BAX Opens Applications for 2026-28 Artist in Residence Program

Established in 1993, the AIR (Artist in Residence) program has supported over 70 dance, theater, and multidisciplinary performance artists across three decades. The program is designed as a process-oriented incubator, supporting artists who share BAX's commitment to racial and cultural justice, whose work is still in development, and who are eager to deepen their artistic practice within a collaborative, cohort-based structure.

The AIR program centers artists at a generative stage of development, offering time, space, and sustained institutional support to develop projects-in-progress before their work enters larger production ecosystems. Rather than prioritizing polished outcomes, the program emphasizes inquiry, process, and peer exchange.

Artists are supported through sustained advisory, production, and administrative guidance and are embedded within BAX's multigenerational artistic environment. Many projects incubated through the Artist in Residence program have gone on to be fully realized in major venues nationally and internationally.

An information session for the program will be held on Thursday, February 19 at 5:30 PM Eastern Time via Zoom. Please register using this link.
 

Program Support & Structure
 

Three selected artists receive:

• 450 hours of free rehearsal space over an 18-month period
   
• A total $8,000 artist stipend
   
• Monthly in-person cohort meetings
   
• Regular one-on-one coaching sessions / check-ins with BAX's Artistic Director
   
• As-needed professional development consultations with BAX Artist Advisors
   
• Advisory, marketing, and production support
   
• Fiscal sponsorship through BAX
   
• Support for parent artists through free arts programming for their school-age children

Public Engagement & Benchmarks

The residency includes two Open Studios and a culminating Work-in-Progress presentation. These moments invite peers, staff, and audiences into the artists' processes through open rehearsals, workshops, or practice-based engagements, with documentation and livestream options available.

 Eligibility

• You are an artist working in dance/movement, theater, performance art, or another multidisciplinary performance practice. (BAX rehearsal studios are designed for embodied practices and are not suited for visual artists requiring fine art studio space, or for filmmakers/digital media artists who require specialized equipment.)
   
• You would thrive in a cohort-based experience with two other Artists in Residence and can commit to monthly in-person cohort meetings.
   
• You live in one of the five NYC boroughs for the duration of the residency. (Artists living outside NYC during the residency period are not eligible.)
   
• You are not a full-time student in a degree-granting program at a college, university, or institution of higher learning.

Former BAX Artists in Residence who completed their residency in 2021 or earlier are eligible to apply. Former Space Grant artists are always eligible to apply without a waiting period. Learn More and Apply Today!