ARTIST OFFERING

Who We are

Queer Cat Productions is a theater company based in the San Francisco Bay Area. We create consent-forward, accessible, immersive experiences that leave our audiences more connected. We create playful, curious, haunted works of art that are queer, not just in content, but in vision, perspective, care, and collaboration at every level of the process. We are committed to the spirit of play, as interactive and consensual; to curiosity about our world and each other; and to haunting: ancestry, fluidity, and resilience. Here’s where you can learn more about our company and our mission and values.

What we’re looking for

• A “primary generative artist” (creator), for example: playwright, solo performer, choreographer, musician/composer, lead artist for a collaborative artwork, etc.

• A new artwork that falls under the Performing Arts umbrella (theater, solo performance, music, dance, etc.).

• An artwork that seeks to answer this question: What encourages your personal playfulness, engages your curiosity about our humanness and how we connect with each other, and/or what haunts you and drives you to build work that makes space in and/or for the places where you feel that “space” is needed the most?

• An artwork that engages with and interprets our mission.

• An artwork that can be performed with hybrid elements for both an in-person performance in the San Francisco Bay Area at least once over the weekend of October 20-22, 2023 and an experience that is accessible worldwide.

What we’re offering

Pay:

• A total of $8,000 to create, develop, rehearse, and publicly share the new work (paid in quarterly installments and according to Queer Cat Productions’ flat artist pay rate, which is $22/hour for 2022).

Other Resources:

• A budget for hiring collaborating artists (i.e. actors, designers, musicians, dramaturgs).

  A budget for venue rental and materials.

  A travel stipend for artists outside the San Francisco Bay Area.

  Accommodations (i.e. ASL interpretation, flexible scheduling to accommodate childcare, and/or other accommodations you share with us).

  Tailored creative support specific to your artistic needs (i.e. dramaturgy, feedback and brainstorming, mentorship, workshopping and/or other creative supports you share with us).

  Connection to a community of Queer Cat Productions artists.

  Our commitment to create a supportive environment for your artistic process.

What we’re asking you to commit to if picked

• To be in residence as primary generative artist (creator) with Queer Cat Productions for one year. (Residency is virtual - artists can be geographically located anywhere.)

• Creation of the new artwork.

• Monthly preproduction meetings (with the option of more frequent meetings if desired by the artist) during development period, including check-ins with the Selection Committee Leader for support and accountability.

• More frequent (weekly or biweekly) meetings during production period.

• Monthly Company meetings with Queer Cat Productions.

Who is LEADING THE SELECTION COMMITTEE?

Genevieve Jessee (she/her). You can find out more about Genevieve below!

The artists who will read submissions are: Genevieve Jessee, Rawiyah Tariq, and Chivas Michael. You can read more about them below. More readers may be added here.

How do you applY?

Our application portal will be linked here starting Monday, May 5th, 2022. The application has two parts.

About You: An artist questionnaire (questions copied below).

About Your Art: A 1-2 page idea, concept, or pitch. Describe the work you want to create!

Who designed this?

This process was designed by the Manifestation Council: Genevieve Jessee, librecht baker, and Troy Rockett. You can find out more about them here.

How does the selection work?

The process has three rounds. In Round 1, all Readers read all applications. Readers give a “yes” or “no” vote on whether each application should go to the next round (and briefly say why). Applications that receive a majority of “yeses” move on to Round 2.

In Round 2, Readers evaluate applications according to a rubric and select three finalists. The elements on the rubric are: 1) The application demonstrates a desire to generate new work that is immersive and/or will leave audiences more connected to each other; 2) The application demonstrates a desire to generate new work connecting to and/or elevating the humanity of the artist’s identit(ies); 3) The application demonstrates a desire to generate new work that explores playfulness, curiosity, and/or haunting (in whatever way the artist defines it), and that in some way engages with Queer Cat Productions’ mission; 4) The application demonstrates a desire to generate new work that has qualities of an evolving form, and/or expands or elevates the genre(s) the artist works in; and 5) I want to hear more from this artist.

In Round 3, Readers interview each finalist and choose one artist. Finalists will be compensated for their interview time at a rate of $22/hour for about 2 hours.

More about this commission

This Commission is supported by the California Arts Council, The Zellerbach Family Foundation, The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, and by our community. Thank you! If you would like to support Artist Offering, you can do so here. Thank you!!!