There are 48 counties in Northern California. Please visit this Wikipedia page to see if your county is listed. Please note that at the moment, we cannot provide lodging and it isn’t permitted to “live” in the studio, though you can work as late or early as you wish.

An emerging to mid-career artist (or group) is one who has finished their academic training or studies and is actively creating, producing, and performing their work but who is not yet receiving significant institutional support in the form of grants or commissions and is not yet touring nationally or internationally. (please read the FAQ What is “significant institutional support”?)

One of the core motivations for our DEAR program is to provide production space and tools to artists who, because of where they are in their professional development, cannot practically afford to rent ongoing rehearsal space or have access to the performance technologies (sound, lighting and projection equipment) that are essential tools in the contemporary performing arts.

“Significant institutional support” can include grants, residencies, fellowships, commissions, or performances facilitated by established Bay Area institutions. We believe artists at this stage often have alternative access to the resources offered to DEAR artists. While there isn’t a strict boundary, if you have received regular support from local organizations such as the San Francisco Arts Commission, Zellerbach Family Foundation, Center for Cultural Innovation, East Bay Community Foundation, and ultimately from sources like the Creative Work Fund, Gerbode, or the Hewlett Foundation, or if well-regarded Bay Area venues have presented you, this would likely be considered “significant institutional support.” As a result, the panel may prioritize artists who have not yet received this level of support from these institutions.

Previous awardees are allowed to apply if their residency was before 2017, and are still emerging or mid-career artists. They do not get priority.

No, for the 2025 residency cycle, we are focusing on emerging and early mid-career artists who may not have had significant institutional support in the past. Our aim is to provide opportunities for artists who are earlier in their careers or who have faced barriers to accessing large-scale institutional resources. We encourage artists who meet these criteria to apply. Prior mid-career and established artists awards were made possible by past additonal funding.

Unfortunately, we are not able to support established artists or combinations of emerging and mid-career artists led by established artists, even if they are not yet receiving significant institutional support. As we have frequently been approached by such artists, we are aware that there is an ever-increasing need for access to free or very affordable space for almost all creators. Unfortunately, because of the nature of our funding for the DEAR program, we are unable to support established artists at this time. However, because of funding from another source, we are able to offer the studio at very affordable rates for individual artists. Please contact us at info @ dresherensemble [dot] org if you would like more information.

We do not require fiscal sponsorship to apply. If an artist or unincorporated group decides that they would like to raise funds for their project, New Performance Traditions can provide fiscal sponsorship.

The most important part of the panel evaluation is through the work samples. An individual artist application can only submit work samples demonstrating their own work. If collaborators are an important part of generating the project’s creative content (for example if a choreographer is proposing a piece in which projection design is an important part of the work and that design is being created by someone else), the proposal would likely be weakened by not including collaborator work samples. Adding collaborating artists is only possible with a “group/collaborative” application.

The lead artist should submit two work samples, and each collaborating artist may submit one work sample. Each work sample should be 3 – 5 minutes long, though work samples of up to 20 minutes may be submitted IF you highlight one or two 3-5 minute excerpts within the longer work sample by indicating the starting and ending time [ex: Please watch from 3’15” to 8’10”}. A panelist may choose to look at more of a longer work sample than the highlighted 3-5 minute sections. If you submit a single longer work sample with two highlighted sections, this counts as the two work samples requested from the Lead Artist or Group.

Please visit the Dresher Ensemble’s rental page, where information on the studio’s physical space and equipment inventory is listed. In most cases, everything in the inventory will be available to awardees, though there are times when some items may be in use by the Ensemble or rented to other artists.

For a complete and up-to-date list of our sound, lighting, projector, and related lens & lamp inventory, please visit our Equipment Rental Page. This page provides detailed information on all available equipment, rental terms, and pricing.

We make every effort to work with awardees to provide the space continuously and to not require equipment, scenery or technical set-ups to be moved unless that would be a simple process. However, there may be times when we will request and assist with such a temporary need for another use of the studio. These are typically for another income-producing rental or performance (as the rental income helps make it possible to give the studio for free to DEAR artists). In such an instance, we will provide secure storage space or, if needed, assistance with breaking down and setting back up.

The Ensemble’s fabrication shop is primarily a wood shop with the ability to work with soft metals like aluminum, bronze and brass. It was developed by Dresher to support his work with musical instrument and sound sculpture inventions and has most standard machine tools like table saw, band saw, drill press, radial arm saw, metal cutoff saw, a small mill, and miter saw. We also have a typical inventory of hand power tools and hand tools. We also have welders for both light duty aluminum and steel welding. We do not have a lathe nor tools typically found in a metal fabrication machine shop.

Safety is of utmost importance in the shop; before providing unsupervised access, each person must demonstrate knowledge of the safe use of all power tools. In rare cases, Dresher may be able to provide some instruction or training on using specific tools. Still, some prior shop experience is required for projects proposing to use the shop to realize the proposed project’s goals.

Yes! Many awarded projects choose to present their work in the studio, typically at the conclusion of the residency. Some present only to a very close group of friends, often as a work-in-progress followed by a Q&A. Others mount full productions and even do multiple performances. Our staff will assist the artist with their presentation based on their needs. We typically provide front-of-house services including box office/ticketing and marketing. Ticket sales are organized through Eventbrite, and we usually split equally (50%/50%) any income from the box office with the artists. These funds are entirely separate from the guaranteed stipend.

