Cleveland Public Theatre

CPT’s mission is to raise consciousness and nurture compassion through groundbreaking performances and life-changing education programs. CPT’s programming agenda is to produce work that is outside the mainstream, broadening the range of work available to the Cleveland public and expanding the impact and originality of theatre across the country. CPT strives to make work that is excellent, extraordinary, and nationally competitive.

Our new play development programs are based on our years of experience, community input, and key principles of focusing on artists; valuing diversity of approach, aesthetics, and perspective; and balancing impact with investment.

We envision CPT as a nationally recognized hub for the development of new theatre that is extraordinary, edgy, and relevant. We hope to be a model for nurturing local talent in similar sized markets, the most regarded cultivator of new theatre for Cleveland audiences, a laboratory for promising research and investigation, and a launcher of nationally significant new plays.

The Individual Artist Fund and The Premiere Fellowship Overview

With dedicated funding from Assembly for the Arts, CPT will relaunch the successful Premiere Fellowship supporting local Cuyahoga County artists through unrestricted individual awards and the option of full residency to develop a new project. Additionally, to better address artists’ needs, CPT has created an additional award, The Individual Artist Fund.

The goal of the Individual Artist Fund and The Premiere Fellowship is to serve a diverse cross-section of Cleveland artists creating original work, especially work that is innovative and experimental. CPT is well known for going beyond “traditional theatre” and is seeking artists who create full, robust performances that consider all the elements of live performance and the audience experience. We aim to offer a flexible, robust fellowship program that provides a career-advancing experience to artists creating transformative and impactful work.

The Individual Artist Fund Description

The Individual Artist Fund will provide a direct award of unrestricted funds to three individuals who demonstrate artistic excellence and innovation. This is not a project-based grant. The award is designed for interpretative artists working in various forms such as actors, dancers, and designers, or creating artists who are not seeking project support, or whose project may not be a good fit for CPT based on scope or other factors.

Cleveland Public Theatre will provide:

• A $5,000 direct cash reward to the artist.
• Promotion of the Artist as a Premiere Award recipient on CPT’s website, social media, and season materials.
• A Public Presentation opportunity hosted during the grant period for the artist to share a 5-50 min. award impact report.
• Note* This is not a project grant and no additional support for the artist is committed from CPT.

Individual Artist Fellow will provide:

• Materials needed for the promotion of the award. (Headshot, bio, etc.)
• Acknowledgement of CPT award on professional materials (bios, resumes, etc) for a minimum of three (3) years.
• A one-page written final report summarizing the impact of CPT’s Individual Artist Fund.
• A Public presentation on the impact of receiving an award from CPT’s Individual Artist Fund, delivered in a 5-50 min. report, to be shared in a format/context to be mutually agreed upon by the artist and CPT during the grant contract.
• Note* This is not a project grant, and no project is expected from the funded artist.

The Premiere Fellowship Description

The Premiere Fellowship will support four artists with a direct award (unrestricted and unattached to the artists project itself) and the development of an original performance project by providing an additional payment to the artist with direct funds for the project, significant underwriting of producorial management, production, rehearsal/performance space, marketing, front of house support etc. CPT will especially focus on Fellowship projects that align with the needs of the field for research and development. We are looking for artists and projects that have groundbreaking, eco-system-changing potential.

Cleveland Public Theatre will provide:

• $10,000 total for the project including $7,000 to the artist and $3,000 for project expenses (paid by CPT to vendors, artists, etc.)
• Promotion of the artist as a Premiere Fellow on CPT’s website, social media, and season materials.
• Line-production and other producorial support for workshop or full production.
• Rehearsal and performance space.
• Front-of-house management and marketing materials to support performance and audience engagement.
• Additional creative mentorship if requested by the artist.
• Networking opportunities to the artist and internal promotion of the artist nationally to other artistic directors and leaders.
• Public presentation opportunity hosted during the grant period for the artist to share a 5-50 min. award impact report.

Premiere Fellow will provide:

• Development of an original Premiere project-workshop or performance- as mutually determined between CPT and the Premiere Fellow.
• Inclusion of CPT standard language in all subsequent productions of the work in all forms- future productions, publications, video, etc.
• Individual artist materials needed for promotion of the award. (Headshot, bio, etc.)
• Acknowledgement of CPT Premiere Fellowship and Artist Award on professional materials (bios, resumes, etc.) for a minimum of five (5) years.
• A one-page written final report summarizing the impact of participating in CPT’s Premiere Fellowship.
• A public presentation on the impact of CPT’s Premiere Fellowship, delivered in a 5-50 min. report, to be shared in a format/context to be mutually agreed upon by the artist and CPT during the grant contract.
• Attendance to four cohort meetings with the other awardees.
• Consistent engagement with CPT’s artistic programming and season activities—attending opening night receptions, artist meetings, professional workshops, etc.

The Application Process

Cleveland Public Theatre will use Google Forms to gather and review applicant submissions, including artist statements and work samples.

Important Dates:

• Applications are open: March 1^st, 2024.
• An informational meeting for interested applicants will be held: March 23^rd, 2024.
• Applications will close: April 14^th, 2024.
• Application review will take place between April 14^th and early June 2024.
• Selections will be announced: June of 2024.
• Payments will be made to artists: No later that June 30^th, 2024.
• A 5-50 min. impact report is due: March 1^st, 2025.
• Project Completion Deadline: March 1^st, 2025.

