches and hypotheses in art and livelihood. The environment is rugged, responsive, and remarkably public, a landscape for invention and adaption to new structures for living, working, and playing.
Past residencies at Elsewhere have included visual artists, writers, musicians, sound artists, performers, curators, and anthropologists, but our program is open to individuals and groups across disciplines and media. Perhaps you are a culinary artist, carpenter, urban farmer, historian or documentarian, architect or designer. If you have a vision and a desire to experiment and explore with a community within a world of things then we welcome you.
8.
18th Street Arts Center: Visiting Artist Residency
Deadline: rolling (takes 1-3 months to respond)
18th Street Arts Center (Santa Monica, CA) is an artists’ residency program that provokes public dialogue through contemporary art-making. We value art-making as an essential part of a vibrant, just and healthy society. Through our artist residencies we are a contemporary art hub that fosters inter-cultural collaboration and dialogue. 18th Street's residencies, exhibitions, public events, talks, and publications encourage, showcase and support the creation of cutting-edge contemporary art and foster collaboration and interaction between artists locally, nationally and internationally.
18th Street Arts Center’s Visiting Artist Residency Program hosts artists from across the United States and from around the world. There are three, rotating, live/work artist studios at the center where artists are in residence from 1 to 3 months (sometimes longer). This program hosts artists of all disciplines and occasionally invites art curators, writers, and musicians.
For information on 18th Street's other residency programs for local artists, visitwww.18thstreet.org.
9.
Macdowell Colony
Deadline: Jan. 15th
Website: http://www.macdowellcolony.org/
As one of the nation’s most prestigious artists retreats,  MacDowell Colony facilitates a balance between focused work and interdisciplinary interaction, among composers, writers, architects, film and video artists, playwrights, interdisciplinary artists, and visual artists.
A MacDowell Fellowship, or residency, consists of exclusive use of a studio, accommodations, and three prepared meals a day for up to eight weeks. There are no residency fees. Application fee of $30.
10.
Madrona Ranch (Medina, TX)
Deadline: ongoing
Website: http://madronoranch.com/
At Madroño Ranch, we understand that finding the time and space to work and dream can be extremely difficult. With the goal of inspiring creative people to find new ways to think about and express our relationship to the natural environment, we offer a place and time—two weeks, though we are open to longer residencies under exceptional circumstances—free of charge to writers working in any genre and artists who don’t require a traditional studio space.
Residents should be self-sufficient and comfortable with rural isolation. They can expect to be nourished by the rugged and dramatic beauty of our 1,500-acre setting in the Texas Hill Country (including a 20-acre lake, spring-fed streams, and steep and rocky hills) and by meat from our herd of grass-fed bison and eggs from our flock of free-ranging chickens. (We are proud to be certified by Animal Welfare Approved and the American Grassfed Association.)
We accept from one to three residents at a time, as one of our goals is to foster cross-pollinating conversation among people looking at the natural world (whatever that is) from different perspectives. Our residents have included painters, poets, fiction writers, journalists, a filmmaker, a paleontologist, an oceanographer, a forest historian, a hunting blogger, and a singer/songwriter.
There is no application. If interested, contact the ranch via email. If they’re interested they will interview you.
11.
Playa (Summerl Lake, OR)
Deadline: March 1st
Website: http://www.playasummerlake.org/
PLAYA is a retreat for creative individuals who are committed and passionate about their work, and who will benefit from time spent in a remote location. At PLAYA, we offer seclusion and quiet in a natural environment and the opportunity for interaction, if desired, with a cohort of residents and the local rural community. A residency provides the time and space to create substantive work or to research and reflect upon one’s creative or scientific processes. Away from the urgencies of daily life, residents can focus on their projects, immerse in a desert landscape of basin and rangeland, and find inspiration through self-directed inquiry.


PLAYA is a nonprofit organization supporting innovative thinking through work in the arts, literature, natural sciences and other fields of creative inquiry. PLAYA was organized in 2009 and began its Residency program in May 2011. For all of the latest information, including upcoming residency opportunities go to our application page.


Located in the Oregon Outback, near Summer Lake in Lake County, PLAYA manages its Residency program and a range of community and educational outreach activities. Residencies are provided without a fee offering the gift of time and space to eligible applicants, and span two multi month sessions each year. When our regular Residencies are not in session, our program opens our facilities to groups or individuals whose primary focus and activities align with PLAYA's mission and values. In particular, we hope to bridge the dialogue between the arts and sciences through thematic place based programming, presentations, symposiums and workshops. The intention of all of our programming is to support creative individuals who are committed and passionate about their work, and who will benefit from time spent in PLAYA's inspirational remote location.


