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

Artists of Color Fellowship

Programs Goals
• 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

• Provide opportunities for individuals who are
under-served by today’s mainstream theatre world

• Develop a community that supports and shares in the creation of new work

• 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. 

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.

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.

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.