The DEADLINE TO APPLY has passed
​check back spring 2023

ABOUT

There is NO application fee for this opportunity.

Goals
  • To foster community and collaboration with and among diverse creatives.
  • To provide a platform for creatives to share their artistic practice.
  • To strengthen, expand, and challenge COOS in a collaborative, creative environment.
  • To increase and diversify COOS’s culturally enriching projects to the general public and social media/online communities.

Responsibilities
  • Develop a work or works in conjunction with our 2022-2023 season, based on the season’s needs, and in collaboration with COOS’s Artistic and Associate Artistic Directors. 
  • Be part of the curation process of one or more projects during the 2022-2023 season, and, if applicable, provide curatorial input into the 2022-2023 season. 
  • Write three BIBA Blog entries related to the COOS mission.
  • Participate in an interview with COOS Associate Artistic Director for a feature on the BIBA Blog, to be disseminated through various social media platforms.

Compensation
  • Honorarium of $1,000.
  • Negotiated artist fee and project support per project completed in conjunction with COOS’s 2022-2023 season.
  • Title of Creative-in-Residence in COOS publicity material for the 2022-2023 season.
  • Realization and support of your creative work during the 2022-2023 season.
  • Publicity through COOS BIBA Blog and social media channels.
  • Writing opportunities through COOS.
  • Professional documentation of created work.​
​

WHO CAN APPLY

Eligibility
  • Castle of our Skins seeks one Creative-in-Residence* whose work and experience reflect our mission.
  • International Emerging and Established Creatives* who will be between the ages of 20 and 40 by Monday, July 1, 2022.
  • Creatives of all genders, ethnicities, national origins, sexual orientations/identities, religions/beliefs, education and physical abilities are encouraged to apply. Applicants who identify as Black or belonging to the African diaspora are strongly encouraged to apply.
  • Applicants who reside in the Greater Boston area are strongly encouraged to apply.

*NOTE: For this application “Creatives” are defined as artists of all practices, including but not limited to: composers/sound artists, musicians, video/film artists, dancers/choreographers, performance artists, visual artists, writers, spoken word, interdisciplinary artists, etc... 

*NOTE: Those currently serving on the Castle of our Skins Board of Directors, Board of Advisors, and in administrative positions cannot apply.
​

SELECTION CRITERIA & PROCESS

One Creative will be selected based on the following criteria:
  • Strength of the vision of the Creative’s practice.
  • Collaborative potential.

The review process/Creative-in-Residence timeline is as follows:
  • Panel review of applicants between May 21, 2022 and June 4, 2022. 
  • Brief interviews conducted of short-listed Creatives, starting June 14, 2022.
  • Creative-in-Residence announced June 19, 2022.
  • Creative-in-Residence to begin July 1, 2022 and remain through June 30, 2023.

All applicants will be reviewed by a panel of local, national, and international Creatives of various disciplines, identities, and practices. 
​

HOW TO APPLY

Application Materials
  • An artist statement describing your practice, professional experiences, as well as your motivation to apply to this Creative-in-Residence position. Limit of two pages. 
  • Five to ten work samples as PDF’s, JPEGS, MP3 or MP4. If submitting audio/video, please limit your submission to 15 minutes by providing cues/excerpts. Web links to work samples and press releases are allowed. Where applicable, work samples that capture a broader aspect of your practice are encouraged (ie. interacting with community, engaging in collaboration, etc… ). MIDI renderings will not be accepted for composers/sound artists.
  • Work sample descriptions: please briefly describe (date, venue, context, relevance to this call, etc) each work sample. Please limit your reply to 100 words per work sample.
  • A Resume/Curriculum Vitae including contact information.

shirley graham
​du bois

Shirley Graham Du Bois, this program’s namesake, was an author, playwright, activist, and composer whose international career led her to study at Oberlin College and the Sorbonne in Paris, work for Chicago’s Federal Theater Project, and later settle in Ghana and Cairo after gaining Tanzanian citizenship. She passed away in 1977 in Beijing at the age of 80, leaving behind a rich oeuvre of plays, biographies for all ages, novels, and musical compositions – a true interdisciplinary creative. ​

Sponsors

The Shirley Graham Du Bois Creative-in-Residence Program is sponsored by: Arlene and Larry Dunn.
​
“We are supporting this program because it expands the necessary and important work Castle of our Skins is doing to celebrate and instigate Black artistry, and Shirley Graham Du Bois epitomizes the breadth of Black artistry and its impact on the world.”  

​-Arlene Dunn

contact

Any further questions?

​Please e-mail us at:
​
info@CastleSkins.org​
Please send a link to an online folder (Google Drive, Dropbox, WeTransfer, etc) containing the above application materials to: info [at] castleskins.org, with the subject line: COOS Creative-in-Residence. If e-mailing is not an option, please send documents to:

Castle of our Skins, Inc.
20 Old Colony Ave. 2nd Floor
Boston, MA 02127

NOTE: ALL submissions must be RECEIVED BY (NOT postmarked by)
​11:59PM, May 20, 2022.

2022-2023 Shirley graham du bois
​creative in residence
​

Review panelists included

Ashleigh Gordon
Violist, AD/ED Castle of our Skins
Anthony R. Green
Assoc. AD, Composer in Residence
Marlanda Dekine
Poet

Click on the names above and image to the left to learn
​more ​about Angel and our review panelists.
​


​2021-2022 Shirley graham du bois
​creative in residence
​

Review panelists included

Victoria Awkward
VLA Dance, Director
Dr. Tara Betts
Author, educator, editor, founder of Whirlwind Learning Center
L'Merchie Frazier
Artist, Activist, Executive Director of Spoke Gallery
Brittany J. Green
Composer
Shaw Pong Liu
Violinist and composer
Tanyaradzwa Tawengwa Nzou Mambano
Zimbabwean Composer, Scholar, Singer, Healer

Click on the names above and image to the left to learn
​more ​about Marlanda and our review panelists.
​


​2020-2021 Shirley graham du bois
​creative in residence
​

Review panelists included

​Elizabeth A. Baker
​New Renaissance Artist
Renee Baker
​Composer, conductor, violist
Daniel Callahan
​Transmedia artist, designer, filmmaker
Gabriela Díaz
Violinist
Jonathan Bailey Holland
Composer
Seth Parker Woods
Cellist

Click on the names above and image to the left to learn more ​​about Tanyaradzwa and our review panelists.
​ .

Press

August 2020     |     The Boston Globe     |     ​Meet the Inaugural Creative-in-Residence for Boston's Castle of our Skins
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
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