PLAYA  provides a variety of opportunities to engage with the local communities of Summer Lake, Paisley and Lake County, Oregon through free programs and educational activities.
12.
Siena Art Institute Summer Residency Program
Deadline: Jan. 15th
The Siena Art Institute’s Summer Residency Program awards accomplished professional artists & writers the opportunity to stay for a month in the beautiful historic city of Siena, in the heart of Tuscany, Italy.
The month-long residency grants resident artists space and uninterrupted time to pursue their own independent projects, as well as the opportunity to explore the area of Siena, and interact with the local community.
Visiting Artists are asked to remain in Siena during the weekdays of their residency and to limit their travel outside of Siena to the weekends or before/after their residency period, allowing them to maintain an active presence at the Siena Art Institute during their residency.
Visiting Artists are not expected to be in their studio all day five days a week, if this does not fit their usual practice. We do ask that Visiting Artists try to be present at the Siena Art Institute for at least a short period of time during each weekday during their residency. However, Visiting Artists are not required to spend the whole day at the Institute . We understand that Visiting Artists may wish to spend much of their time in Siena outside of their studio, exploring the city, interacting with members of the local community, etc.
Visiting Artists may be accompanied by their spouse/life-partner with prior approval. Funding for travel and the provision of a studio is available for the Visiting
Artist only, not their spouse/life-partner.
The Siena Art Institute is unable to accommodate children or pets.
The Siena Art Institute is located in the heart of Siena’s oldest neighborhood, Castelvecchio. Castelvecchio is perched on top of a hilltop near Siena's cathedral, and, like most of central Siena, the neighborhood is dominated by medieval architecture. Within a five-minute's radius of our building, you can find virtually anything you might need: office supply stores, computer repair shops, grocery markets, and of course, pizza, espresso and gelato! The Siena Art Institute is located on the second floor of Via Tommaso Pendola, 37. Our building dates from the 19th century, and was originally constructed for the Istituto Pendola, Siena’s Institute for the Deaf. Still today, the National Deaf Association (Ente Nazionale Sordi) occupies the ground floor. Our expansive building is also home to the Siena School for Liberal Arts, with whom the Siena Art Institute is in close partnership. Our studios afford amazing views of the Tuscan landscape and Siena’s complex network of medieval buildings and winding streets. All of the Siena Art Institute’s Resident Artists are assigned a private studio room along our main corridor, alongside our lecture rooms and workshop spaces. Our rooms have large windows & soaring ceilings. Resident artists have 24 hr access to our building. Resident Artists are provided with a private studio apartment in downtown Siena (one double bed), appx 30 minute walk from our building. Please see our website for further details.
13.
Wildacres Residency Program (North Carolina)
Deadline: Jan. 15th
Website: http://www.wildacres.org/
The Wildacres Residency Program began in 1999 and over the past sixteen years has hosted nearly 500 writers, artists, musicians and others. Participants stay in one of three comfortable cabins located 1/4 mile from the conference center. Past residents have found the setting conducive to their work and have had a great "Wildacres experience."
With the use of three cabins, the program will have about 70 one- and two-week residencies available from April through October. Sessions begin each Monday afternoon and conclude on Sunday or early Monday morning. The program allows individuals the solitude and inspiration needed to begin or continue work on a project in their particular field.
Residents may eat in the dining room, which allows for interaction with other residents, guests, and staff. Or residents may prepare their own meals in the cabins.


There is no charge for the residency but participants are responsible for their own transportation to Wildacres. This is a working retreat, and we ask that no spouses, family or pets accompany the visiting resident.
14.
Dora Maar House
Deadline: March 15th
Website: mfah.org/fellowships/doramaarhouse/dora-maar-how-to-apply/
In 1997, a friend of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston purchased the former residence of Dora Maar. In a five-year effort, the owner rehabilitated and updated this spacious eighteenth-century, four-story stone residence in the village of Ménerbes. Her goal was to make it a retreat for scholars, artists, and writers, where they could work undisturbed on their research, art, or writing, for one to three months.


