project yz: aapi artist residency

Obie-award winner Yangtze Repertory Theatre, now in its 35th season and dedicated to celebrating artists who are global citizens and supporting the works by, for and about the AAPI immigrant community, announces that applications are now open for Project YZ, the company’s AAPI Artist Residency program. The goal of Project YZ is to support and build an artistic home for AAPI immigrant artists.

Launched in 2022, Project YZ is Yangtze Rep’s AAPI artist residency program with a focus to support the artistic journey of each resident artist through a process that values open dialogue, honest conversation, and bold endeavors. The goal is to create a sense of belonging through artistic discovery.

During the one-year residency, Yangtze Rep will connect resident artists with other collaborators, lend research support, facilitate interviews and focus groups, and provide professional marketing capabilities. Dramaturgical development and discussion with Yangtze’s artistic staff will take place throughout the residency.

A public-facing work-in-progress showing is required but could take place in various forms.

Chongren Fan, Artistic Director of Yangtze Rep, remarked, “Project YZ grew out of a simple but urgent need: to give artists space to begin. The most meaningful work doesn’t start with answers. It starts with a feeling you can’t quite name yet. At Yangtze Repertory Theatre, we want to honor that early part of the process, often invisible yet essential. This residency is about building a space where artists can take risks, ask difficult questions, and trust that their voices matter.”

Previous Project YZ resident artists include directors Nana Dakin and Rui Dun; playwrights Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin, Jesse Jae Hoon, Yilong Liu and Minghao Tu; set designer Chika Shimizu; writer and performers Đavid Lee Huỳnh and Jo Mei, writer and director Jing Dong, and performer Julia Gu.