The Create Change Fellowship program is for artists and cultural producers who are interested in developing and deepening a collaborative, community-based, and socially-engaged creative practice. The Fellowship is philosophically grounded in peer-learning around art making, power analysis, and community building.
The 2024 Create Change Fellowship is now closed.
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 Create Change Fellowship program is for artists and cultural producers who are interested in developing and deepening a collaborative, community-based, and socially-engaged creative practice. The Fellowship is philosophically grounded in peer-learning around art making, power analysis, and community building.
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
6 months
Honorarium
$1,000
Number of Fellows
10
Applications Close
August 21, 2023
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Johari James
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Program Format
The 2024 Fellowship program will run from January through June. Each Fellow will receive a honorarium of $1,000 for their participation in the program and group production fund. The program schedule includes the following:
- At least five workshops based on our learning blocks of making art, building community, and making change
- Individual and group coaching sessions on cultural organizing
- Opportunity to develop a collaborative public program
- A culminating final presentation
- Access to weekly office-hours with LP program staff
- Supplemental Artists workshops
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
Info Session
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 some experience with developing collaborative or community-based projects. They are in alignment with LP values and have the experience or capacity to contribute to a collaborative learning environment. 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 Fellow Candidates:
- 21 and above
- Are not enrolled in a degree-seeking program
- Are committed to working collaboratively with their cohort members
- Are in alignment with The LP’s values and POC-centered principles
- Demonstrate a practice or deep interest in socially and community engaged art
- Are familiar with the cultural history and local issues impacting communities of color
- Lives in one of the five NYC boroughs
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.
I’ve already participated in several professional development programs. What is unique about Create Change?
Create Change is not a typical series of professional development workshops. Some of the topics and themes covered every year include: cultural arts organizing, building community partnerships, deep listening and storytelling, understanding public policy, dismantling racism through art, and more. We believe in the tenets of popular education and draw from the immense and diverse knowledge of the cohort participants throughout the program.
This experiential form of learning is central to The LP’s mission and core values, which we imbue in all of our programs. Besides concrete skills and experiential learning opportunities, one of the greatest benefits we offer our artists is a network of like-minded practitioners and supporters.
What is the time commitment for the program?
Fellows and Artists-in-residence will spend roughly 50 hours participating in workshop sessions and related programming, and should plan to spend an additional 50 hours attending professional development offerings, work sessions with their cohort, coaching sessions, artist salons. Artists-in-Residence will also spend a substantial amount of time developing their independent projects.
How much of the hybrid program schedule will be in-person?
We are planning to host all the workshops and public programs in-person at our storefront in Bed-Stuy, while the professional development offerings (coaching, mentorship, office hours, etc) will be scheduled through Zoom or Google Meet.
What kind of tech access will I need in order to participate?
- Access to reliable and consistent internet connection
- Access to a computer or tablet with camera and a microphone (not a phone if possible)
- A Zoom account set up and familiarity with the features (you can open an account for free here)
A Google Meet account (you may access it via a gmail account, open a free account here)
Do I have to be a “visual artist” or professional practitioner to apply? How do you define a professional artist?
Artists working in any art form are eligible to apply as long as they are interested in community-based art making. For The LP, art includes visual, media, literary, and performing arts as well as curation, scholarship, education, healing, community organizing, and other cultural traditions, productions, and practices. You do not have to consider yourself an artist to apply.
We recognize that there are many creative practitioners who do not identify themselves as “professional artists” and/or do not earn their living solely from art-making. Successful applicants are able to demonstrate a record of artistic experience; and analytical thinking skills to contribute to the collaborative learning environment.
Do I have to be based in NYC during the Fellowship or Residency program?
Yes, only artists that are currently based in NYC are eligible to apply for the Fellowship and Residency programs.
May I receive feedback on my application?
Due to the high volume of applicants, we only share feedback with candidates who advance to the interview stage of the application process.