In 2006 the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston was asked to direct this project, which is now known as The Brown Foundation Fellows Program at the Dora Maar House. Here outstanding midcareer professionals are offered fellowships that enable them to reside in the Dora Maar House and focus on the creative aspects of their work.
The Brown Foundation Fellowship provides
• one to three months in residence at the Dora Maar House
• a private bedroom and bath and a study or studio in which to work
• expenses paid for round-trip travel from a fellow’s home to the
Dora Maar House
• a grant based upon the length of stay at the Dora Maar House
The Brown Foundation Fellows Program at the Dora Maar House is located in one of the most beautiful regions of Southern France, about 40 km southeast of Avignon, the Dora Maar House in Ménerbes is an 18th century residence. In 1944 Pablo Picasso purchased the four-story mansion for Dora Maar, an artist and surrealist photographer who was his companion and muse in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Dora Maar owned the house until her death in 1997. http://www.mfah.org/fellowships/doramaarhouse/residence/
15.
DJERASSI RESIDENT ARTISTS PROGRAM
Deadline: March 15th
Website: http://www.djerassi.org/
Djerassi Resident Artists Program offers 30-day core residencies (April-November) and 1-4 week winter residencies (Dec/Jan) for alumni at no cost to the artists. National and international artists in the disciplines of media arts/new genres, visual arts, literature, choreography, and music composition are welcome. The Program provides core residents with studio space, food and lodging and local transportation. Winter alumni residents are provided studio space and lodging.
In 2015, the Program will also offer six 1-week writing workshop/retreats led by alumni in the areas of television, young adult, and environmental writing as well as workshops in flash fiction and novel writing.
The Program invites 10-12 artists each 30-day period. Artists arrive and leave at the same time and are asked to share the evening meal (prepared by Chef Dan Tosh) to facilitate collegiality. Many artists make life-long friendships and launch collaborative projects subsequent to their residencies.
In collaboration with LEONARDO, the International Society for the Arts, Sciences and Technology, the July session is devoted to a special themed residency--Scientific Delirium Madness--which links artists and scientists exploring the art/science continuum.
We trust artists. We believe artists deserve the gift of time. Residents are encouraged to free themselves from outside distractions during their stay and limit their trips "off the mountain". There are no work requirements--Djerassi is committed to exploration and the artistic process. This is a retreat in every sense of the word--very few outsiders visit. Three staff members live on-site to quietly assist you if necessary. The setting is rustic, natural and quiet.
The Program is located on a 580-acre former cattle ranch in the Santa Cruz Mountains, 40 miles south of San Francisco. The secluded, private and remote property encompasses vast grasslands with spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean, cascading creeks, and woodlands thick with towering redwoods, ageless coastal oaks, and twisting madrone. Miles of hiking trails lead artists-in-residence to more than 50 site-specific sculptures created on the land by former residents.
16.
Brush Creek Foundation for the Arts
Deadline: March 15th
Website: http://www.brushcreekarts.org/
Brush Creek Foundation for the Arts offers time and space for artistic exploration through immersion in the extraordinary beauty of the West. We offer 2 and 4 week residencies, with preference given to those who prefer four weeks. Winter/Spring residencies are offered each year between January and May; application deadline September 15 of the previous year. Summer/Fall residencies are offered June through November; application deadline March 15th of the current year. Applications are received on Cafe' at www.callforentry.org.
The Foundation for the Arts is located on the historic Brush Creek Ranch, a century old, 15,000-acre guest and working cattle ranch at the base of the Medicine Bow National Forest in Saratoga, Wyoming. The residency program is situated in the riparian corridor of Brush Creek, in between the Sierra Madre and Snowy Mountain ranges. We are four hours from Denver by car with the nearest connecting airport in Laramie, WY. We are one hour and fifteen min. from the Laramie airport by car. We provide shuttle transportation both to and from Laramie airport and Brush Creek Ranch on arrival and departure days (add on 30-45 min for winter driving).
17.
Great Smoky Mountain National Park Artist in Residence Program
Deadline: March 24th
Great Smoky Mountains National Park’s Artist-in-Residence Program seeks professional artists including writers, musicians, craftsmen, composers, painters, sculptors, photographers, storytellers, performance artists, and videographers whose work is engaged in issues that are relevant to the park’s interpretive themes.The program provides both uninterrupted time for artists to pursue their own body of work, and also the opportunity to engage and inspire the public through outreach programs. In exchange for the adventure of living and working in a national park, the resident artist has the opportunity to create works and experiences that promote an understanding of the need to preserve and care for this national treasure. Artists receive free furnished apartment inside park boundaries for 4-6 weeks, reimbursement for materials and expenses not to exceed $300, enrollment in Volunteers-in-Parks program which includes coverage for any injuries incurred under the scope of residency, and the opportunity to collaborate with artists at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts.
Residents will be provided apartment housing at one of 3 locations inside Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Sugarlands, Elkmont, or Cades Cove. All apartments are furnished 1 bedroom or efficiency apartments in parklike settings within the boundaries of the National Park.
18.
La Napoul Artists-in-Residence
Deadline: March 30th
Website: http://www.lnaf.org/residency-information-eligibility/
La Napoule Art Foundation offers Artists-In-Residence a unique environment of interdisciplinary collaboration and creativity at the Château de La Napoule.
In an effort to preserve Henry and Marie Clews’ lifelong commitment to the arts, the Foundation promotes exceptional talents -- both recognized and emerging -- on the international scene, through cooperation with major organizations and leaders in the arts worldwide.
