the shed open call
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.
ABOUT THE APPLICATION AND SELECTION PROCESS
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 four previous iterations, participants for Open Call’s fifth 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. Applications will open in the winter of 2026, with reviews and selections taking place in the spring and summer. Finalists will be notified in the fall of 2026.
The Shed will support selected projects with a commissioning fee of up to $15,000 per artist or collective. Over the course of the Open Call program, each commission will be co-produced and designed in collaboration with each finalist and The Shed’s artistic and production teams.
The program includes stewardship support to establish a clear development timeline, a customized accessibility plan, and in-kind presenting support toward the implementation and installation of the work on-site, including artistic and production support outlined in detail on the application.
Selected projects will be presented in either summer 2027 or summer 2028 in various spaces at The Shed. All tickets to Open Call will be offered to the public for free, making the program accessible, welcoming, and inviting for all New Yorkers.