PAC NYC Extends The Democracy Cycle’s 2025 Open Call

The Perelman Performing Arts Center and Civis Foundation will present a 2 week deadline extension for proposals for The Democracy Cycle; the submission portal for the second year of The Democracy Cycle will remain open until April 16 at 5pm ET. 
 
This multi-year program invites artists to explore themes relating to the nature, practice, and experience of democracy and is committed to a total of 25 commissions of new live performance projects over 5 years across theater, opera, dance, music, and multidisciplinary practices.  Each selected project will receive $60,000 in support, consisting of a $30,000 commission and another $30,000 for project development. 
 
The submission process for The Democracy Cycle’s 2025 Open Call has been extended to, Wednesday, April 16, 2025 at 5:00pm EST.  More information is available at:  www.pacnyc.org/the-democracy-cycle
 
Proposals will be evaluated by a group of external reviewers with discipline expertise and commissions chosen by a panel made up of arts- and democracy-workers.
 
Launched in January 2024, the first open call of The Democracy Cycle received 450 submissions from around the world, from artists representing all eligible artistic disciplines of theater, music, dance, opera, and multidisciplinary practice.   The artists and artistic collaborations chosen to receive the 2024 Democracy Cycle commissions were Javaad Alipoor; Baye & Asa; Pablo Manzi and Bonobo Teatro; Angélica Negrón; Paul Pinto; Vickie Ramirez, Ty Defoe and Jeanette Harrison; Abigail Nessen Bengson and Shaun Bengson; Talvin Wilks and Paul Schiff Berman.
 
The Democracy Cycle is designed to support new live performance works that illuminate the promise, practice, imperfection, and opportunity of democracy. The Democracy Cycle aims to invigorate discussion and expression of democratic values by supporting the unique abilities of artists to imagine new worlds, envision new possibilities, and provoke meaningful discourse across any number of divides.
 
All 25 projects will be commissioned and developed over a 5-year period, with at least eight more artists chosen in each of the 2025 and 2026 open calls.