The Chateau de LaNapoule is located in the historic seaside town of Mandelieu-La Napoule on the French Riviera. Situated on a spectacular site overlooking the sea, the building dates to the 14th Century and is recognized as a Monument Historique for its incredible restoration and architectural details. The former home of early 20th Century American sculptor, Henry Clews and his architect wife, Marie, it is now a museum housing Clews’ atelier and work, an impressive collection of 19th Century Clews’ Staffordshire Pottery, and additional galleries for hosting exhibits. The six acres of magnificent gardens surrounding the property have been honored as a Jardin Remarquable. Set within this walled compound is the sunny Belle Epoque Villa Marguerite. This mansion, located just across the gardens from the beaches, was the former home of the Austrian Princess of Pless. The Chateau, the walled gardens, and the historic village are inspirational settings for artists of all disciplines. The climate and the incredible light of this region have attracted artists for centuries. Nearby are the Maeght Foundation and the Matisse Chapel. Museums dedicated to Matisse, Chagall, Picasso, Renoir, and Leger among others, are within a short distance. Just a few steps from the front gate of the Chateau, bus and train service is available which connects to the many historic and cultural sites of the Cote de’Azur: Monte Carlo, Nice, Cannes, and walled villages of the Feudal Era which have become artists’ colonies.
19.
Xochi Quetzal Artist and Writer’s Residency Program
Deadline: Jan. 18th
Website: http://www.deborahkruger.com/1/art-residency.html
The 360 XOCHI QUETZAL Artist and Writer's Residency Program is located on Lake Chapala, Jalisco, Mexico on the shores of the largest lake in the country where the perfect year-round climate and stunning lake and mountain views have long established the region as an international artist mecca. We now offer 3 - 4 live/work spaces. Residents will be inspired by the natural beauty, history and culture of this special part of central Mexico. Chapala is located 25 minutes from Guadalajara International Airport and 45 minutes from Guadalajara, one of the largest cities in Mexico boasting abundant cultural resources: museums, galleries, theatre and artist supplies. Xochi Quetzal is the Aztec goddess of creativity and fertility and protector of artisans. She is sure to inspire you during your stay!
MISSION: Our aim is to support artists, writers and musicians who would benefit from having uninterrupted time to devote to their creativity. By providing free housing and a generous food allowance, we hope that our residents can make artistic progress without the stress and distractions of daily life.
CRITERIA: National and international visual artists, photographers, writers, playwrights, new media makers and musicians over the age of 23 are welcome to apply. We base our selections on artists who demonstrate artistic accomplishment, submit a well-conceived residency project, indicate that this residency will make a significant impact and provide evidence of the self-reliance required for a residency in the developing world. One of the live/work spaces is earmarked for a writer and one for an emerging artist. Two-person collaborative teams are also encouraged to apply.
20.
Helene Wurlitzer Foundation Residency
Deadline: Jan. 18th
A residency that keeps a low profile, Helene Wurlitzer has been providing a haven for playwrights, poets, painters, and various artists for other 50 years. Located in Taos, New Mexico this foundation offers 3 months of rent-free and fully-furnized casitas are provided to a select group of artist to pursue their dreams.
Please go to the website to fill out form and apply.
FELLOWSHIPS/CONTESTS
1.
Premiere Stages Play Festival
Deadline: Jan. 15th
website: www.kean.edu/premierestages/pdf/2015_Festival_Guidelines.pdf
Premiere Stages is committed to supporting emerging and regional playwrights by developing and producing new plays. Through our Play Festival script competition, Premiere Stages offers developmental opportunities to four playwrights. We provide playwrights with an encouraging and focused environment in which they can develop their work through discussions, rehearsals, sit-down readings, staged readings, and full Equity productions.
Beginning October 20, 2014 through January 15, 2015, Premiere Stages will accept submissions of unproduced new plays from playwrights born or currently residing in the greater metropolitan area (New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania). There is no fee to enter. All plays submitted to the festival are evaluated by a professional panel of theatre producers, dramaturgs, playwrights, scholars and publishers.
Four of the submitted plays will be selected for staged readings with Equity casts March 19- 22, 2015 and awarded cash prizes. Following the March readings, the winner of Play Festival is selected for a full production during Premiere Stages’ 2015 main stage season and awarded $2000; a second play will be selected for a 29-hour Staged Reading and be awarded $750, and the two other finalist writers will be awarded $500.
● Plays must be full-length and have a cast size of no more than eight.
● Plays submitted must be unpublished and must be works that have not been previously
produced (readings, workshops, showcases are okay).
● Plays must be written by playwrights who were born or reside in the greater
metropolitan area (New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania).
● Musical submissions, adaptations, and solo shows will not be considered at this time.
● Submissions are limited to one script per playwright.
● Electronic submissions (preferred) are due by 11:59pm on January 15, 2015. Hard copy submissions must be post-marked by this date. Hard copy submissions will not be returned.
● Playwrights must have schedule availability from March 19-22 and in the summer/early fall of 2015.
Plays and synopses will be evaluated by a panel of arts professionals. The panel will submit their recommendations to the producing artistic director and resident dramaturg.
Playwrights (non-agent submissions)
Playwrights submitting without an agent must include:
● A brief synopsis of the play (no more than half a page).
● A character breakdown.
● A history of the play’s development (if any) and a brief statement of your goals for development.
● The playwright’s bio or resume.
● A script sample from the play (no more than 10 pages).
Electronic submissions (preferred method) should be sent via email to:
pfsubmit@kean.edu
All materials should be attached as PDF.
Hard copy submissions can be mailed to:
John J. Wooten, Producing Artistic Director
Premiere Stages at Kean University
1000 Morris Avenue
Hutchinson Hall, 2nd Floor
Union, NJ 07083
2.
Needing It Workshop
Deadline: Jan. 27th
ABOUT THE WORKSHOP
March 9 - April 27, 2015 | Mondays, 7-10:00pm


