1.
MAP Grant
Deadline: October 28th
website: mapfundblog.org/the-program/
Open submissions to the MAP Fund are accepted in the first stage of our three-stage review process.
Stage 1: Register on the MAP Fund website for the Online Letter of Inquiry. This is an open call requesting written information about your project and the lead artists involved.
After a review by field evaluators and MAP staff, those proposals that most closely align with the MAP Fund goals are invited to make a full application through email notification.
Stage 2: Full Application (by invitation). Also online, the full application requests a complete project budget, statements from lead artists, and work samples, in addition to the information submitted in the LOI. Full applications are reviewed by field evaluators and, based on these scores, a selection moves forward to the on-site peer panel.
Stage 3: A nationally composed peer panel meets on-site in New York City to review the applications. The panel recommends which proposals will be funded. Final recommendations are subject to approval by the Creative Capital Board of Directors.
REVIEW CRITERIA
Proposals are evaluated on the basis of the following criteria, which are weighed equally:
How well a project aligns with the MAP Fund’s goal of supporting live performance projects that embody a spirit of deep inquiry. MAP is particularly interested in supporting artists that question, disrupt, complicate, and challenge inherited notions of social and cultural hierarchy across the current American landscape.
The artistic strength of the proposed project.
The viability of the project, based on the applicant’s professional capabilities as demonstrated in the project narrative, bio and artist statement, and work samples.
Letter of Inquiry and Full Applications must come from organizations based in the United States that have current nonprofit federal tax status (501c3). Unincorporated artists or ensembles may apply to MAP through a fiscal sponsor.
Organizations and artists must demonstrate at least 2 years professional experience.
MAP supports only projects that contain a live performance.
Eligible projects must not have premiered anywhere in the world before the first date of the current grant activities period.
The touring or documentation of work that has already premiered is not eligible for funding.
Current employees or board members of Creative Capital, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation or the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, or immediate family members of such persons may not apply for a MAP grant.
Artists who receive a MAP grant two years in a row are asked to sit out the next year before reapplying.
WHAT WE ARE NOT LOOKING FOR
MAP does not support straight adaptations from one medium to another, remounting of past work, traditional re-staging of classic works, educational projects, youth programs that do not achieve as high an artistic standard as competing professional works, festivals, or contests.
ALLOWABLE ACTIVITIES
MAP supports most direct costs related to the conception, creation and premiere of a new work. These include but are not limited to commissioning fees and artists’ salaries, research costs, rehearsal and workshop expenses, promotion, and audience outreach and production costs up to and including the premiere run of the work.
NUMBER OF AWARDS
Up to 40 grants per annual cycle, ranging from $10,000 to $45,000. The average award amount is $25,000
2.
The O’Neill Center: 2017 National Playwrights Conference
Deadline (window): Sept 14- Oct 14th
website: www.theoneill.org/summer-conferences/npc/submission-info/
If you are interested in applying, please look over the materials and sign up to receive email updates about the National Playwrights Conference. As soon as we post our 2016 application, you will be the first to know.
The National Playwrights Conference strives to create a supportive environment that empowers playwrights to their own process and to experience the play with a professional company.
In the years since its inception the National Playwrights Conference has developed more than 600 plays. During the Conference, playwrights live on the grounds of the O'Neill for a full month and each engages in a week-long process of rehearsals culminating in two script-in-hand public readings. Up to eight playwrights are selected for this intensive laboratory each summer. Conference playwrights represent a wide range of experience from those working on a first play to Broadway veterans; directors and actors have also worked on and off Broadway, in film, and in regional theaters, and represent emerging artists and seasoned professionals.
Each year NPC accepts scripts from any playwright for consideration in its summer landmark event, and takes this solicitation and selection process very seriously. We do not require an agent or nomination to apply, simply the right to work in the United States.
The O'Neill typically receives approximately 1,000 scripts during this month-long window. The plays are sent to readers across the country; the work is read blindly and narrowed down into a semi-finalist pool and then a finalist pool. This process is maintained by our on-site literary office and is monitored carefully.
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS:
You must be 18 years of age and have the right to work within the United States.
The play must not have had a professional production, or be scheduled to have a professional production, prior to August 2016. A professional production means that the artists working on the show were compensated for their time, and that all of the theatrical elements one hopes to see in a production were present.