Typically, at the start of a residency, Dresher or some other Ensemble staff member will provide instruction in the basic operation of any equipment needed for a residency. Additional equipment can be requested throughout the residency. We can also advise and provide the tools and hardware to help with rigging or other scenic needs. But we are not able to provide on-going tech support whenever you are working in the studio and only provide front-of-house assistance for any performances. Unfortunately, we are NOT able to provide the staff for things like sound engineering, lighting design, or light board operators.

First, please review carefully the listed program priorities:

• The artistic quality and potential impact of the project on the artist’s creative growth and their audiences;
• Projects whose realization requires continuous and/or multi-day access to the space and our available technologies. For example, a high quality acoustic chamber music ensemble in need of rehearsal space would receive lower priority than a project of equal artistic quality involving multiple disciplines or materials whose complexity of installation (a large physical set, complex electronic audio or projection set-ups) make daily installation and strike impractical;
• 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.

Second, we suggest looking at the past awardees to the program that are available through these links (which also contain a short description of each awarded project): past projects awards, 2020-2021 awards, 2022 D.E.A.R. awards.
: past D.E.A.R. awards; 2020-2021 D.E.A.R. awards; 2022 D.E.A.R. awards.

1. Having a project that does not effectively meet the main goals of the program, which are:
   • 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;
   • Potential impact of the project on the artist’s artistic growth and their audiences.
2. Poor quality or choice of work samples, i.e. work samples that are technically poor quality (weakness in the audio or visual documentation of the work making it difficult to assess the actual artistic quality) or work samples that don’t clearly relate to the proposed project (for example, a purely electronic music composition submitted for a proposal that involves composing for a large chamber music ensemble) or work that the panel feels does not demonstrate high artistic quality (admittedly a difficult criterion to quantify).
3. Work samples that are more than five years old.

The answer to this depends mostly upon your goal(s) for the residency. The program is open to both artists/groups who are preparing a work for premiere (whether as part of the residency in the studio or in a separate venue) and we are open to projects that are more like basic research and development, exploring approaches to making work that are new to the artists or collaborators but where no finished work is anticipated at the conclusion of the residency. However, we encourage people to share the results of their work with our community through very informal presentations.

In cases where the residency culminates in the performance, the panel would expect a more well-developed project concept than one in which the artists are undertaking basic research and development. In that case, the panelists may wish to understand the inspiration for this R&D and to understand how that work would be a logical outgrowth of the work the artist(s) has/have done in the recent past.

Yes, absolutely! The Dresher Ensemble Artist Residency program has been conceived and developed by the organization New Performance Traditions. New Performance Traditions is a hub for incubating multi-disciplinary arts projects from conception and production through performance, recording, and broadcast. We are dedicated to the creation of risk-taking and challenging performing artworks and to supporting the artists that conceive them to engender a more equitable, inclusive, and creative community.

Each awardee receives a production stipend (currently $1500 per project) that can be used however the awardee or group decides. Some use it to pay collaborating artists or technical staff needed for a performance, or for purchasing any materials needed for the project or to simply pay themselves. In other words, we do not exert ANY control over how these funds are used. We just wish the amount could be higher!

Each year, we select 3 new panelists, all active and experienced Northern California artists, each possessing a deep knowledge of theater/performance and/or dance/movement, and/or music/sound art/instrument invention with experience in collaboration and an affinity with emerging and mid-career artists. The panel typically includes artists from diverse cultural backgrounds and LGBTQ communities. Past panelists have included Awele Makeba, Claudine Naganuma, Eric Garcia, Ellen Sebastian Chang, Erling Wold, Guillermo Galindo, Jim Cave, Joan Jeanrenaud, Lisa Mezzacappa, Pamela Z, Robert Moses, Seth Eisen, Sonya Delwaide, Stephanie Johnson, and Wayne Hazzard.

Evaluation of “artistic quality” is always very subjective. We aim to have panelists who have deep knowledge of the contemporary performing arts and who embody practices that are not generally associated with “mainstream” artistic practice and/or who are coming from culturally diverse perspectives.

Each application is scored as follows:

• Artistic quality: 60 points maximum
• Suitability to the DEAR program’s goals and priorities: 20 points maximum
• Impact on the applicant(s) and their audience: 20 points maximum

We recognize that, in many cases, emerging artists may not yet have work samples that can show their full potential. Panelists are well aware of this issue and give consideration to such cases.

We typically award 6 residencies each year. In the past three years, this represents about 12 – 15% of the total number of applications.

The application deadline is November 15, 2024, applications are reviewed in December, and awardees are notified by February 2025. Following this, Paul Dresher will contact every awardee and begin the complex scheduling process. This round of residencies will be scheduled between July of 2025 and end of June 2026.

Mentorship is provided upon request by the artists. Artistic Director Dresher and Executive Director Pelletey, as well as other staff members, can offer mentorship and consultations on any aspect of the residents’ projects, including perspectives on work in progress, consultations on using projection, sound, and lighting equipment, and production logistics such as budgeting, fundraising, marketing, and tour planning. If needed, fiscal sponsorship may be provided.