THE PERFORMANCE PROJECT FELLOWSHIP
Our Emerging Artist Fellows
For more information on this program and The Performance Project @ University Settlement, please email arts@universitysettlement.org.
The Performance Project @ University Settlement Fellowship is a year-long creative career mentorship program. It is specifically designed for local, early emerging artists/cultural organizers (between the ages of 18-26) who want the intensive support needed to build a sustainable career in the creative sector. Sustained mentorship will support Fellows as they develop skills in multiple and interdisciplinary performing arts like spoken word, music and dance, and theater. The Fellows will produce work and curate a community arts festival developed and produced by the Fellows. The year will culminate with each fellow developing a package of materials to support moving their projects and career forward.
“The Performance Project Fellowship provided me with a platform, circle of supporters and physical space among other resources to more thoroughly explore my own artistic ideas and endeavors… If what you’re looking for is a springboard to develop yourself and your own blossoming artistic vision, I highly recommend applying to the Fellowship.” -Aliyah Hakim (2016-2017 Fellow)
The Performance Project @ University Settlement Fellowship will provide professional arts development to emerging artists as they learn to create socially conscious artistic productions. Sustained mentorship will support Fellows as they develop skills in multiple and interdisciplinary performing arts like spoken word, music and dance, and theater. The program will culminate with a community arts festival developed and produced by the Fellows.
Learn more about our current Fellows cohort below.
Fellows will receive:
- The opportunity to have work professionally promoted and presented.
- Individualized creative career coaching and career development workshops, whether in person or online.
- Support in developing a resume, bio and performance reel.
- Support in expanding professional networks and selecting opportunities to acquire additional professional credentials.
- Referral to University Settlement services that can provide crucial support, such as housing advocacy, workforce development and individual counseling support.
Fellows commit to:
- Attending a day-long retreat at the beginning and end of the fellowship, dependent upon current COVID restrictions.
- Participating in career development workshops throughout the year. Meeting monthly as a group, online or in person, to give and receive feedback on artistic progress, challenges and accomplishments.
- Meeting individually with the Program Director every 6 weeks, online or in person.
- Developing a 25-45 minute performance of new work that will be professionally presented as part of The Fellowship Flow Festival.
- Creatively documenting the fellowship program journey through social media, a journal or some other format.
- Fellows must be prepared and committed to fully participating in this fellowship process. Participation in all peer-share meetings and workshops is required.
Meet Our Current Fellows
The Performance Project Fellowship is a year-long creative career mentorship program. It is specifically designed for local, early emerging artists/cultural organizers (between the ages of 18-26) who want the intensive support needed to build a sustainable career in the creative sector.
YUEXING (STAR) SUN
Yuexing (Star) Sun (she/her) is a performance maker shifting between director, deviser, and performer. Her works center individual narratives as they confront larger social frameworks swayed by history, identity, and politics...
RITA LIU
Rita Liu (she/her) is a Taiwanese movement artist, story listener, and feeling supporter. She enjoys making warm and soft theatrical experiences that play with the juxtaposition between movements, interviews, and text-based soundscapes...
ANKITA SHARMA
Ankita (they/them) is a bold emerging artist interested in creating genre-resistant performance that holds meaning for diverse audiences. They invest in mining shades of darkness with visceral, immersive work...
BUFFY
Buffy (she/her) is an artist and writer. Based in New York, she practices and researches performance and production in many contexts. She performs, produces, directs, and manages theater, music, and dance...
GABRIEL TORRES
Gabriel Torres (they/them) is a multidisciplinary artist from Colombia and New York. Gabriel’s work deals in the conversations between community engagement, creative placemaking, theater making and film...
Audrey Thao Berger
Audrey Thao Berger (she/her/hers) is a choreographer, dance artist, and non-profit administrator. She is interested in exploring how trauma and our ancestral histories are stored in the body...