Dresher Ensemble Artist Residency

Residencies for the Time-based Arts

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

The Dresher Ensemble Artist Residency [D.E.A.R.] was established in 2012 to support Northern California artists who are actively exploring new aesthetic premises and pushing the boundaries of conventional art forms and media. The program provides early to mid-career artists free studio space and up-to-date equipment to create new work in the time-based arts such as theater/performance, dance/movement, music/sound art/instrument invention, as well as collaborative and interdisciplinary work. Occasionally, the program will also consider applications from more established artists whose work does not receive significant institutional support. (If you feel you fit into this category, please contact us before creating an application.)

D.E.A.R. grants 4 to 6 awards annually to individual artists or to groups of artists collaborating on a single project. The lead artist must be a resident of Northern California and must not be 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 two 9-foot concert grand pianos) and fabrication shop. Residency weeks may be contiguous or spread out over a period of 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 (providing fiscal sponsorship if needed).
• Performance opportunities

SELECTION CRITERIA / PROGRAM PRIORITIES:

• 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.

FUNDING

We are pleased to announce that the Dresher Ensemble Artist Residency program is now receiving support from California Arts Council : Statewide and Regional Network as well as from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Sam Mazza Foundation, the Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation, and several very generous individuals.