Students will develop solo performances based on their personal obsessions and political impulses, all the while exploring the recent history of queer performance in New York City.  Performance artist and instructor Dan Fishback will work closely with students to move beyond conventional notions of "self-expression" and "autobiography" to something more primal and satisfying.


ELIGIBILITY
This class is ideal for people who have never performed, or are new to performing, but have a strong desire to do so.  Students of ALL races, genders, ages and sizes are encouraged to apply.  Students MUST be prepared to work extensively and rigorously on assignments outside of class.  All students MUST attend every session.  Students do not have to identify as queer, as long as they identify as being part of a queer community.


APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS


1. Please write an email to the instructor, Dan Fishback. Explain why you want to take this class, and give a brief history of your artistic pursuits, and/or queer community pursuits.  You will not be judged by the quantity or stature of your achievements.  If you do not identify as queer, please explain how you relate to queer community or queer performance tradition. Be specific, be honest. Ten students will be selected for the class.  


2. Please include your PHONE NUMBER.


3. Send your email to baxfishbackclass@gmail.com with the subject heading "Application for NEEDING IT."
Do NOT attach your letter as a separate document.  Your letter MUST NOT EXCEED 500 WORDS.


For more information, visit.
3.
Mcknight Advancement Grant
Deadline: Jan. 8th
The McKnight Advancement Fellowships recognize playwrights whose work demonstrates exceptional artistic merit and excellence in the field, and whose primary residence is in the state of Minnesota. The fellowship includes:
A $25,000 stipend
$2,500 to support a play development workshop and other professional expenses
$1,400 in travel funds
Past recipients include: David Adjmi, Carlyle Brown, Lisa D'Amour, Barbara Field, Keli Garrett, Jeffrey Hatcher, Melanie Marnich, Gregory Moss, Kira Obolensky, Dominic Orlando, Christina Ham, and Martín Zimmerman.
4.
Geva Theatre
Deadline: Jan. 31st
The following guidelines apply to submissions for our Festival of New Theatre, Plays in Progress and general production consideration.
Playwrights with professional representation may have their agents send full manuscripts at any time. Please note that lawyers and law firms do not qualify as professional representation.
To best accommodate our schedule of new play activities, we have an Inquiry Window, during which playwrights who are not working with an agent may send a submission inquiry. This year’s window is from November 1, 2014 to January 31, 2015. Inquiries submitted outside this time period cannot be processed. Looking for other places to submit your play before the next Inquiry Window? The blog Play Submissions Helper keeps an updated list of new play deadlines.
Before submitting a play for consideration, please look at our production history and at the lists of new plays we have commissioned or produced, as an indication of the kind of work we are likely to produce.
Please do not send us the first draft of a play. Due to the number of scripts we receive, we can only read any play one time, so make sure you are sending us your best work. Plays for consideration in our play development series must not have had more than one production at another theatre.
To have your play considered, submit the following:
A cover letter introducing yourself, with your full contact information.
Your creative resume and a development or production history of this play. If the play has had other developmental readings or productions, they must be included here.
A description of this play, no more than ½ page. This need not be a summary of the plot – we welcome a description of the play’s world, characters and conflict, and your reasons for writing it.
A complete list of characters.
A ten-page dialogue sample. Pages do not need to come from the beginning of your text but must be sequential.
Please include a stamped, self-addressed envelope if you would like materials to be returned.
Direct your inquiry to:
Jean Ryon
New Plays Coordinator
Geva Theatre Center
75 Woodbury Blvd.
Rochester, NY 14607
After reviewing your query, we will let you know whether or not we wish to read the entire script. Playwrights submitting Inquiries can anticipate hearing from us by June 30. Agents submitting plays should expect a response within 6-12 months.
5.
Royal Court Theatre: GRIT
Deadline: April 10th
Website: http://royalcourtgrit.tumblr.com/

GRIT is an open call to writers of all ages and experiences to submit a play about everyday resistance, revolution and defiance. 

The plays should fit roughly within the size of your palm. They can be created in any medium - words, videos, images or audio. Be creative - think about the moments of rebellion that go unnoticed and the voices of dissent which can't be heard. 

We’ll populate the building with your moments of resistance over the submission period. So keep your eyes peeled and your spirit strong, ready to pin down tiny acts of defiance. 

Plays can be submitted to the Royal Court anytime between 8 Dec – 10 April, and can be sent via emailby post, or dropped off in person at the theatre. 


Submit to grit@royalcourttheatre.com

Subject: "Everyday Acts of Resistance

Please include you name, address, age, contact details with you submission. 



