performing artist-in-residence program

The Museum of Chinese in America’s Performing-Artist-in-Residence Program will invite a cohort of 3 performing artists to individually generate ONE theme-based NEW project, by utilizing the resources and collections at MOCA. Throughout the residency, artists will be invited to participate in artist-led workshops and will be required to give one work-in-progress presentation to the public in the end of the residency.

THEME: Declaration of Independence 獨立宣言

As the United States approaches the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in 2026, we are prompted to reflect on the meaning of independence today. What does it mean to declare independence—not just from nations, but from expectations, erasure, silence, and imposed identities? In a country built upon a founding declaration, what new declarations are necessary today?

For the 2025 Performing Artist Residency, MOCA invites artists to critically and creatively explore the theme Declaration of Independence. We welcome proposals that interrogate what it means to be “American,” to seek self-determination, or to stake a claim to visibility, freedom, and belonging—especially within diasporic, immigrant, and historically marginalized communities.

If you were to write a manifesto for your work, what would it sound like? What would it feel like? What are you declaring independence from—family, society, artistic tradition, the industry itself?

Artists must conceive and develop a new project during the residency. Proposals for previously created or pre-existing works will not be accepted. The residency is intended to support the generative process—from research and experimentation to creation and reflection.

Projects must engage with MOCA’s exhibitions, archives, or collection materials. The residency offers space, time, and curatorial support for artists to explore, take risks, and shape new performance-based work.

We encourage bold declarations—poetic, political, or deeply personal—that resonate within the evolving narrative of Chinese and Asian American life in the United States.

RESIDENCY DATES

October 15th, 2025 – March 20th, 2026

PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS

• Selected artists are required to create a new project at MOCA during the agreed upon residency timeframe. The new project does not have to be fully developed at the end of the residency.
• Selected artists are required to participate in the workshops and to lead a workshop session on the subject of their choice. Workshop dates are Friday, December 12th, 2025.
• Selected artists are required to meet at least once per month for a check-in session with the Director of Performance, Storytelling & Community during residency.
• At the end of residency, selected artists are required to present their work-in-progress project during the week of March 9th, 2026. A talkback session will be scheduled following the presentation.