You may submit one original or adapted work, providing that the rights to any material not in the public domain have been granted in writing, and a copy of the release is sent along with the script.
We develop all genres and styles of drama, including one-acts and solo pieces. NPC does not develop music theater works, though you may submit such work to the National Music Theater Conference.
While we accept work that has been submitted to NPC in previous years, we recommend that you share new work with us each year.
Only complete applications will be accepted, whether in hard copy or electronic form.
3.
Playpenn
Deadline: September 30th
Website: www.playpenn.org/application/2-uncategorised/30-application-2
Beginning September 1, PlayPenn will be accepting applications for its 2017 new play development conference; we are pleased to request your full length, unproduced script for consideration. Please review the guidelines carefully and completely before making application. Application materials will be accepted between September 1 and September 30th. Your application must be uploaded and complete by September 30th or it cannot be considered.
Currently, we are not considering musicals, plays for young audiences or oneperson plays. Also, if you were a 2016 Conference playwright we ask for a oneyear hiatus from applying.
The 2017 conference will be held in Philadelphia, PA from July 11-30th at The Drake Theatre in Philadelphia, PA. Invited playwrights will have the opportunity to work with a director, dramaturg and Philadelphia-based, professional actors over a 20-day period that allows for 29 hours of rehearsal and staged reading time along with ample time to reflect and write. The work will begin with a three-day roundtable (July 11-13) that will help in laying the collaborative groundwork for the development time ahead. The conference includes two public staged readings that are intended as a part of the process, giving playwrights an opportunity to measure the efficacy of the work accomplished and provide an opportunity to gauge the work ahead. PlayPenn will provide travel for casting for both writer and director, travel to and from the conference, housing, per diem and a stipend.
Applicants should be aware that we are a development conference rather than a festival or showcase for new work. The distinction is important and meaningful to us in the current climate of the increasing commercialization of play development. We work to avoid participation in what has become known as “development hell” by fostering an environment in which risk is rewarded and honest assessment is provided and encouraged. To that end, we focus on the needs of the text. The public Conference readings are intended to present a glimpse into how the text lives off the page rather than how the how the play might be staged in production.
4.
Bay Area Playwrights Festival
Deadline: October 15th
Website: http://bayareaplaywrightsfestival.org/submissions-2017/
Bay Area Playwrights Festival Submissions
Five-six plays will be chosen for the annual Bay Area Playwrights Festival. Winning playwrights are paired with an artistic team comprised of a professional dramaturg, director, and actors. They will receive two weeks of rehearsal and two rehearsed staged readings, each one separated by five to six days for rehearsals and rewrites. Local and national producers, theater artists and the general public are invited to the festival to see the staged readings, participate in special events and meet the playwrights.
How to Apply: Submissions opened on July 15th, and will close October 1, 2016. To submit your play, please visit LiteraryManager.org and sign up for an account, or log in when prompted, if you do. Please contact our Literary Manager with further inquiries at literary (at) playwrightsfoundation.org.
It is primarily through our open submission process that Playwrights Foundation’s artistic staff gets acquainted with the work of a wide range of contemporary writers. Playwrights Foundation’s programs are open to all playwrights living in North America and writing primarily in English.
Plays must be full-length, between 60-120 pages, unproduced and original. Submissions must be in PDF form. We do accept adaptations, but not translations. Only one submission is allowed per playwright. Plays that have previously received a workshop or university production are considered unproduced. At this time, we cannot accommodate musicals for our programs unless permission is gained in advance to submit.
There is a $20 submission fee. For Alumni of Playwrights Foundation programs and students the fee is automatically waived. If you are under financial strain, write to us and we will negotiate fee waivers on an individual basis.
Dates: Bay Area Playwrights Festival activities will occur in July of 2017 at our home theater, Custom Made Theatre on Sutter Street, in San Francisco. Exact dates for the 2017 BAPF are TBA.
Retreat: A pre-festival weekend retreat prior to rehearsal brings together artistic teams and playwrights to share work, thoughts and feedback with other festival participants. It is mandatory for playwrights to be in residence for the entire retreat (2-3 days in early July) and festival period.
Financial arrangement: Minimum $500 Stipend, travel, housing.
Award notification: Playwrights invited to programs other than the annual Bay Area Playwrights Festival will be contacted on a rolling basis. The playwrights selected for the Bay Area Playwrights Festival will be notified by or before April 1st, 2017.