6.
Ashland New Play Festival
Deadline: Jan 15th
ANPF's flagship festival is an international playwright competition that culminates in the reading of four new plays culled from hundreds of submissions by a cadre of volunteer readers. This unique and much-loved five-day festival in Ashland, Oregon, features professional actors from the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and the community. The event includes rehearsals and two staged readings of each winning play. The winning playwrights receive a $1,000 stipend and local accommodations. There is a $10 submission fee. For details see > submit a script.
Script legibly typed in a standard 8 1/2" x 11" play format
Full-length drama or comedy (total 90-to 120- minute running time)
Previously unproduced
No more than eight characters; no doubling
The submitting author is the sole owner of the copyright of the script
Submissions will be accepted until January 15, 2015.
7.
Yale Institute for Music Theatre
Deadline: Jan. 7th
Established in 2009, the YALE INSTITUTE FOR MUSIC THEATRE is a program of Yale’s Binger Center for New Theatre that bridges the gap between training and the professional world for emerging composers, book writers, and lyricists. The Institute seeks distinctive and original music theatre works to be developed in an intensive two-week summer lab at Yale School of Drama. The Institute matches the authors of the selected works with collaborators, including professional directors and music directors, as well as a company of actors and singers that includes professionals and current Yale students. The lab culminates with open rehearsal readings of each project, presented as part of New Haven’s International Festival of Arts & Ideas.
Under the leadership of Artistic Director Mark Brokaw, two original music theatre works will be selected for the 2015 Institute, which will take place June 13–28 in New Haven. Online applications are being accepted now through January 7, 2015, 11:59PM (EST). Click here for more information and to apply.
8.
Long Island Theatre Collective
Deadline: Jan. 15th
website: http://www.litheatrecollective.com/new-plays-festival
The Long Island Theatre Collective (LITC) is accepting submissions for its inaugural New Plays Festival, to be performed April 17-18, 2015 in Bellmore, NY.
Selected playwrights will work closely with our collective of directors and actors to develop their piece and share it with our incredible audience.
Scripts of all lengths will be considered: full-length, one-act, ten-minute, or any other duration. Plays with smaller casts, minimal technical elements, and those with themes that are relevant to Long Island audiences will be of particular interest. We will not accept plays that have been previously produced or published.
Submissions will be accepted through January 15.
Please email your script as a PDF or Word attachment to
longislandtheatrecollective@gmail.com with the subject line, “New Plays Festival.”
Please include a brief synopsis of the play and a character breakdown as a separate attachment. Hard copy submissions will not be accepted. All writers will be notified of the status of their submission by February 15.
9.
East West Players
Deadline: Jan. 5th
web: eastwestplayers.org/news/2042-see-change-playwriting-competition-2014/
East West Players is seeking submissions of unproduced new works that explore this new reality and represent and reflect the future of the American landscape.
Subject matter may include biracial or multiracial identity; multicultural experiences; international/transnational connections to America; conflict and collaboration between cultures; American stories with Asian or Asian-American characters in leading roles; or ethnic-specific themes about Asian culture in the United States.
Type of material: Original full-length plays and musicals. If submitting a musical, please enclose a music or song sample. No translations or adaptations. All submissions must be professionally unproduced, unpublished, and with no existing attachments for production.
Award: $5000 First Place; $2500 Second Place; $1000 Third Place. The First, Second and Third Place winners will all receive readings by EWP. All winners will be considered for further workshops and/or production; EWP must have the first option to produce.
Other Guidelines:
1. Plays must be accessible to a primarily English-speaking audience.
2. Plays should require no more than 7 actors. Musicals should require no more than 12 actors.
3. The story should be told in less than 2.5 hours including a 15 minute intermission.
4. Playwrights may submit only one manuscript for this contest.
5. Plays may not be under option or scheduled for a professional production at the time of submission.
6. East West Players reserves the right to reject any manuscript for any reason.
Scripts will be judged by a distinguished committee of theatre and industry professionals through a blind evaluation process. Previous judges have included Tony winning playwright David Henry Hwang, playwright Julia Cho, and Carmen Smith (Vice President Creative Development at Walt Disney Imagineering)
Submission period: October 1-January 5, 2015
Notification: June 2015
Submissions will be accepted electronically only: PLEASE go to www.eastwestplayers.org to submit.
Questions?
Please contact Snehal Desai, Artistic Associate (213) 625-7000 or sdesai@eastwestplayers.org.
10.
UCSD: African American Experience
Deadline: Feb. 13th
Website: theatre.ucsd.edu/playwritingcontest
The University of California San Diego’s Theatre and Dance Department seeks from all enrolled undergraduate students submissions of previously unproduced, unpublished scripts highlighting African American experience in contemporary or historical terms.
Scripts must be original, unpublished, unproduced and free of royalty and copyright restrictions. Plays which have had staged readings are acceptable. Scripts must be 50 pages or longer, typed. Manuscripts must be submitted electronically (see below). You must also include your contact information (name, email, and address); play title, number of characters, institution affiliation, and a one page story summary.
Deadline for entry is a postmark entry of 2/13/15.
A $1000 honorarium will be awarded to the winning playwright.
A stage reading in April of the winning script in the Wagner New Play Festival. This festival is attended by students, local patrons, and twelve national theatre professionals.
Travel and housing costs to and from UC San Diego to be present for the performance.
11.
Miami Theater Center: Sandbox Series
Deadline:  Feb. 2nd
