Production Residencies

In 2010 the LAB received funding from the Independence Foundation to deepen programmatic support by offering production residencies to selected artists who are attempting to move their work from the studio toward a full-scale production.

In the trajectory of an artist’s project, there are resources available for presentation and production costs, but support for the creative process and the incubation of work is vastly under-resourced. In order to more fully invest in and support artists, the LAB also offers support and resources for Production Residencies, the intermediary stage of creative development in which new work is formally produced in front of audiences, with lights, sound, video/projection and other critical technical elements.

The Live Arts Festival and Philly Fringe is dedicated to commissioning, developing, and presenting the best in contemporary performance work created locally, nationally and internationally. Without comprehensive investment in all phases of the artistic process combined with affordable or free access to rehearsal and studio space, Philadelphia artists will be under-resourced in our community and under-represented in the field of contemporary performing arts at large. Production Residencies serve artists by supporting the next phase of development. The LAB facilitates two formal production runs per year of new work by LAB Fellows in front of audiences.

Geoff Sobelle and Thaddeus Phillips, two 2010 Fellows, will return for a minimum of six weeks to complete their works for the 2011 Philadelphia Live Arts Festival. Live Arts feels a commitment to assisting these artists in further developing the work that they began as LAB Fellows in 2010. Further, their presence in the LAB also benefits the new Fellows in that they have already engaged in the process of intense research and development of their work. Their time in the theater space will include full access to lights, sound, projection equipment and staff to assist in the latter stages of the creative process. It is our hope that by providing this support we can elevate the quality of presentations by our valued local artists. Each production residency artist receives a stipend of $6,000.

Sprung from this new Production Residency Program is a LAB Test series that features selected showings, (unique on each date) for the public, followed by a moderated discussion where audiences provide critical feedback that aids the artists in completing their work.

CLICK HERE for details on the 2011 LAB Test series.

Production Residencies are by invitation only.