The Create Change Bed-Stuy Residency program supports the development of participatory and community-attuned creative projects by artists of color who live, work, or are otherwise invested in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. Projects may take place anywhere in Bed-Stuy, either in person or virtually, across various community sites, from laundromats and urban gardens to playgrounds and community centers. The Residency is a year-long program that runs from January to December.
Learning Blocks
The Create Change program is shaped around three learning blocks:
Make Art
What role does art, culture, and creativity play in making meaning, shifting narratives, and creating change in the world? Participants examine a range of artworks across the fields of social practice and creative placemaking that align with The LP’s approaches to cultural asset mapping and leadership development.
Build Community
How can art and cultural practices build trust and accountability with communities? Participants will explore approaches to fostering attunement with community rhythms, building reciprocal partnerships, and the art of meeting people where they are.
Create Change
Understanding the power that exists within ourselves and our communities, how do we creatively leverage power for equity and positive societal change? Participants will explore personal and collective relationships to race, power, and privilege in order to facilitate social transformation through their art and cultural practices.
Overview
The 2024 Create Change Fellowship is a six-month incubator that gives participants the tools to develop, workshop, and generate project ideas incorporating The LP’s values and community-based methodology. The program requires a significant time commitment as Fellows will design community-engaged programs within and around The LP’s storefront in Bed-Stuy. The program offers a $1,000 honorarium and a production budget for programming. Up to 10 Fellows will be selected to participate in the 2024 program. We value applications with diverse backgrounds, experiences, abilities, and expertise, while encouraging age diversity, multilingual folks, and practitioners without formal instruction to apply.
Duration
One Year
Honorarium + Production
$15,000 + $10,000
Number of Artist-in-Residence
One
Applications Close
August 21, 2023
Program Format
One Bed-Stuy Artist-in-Residence will be selected to participate in the 2024 program. The program schedule includes the following:
- Five workshops based on our learning blocks of making art, building community, and making change
- Individual and group coaching sessions on cultural organizing
- Public open studios to feature each artists work
- Monthly meetings with LP program staff
- Studio sessions with leading curators, artists, activists, and scholars
- A mentor to support the development of your project and creative practice at large
- The option to develop and implement participatory community design processes or public activations and engagements around The LP’s new storefront
Open Call
Key Dates
Applications Open – July 19
Info Session – July 21 | 12:00pm EDT
Applications Closes – August 19
Residency Interview Panel – September 15
Bed-Stuy Residency Interview Panel – September 19
Award Notification – October 2023
Learn more about the Create Change program and the selection process from LP staff and alumni artists by participating in the info session on July 21 at 12:00pm – 1:00pm. The session will be hosted via Google Meet and live closed captioning will be available through the platform. A recording of the session will be available for all to reference on our website.
Selection Process Overview
APPLICATION REVIEWS
LP staff will review all applications and select a shortlist. This shortlist will be reviewed by our Artist and Community Council.
SHORTLIST RESIDENCY INTERVIEW PANELS
Shortlisted residency applicants will be interviewed by LP Staff and our Artist and Community Council. We will convene via Zoom conference to conduct the interview panels. Residency candidates will be interviewed on September 19.
SHORTLIST FELLOWSHIP APPLICANTS
Fellowship candidates will be asked to submit additional materials as part of the second round process. There is no interview panel for the Fellowship program.
Eligibility
Ideal candidates have experience with developing collaborative or community-based projects. They demonstrate an alignment with LP values, have a background in community organizing and outreach strategies, and are at a catalytic moment within their creative practices. We value applications with diverse backgrounds, experiences, abilities, and expertise, while encouraging age diversity, multilingual folks, and practitioners without formal arts-education to apply.
ELIGIBLE BED-STUY RESIDENCY CANDIDATES:
- 21 and above
- Are in alignment with The LP’s values and POC-centered principles
- Are not enrolled in a degree-seeking program
- Have a demonstrated creative practice committed to community building and public engagement
- Demonstrate an interest or practice in socially and community engaged art
- Are familiar with the cultural history and local issues impacting Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn
- Lives, works, and/or shows demonstrated investment in Bed-Stuy communities
- Are committed to co-creating a community art project
To help counter structural, systemic injustices of displacement and gentrification in Bed-Stuy, we
will prioritize:
- Applications from generational and long-term (10+ consecutive years) residents
- Applications from individuals who identify as Black, Indigenous, Native and/or People of Color
- Applications from individuals in the disability community, including immunocompromised individuals
- Applications from individuals who identify as LGBTQIA+
FAQs
I do not identify as a community based artist or one that incorporates social practice within my work. Am I eligible for the program?
Yes, you are eligible. We know that traditional models of formal training for visual artists (be they based in universities or facilitated through residencies emphasizing individual aesthetic and/or professional development) quite often do not fully prepare them to work with and in a community in a sustained or even substantive way. Create Change was created to offer artists an opportunity to deepen or develop a public art practice that graduates from a model of placing static art objects in public spaces to one that emphasizes the ways art and artists can serve as catalysts for social action and relationship building (not just contemplation).
We realize that some artists may not identify as community-based artists or social practitioners, but are curious about making work in this way. We created the Fellowship program to provide a space where artists can build on their approaches to community based art making.
