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Artist
Development
| Since
1995, NYTW has been awarding promising young writers, directors,
and designers of color with fellowships that provide them with
access to the Workshop’s substantial resources and contacts,
as well as other essential support to assist their
growth in their respective crafts. NYTW believes this program
expands our commitment to offer a creative home for artists whose
varying backgrounds and unique talents bring different voices
and stories to a varied audience. Created to address the lack
of diversity within major theatre and producing organizations,
the Fellowship program has welcomed 60 promising young theatre
artists since its inception.
Past
Artist Fellows
Fellowhip
Application Info
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Will Power and NYTW Emerging Artists of Color Fellows
NYTW’s annual Summer Residency at Vassar College
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Artists
of Color Fellowship
Programs Goals
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Nurture and cultivate artistic excellence, new visions in theatre,
and artists who create work that speaks to a broader audience
•
Discover emerging artists and develop voices that reflect the
complexity and vibrancy of New York City as a crossroads of cultures
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Provide opportunities for individuals who are
under-served by today’s mainstream theatre world
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Develop a community that supports and shares in the creation of
new work
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Foster leadership, both artistic and administrative, for a new
generation of theatre artists. |
These goals are realized through a variety of Artist Development
Activities and a Summer Residency, which welcome Fellows into
an industrious network of theatre artists with whom they can collaborate,
and through stipends that provide a degree of financial freedom
to enable them to devote time to their pursuits.
The program also offers the Fellows opportunities to develop works-in-progress
and to see performances together. Monthly workshop meetings and
frequent mentoring sessions provide a comfortable and ongoing
forum for discussion concerning the Fellows’ progress and
interests.
Fellows have access to unlimited free rehearsal space (based on
availability), use of the photocopier and office supplies and
other resources that greatly assist in the creation of artistic
projects.
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| EMERGING
ARTISTS OF COLOR FELLOWS
The Emerging Artists of Color Fellowship program grew
out of NYTW’s fundamental belief that diversity of thought,
experience, and culture is crucial to continued theatrical innovation.
Emerging Artist Fellows hold a 16-18 month part-time appointment,
and include directors, playwrights, and designers. During their
fellowship, these artists are provided with valuable tools to
support them through the delicate and often vulnerable process
of developing new work.
Activities include participation in our Mondays @ 3 reading series,
which take place regularly throughout the year and are attended
by NYTW artistic staff and members of the Usual Suspects, the
Workshop’s community of
affiliated artists.
RESIDENT
ARTISTS OF COLOR FELLOWS
The Resident Artists of Color Fellowship program expands on the
principles of the Emerging Artists Fellowship program and allows
artists to develop a longer, more in-depth relationship with NYTW.
Resident Artist Fellowships last for two years, and the recipients
are hired as full-time NYTW staff members. Each Fellow focuses
on one particular area of interest, such as literary management
or casting which allows for immersion in NYTW’s artistic
and operational model. Many Resident Fellows maintain working
relationships with NYTW, and some have assumed permanent staff
positions.
The
2007-09 Creative Resident Fellow, Jorge Ignacio Cortiñas,
divided his time between working with NYTW education programs
and developing a new play about the process of social change
in Venezuela. |
The
2008-10 Artistic Leadership Fellowship was awarded to Rafael
Gallegos, who is focusing on producing while working closely
with the Artistic Department. Both Jorge and Rafael began
their relationships with NYTW as Emerging Artist Fellows.
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Suspects
Abroad
In
2005, NYTW launched Suspects Abroad, its cultural exchange initiative.
This program supports distinctive opportunities for NYTW's community
of artists, the Usual Suspects, to travel with small groups of
their colleagues to theatre festivals around the world, providing
an immersion experience in some of the world's most vibrant contemporary
arts communities. The Suspects Abroad program was designed to
elevate the activities of the Usual Suspects, provide an infusion
of new theatrical ideas and techniques into American theatre,
and create opportunities for multidimensional artistic growth.
Suspects Abroad is deeply rooted in NYTW's mission to support
the work of theatre artists and encourage artistic growth through
engagement in a diverse range of activities. The Usual Suspects
are the vital link in this endeavor, informing our curatorial
vision with a diversity of ideas, talent and theatrical work,
while acting as emissaries for NYTW's artistic philosophy, as
they bring their work and ideas to theatre communities throughout
the United States and across the globe.
Usual
Suspects have traveled to the Theatertreffen in Berlin, Germany,
the Dialog Festival in Wroclaw, Poland, the Golden Mask Festival
in Moscow, Russia, and the Hungarian Theatre Museum and Institute
in Budapest, Hungary. In March 2007, Suspects traveled to the
Baltic region to see performances in St. Petersburg, Russia, Riga,
Latvia, and Vilnius, Lithuania. Suspects who have participated
in these experiences include Christopher Ashley, Michael John
Garcés, Lisa Peterson, Karin Coonrod, Jorge Ignacio Cortiñas,
Christopher Grabowski, Will Power, Leigh Silverman, Liesl Tommy,
Chay Yew, Ching Valdes, Liz Diamond, Pamela MacKinnon, Kate Whoriskey,
Rachel Dickstein, Barbara Lanciers, Chiori Miyagawa, David Schweizer,
Itamar Moses, Alexander Thomas, Kia Corthron, Michael Greif, Kate
Moira Ryan, Said Sayrafiezadeh and Betty Shamieh.
In April 2008, Resident Creative Fellow and Usual Suspect Jorge
Ignacio Cortiñas went to Venezuela for three months under
the auspices of a special Suspects Abroad trip. The final goal
is the creation of a theater piece that is in dialogue with the
changes occurring in Venezuela under the leadership of Hugo Chavez's
government. During his time in Venezuela, Jorge met with a variety
of Venezuelans of all classes and political persuasions including
human rights workers, journalists, community activists, medical
professionals, cab drivers and theater artists.
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NYTW Usual Suspects Christopher Ashley,
Michael John Garces and Lisa Peterson in
Berlin's Reichstag
.Betty Shamieh, Kia Corthron
and
Said Sayrafazadeh in St. Petersburg, Russia. |

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Jonathan
Larson Lab
Born
from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation’s challenge grant
and created in 2001, the Jonathan Larson Lab
is a memorial to the creator of Rent that gives emerging
and established theatre artists essential resources, a nurturing
creative environment, and an open canvas for exploring their ideas
and developing their work. Participants are often given a grant,
a venue, and the support of NYTW’s Artistic staff. Project
participants are paid for their work and the development phase is
designed to serve the need of the artists. Some of these works go
on to receive full productions at NYTW or at other theatres around
the country.
The works developed over at the Jonathan Larson Lab over the past
few seasons have included Will Power’s The Seven,
Thaddeus Phillips’ ¡El Conquistador!, Martha
Clarke’s KAOS, Beckett Shorts with Mikhail
Baryshnikov, Elevator Repair Service’s The Sound and the
Fury (April Seventh, 1928) and The Beebo Brinker Chronicles,
a new play by Kate Moira Ryan and Linda S. Chapman, which ran at
NYTW’s 4th Street Theatre in the fall of 2007.
See a history of past Larson Lab work |
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