5.
GREAT PLAINS THEATRE CONFERENCE
Deadline: Oct 15th
website: https://webapps.mccneb.edu/gptc/CallforPlays.asp
The Great Plains Theatre Conference offers playwrights the opportunity to interact with and have their work seen by top writers, directors and actors from across the country. In addition, playwrights work directly with these professionals in hands-on writing and industry workshops, participate in daily panel discussions and attend evening performances with master playwrights and theatre practitioners. Past panelists, workshop leaders and respondents include: Edward Albee, Doug Wright, Emily Mann, Mac Wellman, Arthur Kopit, Marshall Mason, Mark Lamos, Theresa Rebeck, Constance Congdon, Erik Ehn, Will Eno, Lee Blessing and David Lindsay-Abaire among others.
Plays submitted are reviewed by a 100% blind reading process and considered for the following categories...
THE MAINSTAGE SERIES
Five plays are chosen for the MainStage Series and recognized with the Holland New Voices Award. For the playwright, this includes a $500 honorarium, travel, room and board, Conference registration and preferential admittance to all special WorkShop sessions and Conference events. MainStage playwrights also receive a script rehearsal period with local and national directors and actors. Near the end of the week, the GPTC features a staged reading of each script for Conference attendees and the general public. A panel of top theatre professionals serve as respondents to the work. The five MainStage plays are published in “The 2015 GPTC Reader.”
Playwrights whose scripts are chosen for MainStage readings must attend the GPTC for the entire week.
DAILY PLAYLABS
Approximately 25 plays are chosen for the daily PlayLabs. For the playwright, this includes room and board, Conference registration and preferential admittance to all WorkShops and Conference events. Local and national directors and actors rehearse in preparation for a staged reading of each script. Conference attendees and the public attend these readings and a panel of select theatre professionals serves as respondents
Playwrights whose scripts are chosen for PlayLab readings must be available to attend the entire conference.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:
The GPTC will accept both full length and one act scripts.
Playwrights may submit a maximum of one script.
Scripts co-written by multiple playwrights may be submitted. If chosen, the benefits outlined above will be provided for ONE playwright only.
Plays that have received an Equity production, plays for young audiences and musicals will not be accepted.
All selections will be finalized by March 15.
There is a $10 fee for each submission. Submissions will not be considered without payment. The entire fee is applied toward the costs for readers.
6.
Jewish Play Project
Deadline: October 15th
Website: www.jewishplaysproject.org/guide
Looking for new, full-length plays and musicals with significant contemporary Jewish content. We don't work on WWII or Holocaust material, or on mid-century Jewish immigrant stories, but the rest of the field is wide open. We encourage submissions from all writers - it is not necessary that writer identify as Jewish.
The full RFP for both our nationwide playwriting Contest and our New York-based workshops is attached.
the full submissions guidelines: www.jewishplaysproject.org/guide
the submissions page: www.jewishplaysproject.org/submit
the Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1160108837368802/
Please feel free to reach out to David Winitsky david@jewishplaysproject.org with any questions, or to his Literary Associates (Noah Mitchel and Justin Halle). The deadline is 10/15/16.
7.
Blackboard Reading Series
deadline: Oct 31st
Website: http://blackboardplays.com/submit/redvolution-submission/
Between September 1 and October 31, 2016 Blackboard Plays will be accepting short plays (30 minutes or less), concerning HIV/AIDS within the Black community.
Since 2008, Blackboard plays has been devoted to the Black Playwright throughout the African Diaspora. Blackboard is a resident series @ the cell, where the series has been incubated.
If you are familiar with Blackboard @ the cell, you know that a usual Blackboard community night is similar to a poetry open mic where playwrights bring up to 10 pages and have their work cold-read. This December 2016 curated community night will be a little different.
Writers will be notified in November and your piece will be cast.
The final selections will be read on Monday, December 12, 2016 beginning at 7:30pm.
Submission Guidelines
The file you submit should contain:
1) Your Bio
2) Play Synopsis
3) Title Page w/ Character Breakdown
4) Your short play
Any questions: info@blackboardplays.com
Submission Page including Form and Upload Link: http://blackboardplays.com/submit/redvolution-submission/
8.