Website: www.mtcmiami.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/MTC_callnewArtists2015_v2.pdf
MTC’s SandBox Series offers theater artists a five-week residency in which to develop, rehearse, and perform new work. A program of MTC performance, the series nurtures theater artists by inviting them into an environment that prioritizes quality, rigor, and ample time to engage in a challenging and rewarding artistic process. The SandBox Series is supported by a generous Knight Arts Challenge Grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
Who Is Eligible?
Artists from theater discipline are welcome to apply. Applicants must be at least 18 years old and eligible to work in the United States.
What’s Expected of the Artists?
Artists chosen for the series are expected to create a new performance lasting 50 — 120 minutes, which they will perform 6-9 times over the course of 3 consecutive weekends.
Selection Process
Applications will be reviewed by a panel of theater professionals, and finalists will be invited to present their project proposals in person at Miami Theater Center. The four artists selected for the 2015–16 series will be notified in March 2015, and the SandBox Series residencies will take place between October 2015 and June 2016.
Artists chosen for the series receive:
•        Commissioning fee of $5,000.00
•        75 hours of rehearsal in the SandBox during the 3 week period prior to the premier of the commissioned work.
•        25 hours of load-in and rehearsal with technical director, stage manager, and stage. hands supplied by MTC during the week leading up to the premier.
•        Marketing, publicity, production, and professional development support from MTC staff.
•        60% of revenue from box office.
•        10 complimentary tickets for the run of the performance.
12.
Leah Ryan Award
Deadline: Jan 12th
Website: http://www.leahryansfeww.com/apply.html
(Go to the website to apply) All women who consider themselves emerging playwrights (as distinct from fledgling or mid-career playwrights) are eligible to apply for the FEWW Prize. Playwrights from all over the world are encouraged to apply, but the play must be written in English. Eligibility does not require that a submitted work adhere to the traditional three-act structure. One-acts, two-acts (even four-, five-, six- acts), monologues, adaptations, and any other wild (or deceptively tame) format will be considered with equal seriousness. The only absolute requirement is that the submitted text be a completed full-length work for theater.
The 2015 winner will be chosen by a committee selected by the board members of Leah Ryan's FEWW, and will be presented her award as part of the 2015 Lily Awards, which honors the work of women in American theater.
The winner will also receive a cash award of $1,000 as well as a staged reading of her play hosted by FEWW at a theater in New York City. In addition, a stipend of up to $700 for travel and accommodation may be provided by FEWW if necessary.
We will begin accepting applications for this year’s prize on November 3, 2014.
The deadline for submissions for the 2015 FEWW Prize is Monday, January 12th, 2015 at 5pm EST.
Applications must include the following:
1. Ten pages excerpted from a fully developed, completed script. Please note: finalists will be required to submit the complete script to the FEWW;
2. A cover letter of no more than 300 words describing yourself and your work. Be sure the letter includes your contact information including mailing address, daytime telephone number, and email address;
3. Your resume or a bio;
4. The name, address, email and phone number of one reference. This person should know you well and be able to speak about your work if called to do so.
Finalists will be contacted by April 1st and will have one week within which to to submit their full play.
13.
Orchard Project
Deadline: Feb. 16th
Website: http://exchangenyc.org/page/apply-orchard-project
Resident Artists are provided with rehearsal space (five rehearsal rooms and various writing spaces), company management, accommodation and communal dining and acres and acres of magnificent upstate scenery. The Orchard Project also has a world-class apprentice program, and companies are encouraged to take advantage of the great support our younger artists can provide. Transportation and honoraria/per diems are the responsibility of the sponsoring theatre company (or artist). One of the many reason for such is that it allows the Orchard Project to host companies of very different levels.
We have created this simple application process to free up our resources to devote to the actual residencies. APPLICATIONS WILL BE LOOKED AT ON A ROLLING BASIS. After receiving applications, we will ask some applicants for more info and possibly work samples. We usually hope to respond to applications by the beginning of March.
We often are asked how competitive the application process for the Orchard Project is. Selection is highly competitive, with an approximate 7-10% acceptance rate. Furthermore, we try to be as transparent as possible about our application process and how open it is. There are indeed a few companies and artists who are invited to apply to the Orchard Project by our staff and our advisory board. However, over 80% of our residents last year were from unsolicited applications.
If you have ANY problems with your application, please email us at info@exchangenyc.org.
Unlike other programs, we judge people, not projects. What that means is that the Orchard Project team and other artists who we have supported in past years assess whether the applicants are likely to create amazing work, and whether we think they will benefit from our program.
Please be sure to read the Orchard Project FAQ before applying. The FAQ includes details about the structure of the program and application process.
14.
Native American New Play Festival
Deadline: Feb. 1st
Website: http://www.okctheatrecompany.org/2013-native-play-festival-submission-guidelines/
Finalists are selected from submitted plays which meet the criteria outlined below. These selected plays are rehearsed briefly (2-3 rehearsals) by OKCTC actors and directors. The plays are then presented in a readers’ theatre format which will be open to the public at the 6th annual Native American New Play Festival May 16-17, 2015. A brief Q&A with the playwright and director will be held immediately following each dramatic reading to encourage audience feedback. The play selected as the most outstanding and the best fit for our audience will receive a fully-staged production at our theatre as the featured event of the next Native American New Play Festival (2015).