Eligibility/Requirements:

The Individual Artist Fund:

The Individual Artist Fund is only for artists who are currently residents of Cuyahoga County and who remain so for the duration of the fellowship. Students enrolled in an Undergraduate or Graduate program are not eligible.

• Minimum requirement: Artist must demonstrate a history of engagement with world premiere work—with at least one fully produced world premiere performance and three workshop productions of world premiere performances (or equivalent) on their resume
• Artist application:
  • Artistic Statement
  • Resume/CV
  • Artist Work-Samples: 1-3 videos of fully produced work (at least one video must be from a fully produced world premiere.)
  • Artist Work-Samples: additional photos, recordings, etc.
    • Designers: Please provide 10-20 photos of contrasting work
    • Composers: Please provide 3-5 music samples

The Premiere Fellowship:

The Premiere Fellowship is only for artists who are currently residents of Cuyahoga County and who remain so for the duration of the fellowship. Students enrolled in an Undergraduate or Graduate program are not eligible.

• Minimum requirement: Artist must have created at least one fully produced world premiere performance and three workshop productions of world premiere performances—or equivalent.
• Artist application:
  • Artistic Statement
  • Resume/CV
  • Artist Work-Samples: 1-3 videos of fully produced work (at least one video must be from a fully produced world premiere).
  • Artist Work-Samples: additional photos, recordings, etc.
    • Designers: Please provide 10-20 photos of contrasting work
    • Composers: Please provide 3-5 music samples
  • Project Information application:
    • Project Statement
    • Basic Project Budget

Selection Process

The selection process for The Individual Artist Fund will have two rounds.

1. Basic Application (see below): CPT staff will assess the project/artist readiness. Complete applications that show strong potential for the program will be moved to the second round.
2. A three-person adjudication panel will rate the proposals. All applications in the second round may request feedback from the panelists. The top three applications will be selected for funding.

The selection process for The Premiere Fellowship will have three rounds.

1. Basic Application (see below): CPT staff will assess the project/artist readiness. Complete applications that show strong potential for the program will be moved to the second round.
2. A three-person adjudication panel will rate the proposals. Their top six proposals will move on to Round Three. All applications in the second round may request feedback from the panelists.
3. CPT staff will review the projects for appropriate fit and scale through an interview process with each artist. The top four applications will be selected for funding.

Criteria

We are seeking artists who have a strong record of working on new, original material given their time in the field. CPT will especially focus on fellowship projects that align with the needs of the field for research and development and will select artists and projects that have groundbreaking, ecosystem-changing potential.

Applications will be assessed for:

• Accomplishment: Has the artist demonstrated significant accomplishments in the field?
• Rigor: Does the artist demonstrate a commitment to craft, quality, and/or excellence within the context of their own work?
• Inspiration: Is the work and the approach to artmaking inspiring?
• Innovation: Is the artists’ work truly innovative and/or contributing to projects that are innovative?

Project Proposals will be assessed with the following criteria:

• Innovation: Does the project have significant potential to grow the field through style, theme, approach, or process?
• Fit with the program:
  • Can a workshop production of the work be accomplished within the limitations of funding and staff time resources that are offered to the program?
  • Are the artists’ values aligned to foster positive relationships with artists and with CPT’s team?
  • Is the creation process well thought out and does it align with the artists’ experience—both in the sense of laying the groundwork for the work and in the sense that the work is growing beyond past work?

Interviews will dig deeper into the artistic prowess of applicants and the potential impact of the award for the artist. Portfolios, auditions, video, and scripts are potentially important pieces to this portion of the process. We are looking for both quality and a clear and unique voice of individual artists. We may also explore the artists thoughts on detailed planning of potential projects for the Fellowship.

Grant Period:

• Fellows will have 12 months from the receipt of their grant funds to develop and create their project with the dedicated project fund portion of the grant.

Fund Disbursement:

• Grant funds will be sent directly to applicants awarded funding.
• The full unrestricted amount ($5,000 for the Individual Art Fund and $7,000 for the Premiere Fellow) will be disbursed to grantees no later than June 30^th, 2024.
• Grant recipients will be required to make an appointment with a Cleveland Public Theatre Staff member to complete required payment paperwork.
• Grantees will be required to provide a W-9 for tax purposes.
• All grant funds will be distributed as paper checks or direct deposit.

Eligible/Ineligible Uses of Funds:

The unrestricted funds for the Individual Artist Fund can be used in any way that is supportive of the artist’s work. This includes daily living expenses or use towards an artistic process/project.

The project portion of The Premiere Fellowship ($3,000) must be used for project related expenses.

Work Sample Guidelines:

Your work sample files should be a streamlined, quality display of your artistic work and will be used to evaluate your application.

• Applications should include: 1-3 videos of fully produced work (at least one video must be from a fully produced world premiere.)
• Artist Work-Samples: additional photos, recordings, etc.
  • Designers: Please provide 10-20 photos of contrasting work
  • Composers: Please provide 3-5 music samples

• Allowable file types include:
  • Writing: doc, docx, pdf
  • Images: jpg, jpeg, png
  • Audio: m4a, mp3, wav, wma
  • Video: m4v, mov, mp4, mpg, wmv

Please complete the application and materials submission through the below Google Form.

Questions can be emailed to Artistic and Education Associate, Melissa Crum. Mcrum@cptonline.org

The Individual Artist Fund Application (Via Google Forms)

The Premiere Fellowship Application (Via Google Forms)

Deadline for submissions is Sunday, April 14^th, 2024.