the shed's open call commissioning program

Born out of The Shed’s commitment to act as a platform for NYC-based, early-career artists working in a range of artistic disciplines, Open Call selects, fosters, and presents new work. The program showcases a wide, multiborough range of voices, lived experiences, and perspectives, demonstrating the multitude of ways in which artists are working today. It embraces proposals for new works in disciplines including the visual arts, theater, dance, music, performance, spoken word, literary arts, film, fashion, art and technology, new media, social practice, and public art and architecture, as well as across multiple and new disciplines. As with all Shed civic programs, we center Black, POC, people with disabilities, and other communities that have been historically excluded and most impacted by structural racism and other forms of oppression.

By decentralizing the curatorial voice within the selection process, which challenges the gatekeeping tendencies common to arts institutions, Open Call realizes The Shed’s civic mission to be truly of, by, and for New York City. As in the three previous iterations, participants for _Open Call_’s fourth edition will be selected by more than 50 independent leaders across all artistic fields, including artists, cultural programmers, curators, producers, academics, and members of The Shed’s program team. The selection will take place in summer 2024.

The Shed will support selected projects with a commissioning fee of up to $15,000 of producing stewardship per artist or collective. Over the course of the Open Call program, each commission will be produced and designed in collaboration with The Shed’s artistic and production teams, who will work closely with each artist or collective throughout critical moments of the project’s development. This collaboration will include the creation of a customized plan that integrates accessibility into each piece. Additionally, in-kind presenting support managed by The Shed will go toward the implementation and installation of the work on-site, including artistic and production support outlined in detail on the application.

The selected projects will be presented in summer 2025 (visual art) and in 2026 (live performance) in various spaces at The Shed. All tickets to Open Call will be offered to the public for free. Along with the points of access created for each piece, these free tickets make the program accessible, welcoming, and inviting for all New Yorkers.