Submission deadline for the 2015 Festival is February 1, 2015. Scripts received after that date will be considered for the following year.
Playwright must a member of a federally-recognized Tribal Nation either by birth or adoption.
Manuscript must be a full-length play without a prior full production.
E-mail/Send plot synopsis (300 words maximum), list of characters with brief descriptions of each (sex, age, ethnicity, and other physical or personality traits if desired), and a complete manuscript. Please include a contact phone number and e-mail address on the play’s title page. Beginning 2014 ONLY ELECTRONIC/EMAIL SUBMISSIONS WILL BE CONSIDERED in PDF or Word format.


Dramas, comedies, musicals, modern plays, and historical plays are all welcome. Special consideration will be given to plays that deal with Native history, culture, and/or themes and issues.
Playwrights who are questioning whether or not their play is a good match for OKC Theatre Company are strongly encouraged to contact Rachel Irick atrachel@okctc.org before submitting.


An announcement about the 2015 Finalists will be made by April 2015.
All serious submissions are read by at least two readers. Please be advised that the following are not considered serious submissions:
Screenplays or teleplays submitted as theatrical plays
Obvious first drafts
Plays with typos and spelling errors
Plays that are not formatted according to industry standards
Notification: Our Artistic Director screens submissions for eligibility as they are received. Plays are then read by a panel of readers who recommend finalists for the festival readings.
Email manuscripts to: rachel@okctc.org
The subject line should read “NATIVE PLAY SUBMISSION 2015″
Contact Rachel Irick at the OKCTC company office by calling 405-626-6605 with any questions.

15.
Route 66 Theatre Company Development Workshop
Deadline: Jan. 20th
website: http://route66theatre.org/new-play-workshop/

CALLING ALL PLAYWRIGHTS! Route 66 Theatre Company is now accepting submissions for its first new play development workshop.
Cultivating new plays and new playwrights has always been an integral part of our artistic process at Route 66 Theatre Company. Our last three productions have been world premieres: A Twist of Water, Cicada, and The Downpour. Now we’re taking our commitment to new work even further by awarding one playwright with an 8-day developmental workshop of their play. This workshop will be focused on the playwright and what they need to move their script toward being production-ready. A workshop curator, two dramaturg mentors, and a panel of special guest directors, artistic directors, and literary managers will provide support, criticism, ideas, and suggestions. If you’re a playwright looking for an experience that will develop your draft into the play you envision, read on!
SUBMISSION DEADLINE: January 20th, 2015
SUBMISSION MATERIALS: 1) full draft of your play, 2) production history if applicable, 3) character breakdown, 4) play synopsis, no longer than 1-page, 5) playwright bio and/or resume.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES: Plays submitted should be full-length drafts that speak to Route 66’s mission. All submission materials must be submitted electronically in pdf or MS Word form and emailed tosubmissions@route66theatre.org. (Eligible playwrights should reside in the continental U.S.)
FINALISTS: A few finalists may be asked for a Skype or in-person interview the week of February 3rd, 2015.
WINNING PLAY ANNOUNCED: February 9th, 2015
WORKSHOP DATES: March 9th through March 16th, 2015. Playwright’s must be completely free during the dates of the workshop to attend rehearsals, meetings, and to work on re-writes.
THE WINNING PLAYWRIGHT WILL RECEIVE:
A wholly process-oriented, writer-focused, week-long experience that includes
o   Travel, housing (home stay), and a $300 stipend
o   Two dramaturg mentors
o   A cast of professional actors and Limoncelli as director
o   Rehearsal space
o   Feedback from dramaturg mentors, Limoncelli, and Tovar
o   Time to write between readings and rehearsals so the project can move forward several steps during the workshop
o   A reading for an audience and a panel of special guest directors, artistic directors, and literary managers
ROUTE 66 WILL RECEIVE:
The right of first refusal to produce the winning play within a specific time period.
ROUTE 66 TEAM:
Playwright/Director Frances Limoncelli, workshop curator, Artistic Director Stef Tovar, producer.
ROUTE 66 MISSION:
Route 66 Theatre Company introduces, develops, produces, and exports new work for the stage. The road begins with our new play development process and reaches west, where our World and Chicago Premiere shows are given an advocate for further regional productions along the road less traveled from Chicago to Los Angeles.
A MESSAGE TO THE PLAYWRIGHT:
Sometimes a playwright can only get so far working alone. They know their draft has possibilities, but they crave professional actors to read it out loud, brainy dramatists to bounce ideas off of, and experienced directors, writers, and artistic directors to discuss it with. And TIME! They crave the TIME to digest and incorporate the results of those experiences into their play.
In our opinion, too many developmental workshops focus on the culminating performance instead of the development of the work: energy is spent on nabbing a “name” to read the lead role or time is spent staging music stand choreography. This is usually a well-intentioned attempt to give the play a favorable showing for the invited industry members in the audience. That can be of great help for a polished play that’s ready for a backer’s audition, showcase, or premiere…but it’s not so developmental.
The Route 66 Developmental Workshop will be focused on supporting the writing process. You’ll be given resources, guidance, and freedom to experiment. Writing time is incorporated into the schedule so that you can try new ideas and incorporate feedback that strikes a chord with you. It’s our goal to give you everything you need so you can leave with a draft that is several steps further along than the one you came in with.
In our efforts to provide support, we will be careful not to coddle. We believe most artists are excited by a productive, forthright process. We find that even tough feedback, given respectfully and constructively, is usually welcome to the artist who stands to benefit from it. We are also committed to the idea that our support not be misconstrued as directive. The mentor team will provide expert advice from several different points of view, but the creative decisions are the playwright’s alone.

If you’re passionate in your artistry, idealistic in your vision, excited by collaboration, open to feedback, and energetically in pursuit of an experience designed to help your play evolve…then come play with us.


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