The Democracy Cycle at PAC NYC Sets Final Deadline Extension
Each selected project will receive $60,000 in support, consisting of a $30,000 commission and another $30,000 for project development.
The Perelman Performing Arts Center and Civis Foundation have revealed that the final submission open call for The Democracy Cycle will now remain open until Wednesday, May 6 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 supporting a total of 25 commissions across theater, opera, dance, music, and multidisciplinary practices. 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.
Currently, 17 projects are under commission and in various stages of development, with one project – by Pablo Manzi and Teatro Bonobo – having premiered, and two projects – by Baye & Asa and Angélica Negrón – recently announced to premiere at PAC NYC in January 2027.
Each selected project will receive $60,000 in support, consisting of a $30,000 commission and another $30,000 for project development. All 25 projects will be commissioned and developed over a 5-year period, with the final 8 projects chosen this year.
The submission deadline for The Democracy Cycle’s 2026 Open Call has been extended to Wednesday, May 6, 2025 at 5:00pm EST. More information is available at: www.pacnyc.org/the-democracy-cycle
Program History:
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, America’s Kingdoms, (in development);
Baye & Asa, At the Altar (premiering January 2027 at PAC NYC); Pablo Manzi and Bonobo Teatro, Estampida Humana (premiered 2025 in Santiago, Chile, winner of Chilean Critics Circle Award for Best Theater Production 2025); Angélica Negrón, The Puerto Rico Experiment (premiering January 2027 at PAC NYC); Paul Pinto, Estebanico (in development); Vickie Ramirez, Ty Defoe and Jeanette Harrison, Six Nations: One Fire (in development); Abigail Nessen Bengson and Shaun Bengson / The Bengsons, Sovereignty Hymns (in development); Talvin Wilks and Paul Schiff Berman, The Truth Beneath (in development).
The 2025 Democracy Cycle open call grew to 744 submissions and the following artists were selected:
Andrea Ambam, Twelve Angry Black Women (in development), Holly Bass, Civilities, Or How to Secede Without Really Trying (in development), Justine F. Chen, MUSEUM OF THE UNAMERICANS, a futurist choral satire (in development), David Dorfman, The Front Line (in development), Molly Joyce, Criptocracy (in development), Samora Pinderhughes, I Hope This Finds You Well (in development), Sofía Rei and Jasmine Garsd, Reinitas (in development), Daniel Leeman Smith and Blossom Johnson, Proclamation to the Great White Father and All His People (in development), and Nathan Yungerberg, Barry, The 1970s Black Sitcom That Never Happened (in development).
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