Weft Studio is a new initiative for black artists and artist of colour in Ireland
Illustration by Ashwin Chacko
Weft Studio is a new initiative for black artists and artist of colour in Ireland
Words: Dylan Murphy
Open to creatives from all performance disciplines the 23 week programme is led by Dylan Coburn Gray and focuses on supporting early career artists.
Launching as part of Dublin Fringe Festival’s new project in partnership with Origins Eile, Hot Brown Honey and Dylan Coburn Gray, Studio Weft is a paid artist development opportunity which focuses on talent development and network building for emerging and early career Black artists and artists of colour in Ireland.
Aiming to provide the platform for creatives to make work on their own terms, 14 artists will be selected to participate in a 23-week programme launching in July. Facilitator Dylan Coburn Gray is a writer, theatre-maker and spoken word artist and alongside the programme’s international mentors will provide assistance to artists of all performance disciplines.
What you can expect from being part of the Weft Studio:
- A fee of €3900 for 23 Studio sessions and 7 additional contact days for masterclasses, group commitments etc.
- An engaged group of peer artists for discussion, feedback, and collaborative experimentation.
- Masterclasses and discussion sessions with exciting international mentors who will be selected to support the strengths and interests of Studio participants.
- Discussion of a syllabus of formally and thematically daring works of art, not all by racialised artists but all engaged with – and critical of – the racism underpinning canon and ‘craft’.
- Ongoing correspondence with and support from facilitator Dylan Coburn Gray across the Studio timeline, July – December 2021.
- A selection of tickets to Irish and international performances.
- Trips to see a selection of performances (remotely or live, to be decided in line with current governmental guidelines regarding COVID-19).
- The opportunity to work on a collaborative project with your fellow Studio members to create an artistic record of your Studio time.
- Participation in a thorough documentation of the project, including video footage and social media output.
- Dates and scheduling to be decided in collaboration with Dylan and the Project Coordinator to best suit participants.
Who Should Apply?
- New and early career makers who are interested in learning about the process of creating work for live performance.
- People with the ambition of creating live performance in the near future – we encourage applications from all performance disciplines.
- People who have a story they’ve been waiting to tell or an artform they’re excited to explore.
- Active participants, who are open to creative conversations and collaborative practise.
- Artists with availability from July to December 2021 to attend twenty-three sessions with Studio Facilitator Dylan Coburn Gray, alongside other masterclasses and events.
- We’re looking for people with creative vision and ambition. You might not consider yourself an ‘artist’ yet.
- This is an initiative for Black artists and artists of colour who are Irish or living in Ireland.
- You must be over 18 years of age and have legal status to work in the Republic of Ireland.
Click here to read more and submit an application.
The deadline for applications is 10.00 GMT on Monday, 21 June.
