ARTIST RESIDENCIES FOR EARLY TO MID-CAREER NORTHERN CALIFORNIA ARTISTS

theater | performance · dance | movement · music | sound art | instrument invention, collaborations · interdisciplinary work

2024 Dresher Ensemble Artist Residence Awards:
e. Franklin – Anne Hege – Zoe Klein – Labonee Mohanta – Danishta Rivero and Roco Córdova – Ambrose Trataris aka DestroyHerr

The application form for 2025/26 residency is open now.

INFO SESSION RSVP

The submission deadline is November 15, 2024 11:59 PM PT

The Dresher Ensemble Artist Residency (D.E.A.R.) was established in 2012 to support Northern California artists actively exploring new aesthetic premises and pushing the boundaries of conventional art forms and media. The program provides artists free studio space and up-to-date equipment to create new work in time-based arts such as theater/performance, dance/movement, music/sound art/instrument invention, and collaborative and interdisciplinary work.

D.E.A.R. grants up to six awards annually to individual artists or groups of artists collaborating on a single project. The lead artist must be a Northern California resident and not a student at the time of the application and residency.

EACH RESIDENCY PROVIDES:

• Full-time access {24/7} of 1 to 4 weeks to the Ensemble’s West Oakland rehearsal studio (40′ x 42′ sprung dance floor with Marley floor covering with 20′ ceilings and one 9-foot concert grand piano) and fabrication shop. Residency weeks may be contiguous or spread out over months;
• A production stipend (currently up to $1500);
• Access to state-of-the-art sound, lighting, projection, and recording equipment;
• Technical, financial, and managerial consultations from professionals on the Ensemble’s staff;
• Fiscal sponsorship if needed;
• Performance opportunities.

SELECTION CRITERIA / PROGRAM PRIORITIES:

• Early to mid-career Northern California artists (please read Eligibility FAQ’s);
• The artistic quality and potential impact of the project on the artist’s artistic growth and their audiences;
• Projects whose realization requires continuous and/or multi-day access to our studio space and our available technologies;
• Artists who work with multiple disciplines and/or from culturally diverse perspectives;
• Preference may be given to artists whose work is not currently receiving significant institutional support.

APPLICATION

Important Dates:

• Online application for 2025 Residencies opens on October 1, 2024;
• Applications are due Friday, November 15, 2024, at 11:59 pm PST;
• Info Session (Please RSVP);
• Zoom: Tuesday, October 29, 2024 at 7 PM;
• In-Person with Studio Visit: Saturday, November 2, 2024 at 11 AM;
• Zoom: Tuesday, November 12, 2024 at 7 PM;
• Residencies will be announced to artists in February 2025.

We have tried to make the application process simple and straightforward.

Basic information for you and your listed collaborators:

• Name
• Address
• Contact Information
• Birthdate
• Gender Identity
• Ethnicity
• Social Media Presence

Project Information

• Project summary (150 words max.);
• Project description (1000 words max.);
• Biography (500 words max.);
• Desired Residency Length and Work Plan (500 words max.);
• Desired length of residency, including information about how your work will progress throughout the residency period (500 words max.).

If you are applying with collaborators, the lead applicant submits up to two work samples, and each collaborator submits one work sample. Audio, video and still image work samples are submitted as links. Texts and musical scores may be submitted as PDFs.

Evaluation:
Three independent panelists (new each year) will score your application using the following criteria and scoring percentages:

1. Artistic quality: 60%;
2. Suitability to the DEAR program’s goals and priorities: 20%;
3. Impact on the applicant(s) and their audience: 20%

FUNDING

The Dresher Ensemble Artist Residency program is made possible with support from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation, and several generous individuals.