Radcliffe Institute at Harvard Fellowship
Deadline: September 15th
Website: http://www.radcliffe.harvard.edu/fellowship-program/how-apply
Radcliffe Institute is accepting fellowship applications from the creative arts until September 15th. Fellows receive office or studio space and access to libraries and other resources of Harvard University during the fellowship year, which extends from early September 2017 through May 31, 2018. Stipends are funded up to US$75,000 with additional funds for project expenses.Stipends are funded up to $75,000 for one year with additional funds for project expenses. Some support for relocation expenses is provided where relevant. If so directed, Radcliffe will pay the stipend to the fellow’s home institution. We work with fellows who have families to help with relocation issues for a smooth transition.
Fellows receive office or studio space and access to libraries and other resources of Harvard University during the fellowship year. Visual artists and film, video, sound, and new media artists may apply to come for either one or two semesters. In the event that they come for one semester, the stipend is $37,500. Fellows are expected to be free of their regular commitments so they may devote themselves full time to the work outlined in their proposal. Since this is a residential fellowship, we expect fellows to reside in the Boston area during that period and to have their primary office at the Institute so that they can participate fully in the life of the community.
9.
Cullman Fellowship
Deadline: September 30th
Website: https://nypl.onlineapplicationportal.com/misc/guidelines/default.aspx
Notification: March 2017
Award Period: September 6, 2017 - May 26, 2018
Stipend: $70,000
The Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers supports projects that draw on the research collections at The New York Public Library’s Stephen A. Schwarzman Building (formerly the Humanities and Social Sciences Library). The Center looks for top-quality writing from academics as well as from creative writers and independent scholars. It aims to promote dynamic conversation about the humanities, social sciences, and scholarship at the highest level — within the Center, in public forums throughout the Library, and in the Fellows’ published work.
Candidates who need to work primarily in The New York Public Library’s other research centers — The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, and the Science, Industry and Business Library — are not eligible for this fellowship.
In order to avoid real or apparent conflicts of interest, the Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers does not accept applications from New York Public Library staff members or their partners, or from people active on the Library’s Board of Trustees, Board Advisory Committees, or Library Council.
Please visit www.nypl.org/research-collections for detailed information about the collections of the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street.
Fellows are required to work at the Cullman Center for the duration of the fellowship term and may not accept other major professional obligations during the term. Some fellows may have a few prior commitments, but must limit research trips, attendance at scholarly meetings, and speaking engagements to short periods of time. Anyone who needs to be away for more than two days must notify the Center's Director or Deputy Director. The Library will pro-rate fellowship stipends for fellows who spend too much time away from the Center.
Fellowships will not be granted to post-doctoral fellows or to applicants doing graduate-school dissertation research.
The Cullman Center will not accept dossier letters in place of new letters of recommendation.
Fellows must be conversant in English.
Completed applications and supporting materials — research proposal, Curriculum Vitae, letters of recommendation, and creative writing sample or art work sample — must be submitted by 5 p.m. EST on September 30, 2016.
10.
MacDowell Colony Residency
Deadline: September 15
Website: http://www.macdowellcolony.org/apply.html
The MacDowell Colony nurtures the arts by offering creative individuals of the highest talent an inspiring environment in which to produce enduring works of the imagination. Residencies are awarded based on a completed application to the Colony. Applications are chosen by a peer-review panel. Artists may apply only ONCE within a 24-month period - select the residency period that best suits your schedule. We are currently accepting applications for our winter spring 2017 residency season. The deadline is September 15, 2016.
The MacDowell Colony provides time, space, and an inspiring environment to artists of exceptional talent. 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. MacDowell Fellows are selected by our admissions panels, which are comprised of a revolving group of distinguished professionals in each artistic discipline who serve anonymously for three years.
The Colony accepts applications from artists working in the following disciplines: architecture, film/video arts, interdisciplinary arts, literature, music composition, theatre, and visual arts. The sole criterion for acceptance is artistic excellence, which the Colony defines in a pluralistic and inclusive way. MacDowell encourages applications from artists representing the widest possible range of perspectives and demographics, and welcomes artists engaging in the broadest spectrum of artistic practice and investigating an unlimited array of inquiries and concerns. To that end, emerging as well as established artists are invited to apply. Applicants who are in a degree program as of the date of application are ineligible for a residency and therefore cannot apply.
Artists may apply only once every 24 months. MacDowell will only accept applications for the next deadline. Please refer to the applications dates in the column on the left for open application time periods. Applicants will be notified of admission status approximately 10 weeks after the applicable deadline. Winter/Spring residency takes place Feb 1, 2017 -May 31, 2017. Notification: November 25th
Processing Fee: A nonrefundable processing fee of $30. Payable by Credit or Debit Card.
11.
Princeton Arts Fellowship
Deadline: September 19th
Website: http://arts.princeton.edu/fellowships/
The Princeton Arts Fellowship, funded in part by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, will be awarded to artists whose achievements have been recognized as demonstrating extraordinary promise in any area of artistic practice and teaching. Applicants should be early career composers, visual artists, conductors, musicians, choreographers, filmmakers, performers, directors, or performance artists—this list is not meant to be exhaustive—who would find it beneficial to spend two years working in an artistically vibrant university community. Princeton Arts Fellows spend two consecutive academic years (September 1-July 1) at Princeton University and formal teaching is expected. The normal work assignment will be to teach one course each semester subject to approval by the Dean of the Faculty, but fellows may be asked to take on an artistic assignment in lieu of a class, such as directing a play or creating a dance with students. Although the teaching load is light, our expectation is that Fellows will be full and active members of our community, committed to frequent and engaged interactions. An $80,000 a year stipend is provided.
Fellowships are not intended to fund work leading to an advanced degree. One need not be a U.S. citizen to apply. Holders of Ph.D. degrees from Princeton are not eligible to apply.
12.
Princeton Hodder Fellowship
Deadline: September 19th
Website: http://arts.princeton.edu/fellowships/
The Hodder Fellowship will be given to artists and writers of exceptional promise to pursue independent projects at Princeton University during the academic year. Potential Hodder Fellows are writers, composers, choreographers, visual artists, performance artists, or other kinds of artists or humanists who have “much more than ordinary intellectual and literary gifts”; they are selected more “for promise than for performance.” Given the strength of the applicant pool, most successful Fellows have published a first book or have similar achievements in their own fields; the Hodder is designed to provide Fellows with the “studious leisure” to undertake significant new work. Fellowships are for one academic year and provide the opportunity to pursue an independent project. Hodder Fellows spend an academic year (September 1-July 1) at Princeton, but no formal teaching is involved.
Fellowships are not intended to fund work leading to an advanced degree. One need not be a U.S. citizen to apply. An $80,000 stipend is provided for this 10‐month appointment.
13.
Playwrights First
Deadline: September 20
Website: http://www.playwrights-first.com/how-to-submit.html
Playwrights First consists of a panel of judges looking for original unproduced plays with a unique point of view, founded by Carolyn French.
Requires one, original, unproduced play in English. Hard copies no longer accepted. No adaptions, translations, or musicals will be accepted. Include a summary of your playwriting history with your play. $1,000 grant and a professional reading when feasible.
14.
Brooklyn Arts Fund
Deadline: September 21st
Website:https://brooklynartscouncil.submittable.com/submit/60382
The Brooklyn Arts Fund aims to cultivate Brooklyn’s artists, arts organizations, and audiences through its support of performances, exhibitions, pop-up galleries, workshops, reading series, festivals, public art and more, all across the borough. This program is appropriate for arts and culture makers developing projects that contribute to the rich creative experiences that engage audiences all across the borough. Competitive applicants will clearly identify the audience they strive to reach, and articulate how the project’s outcome(s) will impact the cultural life of the borough.
This program is appropriate for arts and culture makers developing projects that contribute to the rich creative experiences that engage audiences all across the borough. Competitive applicants will clearly identify the audience they strive to reach, and articulate how the project’s outcome(s) will impact the cultural life of the borough. Brooklyn-based 501c3 organizations and individual artists with Brooklyn residency may apply directly to this program. Program areas of funding include: dance, film/video/media, folk arts, interdisciplinary arts literary arts, multi-disciplinary projects, music/opera, theater/musical theater, performing arts community education and visual arts/crafts.
Funding is made possible through the generous support of the Greater New York Arts Development Fund of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA) in partnership with the New York City Council and Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams. Additional support is provided by MetroPlus Health Plan.
Visit brooklynartscouncil.org for complete guidelines and a downloadable PDF of application questions, for your reference. In order to apply, you will need to scroll down and create an account with Submittable.
