Deep Space Residency Application

DEEP SPACE is a performance residency program for artists and ensembles who are making daring work along the fringes of the mainstream. NACL supports new works at various stages of development that can benefit from extended time at our residency center.

THE DEADLINE FOR CONSIDERATION FOR 2026 RESIDENCIES HAS PASSED.

We accept applications on a rolling basis throughout the year.
The deadline for 2027 residencies is January 31st, 2026.

RESIDENCY DETAILS

Residencies are typically one week long and include:

Lodging & Meals

Our artist residence is a historic Catskills boarding house with 10 bedrooms that can accommodate up to 15 artists/project collaborators. Bathrooms are shared, with one on each floor. There is a Common Room, a wrap-around Sitting Porch, and an eat-in Kitchen where meals are prepared by our residency chef using fresh produce from a local organic farm.

Work Space & Technical Support

The performance workspace is a century-old gothic revival church with vaulted ceiling, modestly-equipped tech choir loft, and 17.5'-high lighting grid. We offer up to 10 hours of basic technical assistance. Please note that “basic assistance” means projects at more advanced stages may require bringing technicians and designers, as required by the work. As part of the tech assistance time, we provide a technician to run cues for the residency presentation.

Public Presentation

Residencies culminate in a public sharing with a small audience. This presentation functions as an important part of our organization’s connection to our local community and offers residency artists a chance to engage with an intimate group of people primed for new work and unafraid to make creative leaps. This presentation takes place regardless of the stage of development and can be in the form of a completed performance or preview, a work-in-progress, staged reading, demonstration/discussion, or whatever best serves the artistic process. Audience feedback can be formal or casual (or refrained from, if so desired — though most report valuable insights from the exchange) and there’s generally soup served to share post-presentation.

Documentation

Part of our work as a Cultural Laboratory is keeping a record of what transpires here, who is making performance work and why, and what that work looks and sounds like. As such, we document all presentations for our video archive. Prior to departure we also document a conversation about creative philosophy and performance practice between the residency lead artist(s) and NACL staff, typically led by Artistic Director Brad Krumholz. All recorded video is made available to the artist(s) and also becomes part of the NACL Performance Archive. Some material from the archive may be chosen for inclusion in posts on our online member journal The Periodic Table. No recorded work is released or shown publicly without artist approval.

Subsidies

All residencies are subsidized at some level via fundraising by NACL. This situation can fluctuate from year to year based on available funding from public and private sources. Upon acceptance as a Deep Space Artist the applicant will review the financial forecast with NACL staff, and may be asked to help raise funds to support a portion of their residency costs. Currently, at minimum, all artists/companies are responsible for arranging and funding their own transportation to/from NACL and for covering a portion of food costs at $12/person/day. This being our reality, we are striving toward a future in which all residencies can be fully subsidized.

NOTE TO APPLICANTS

DEEP SPACE is a performance residency program for artists and companies that are experimenting and making new works along the fringes of the mainstream. We believe performance that pushes the envelope in form and content requires time and space beyond what is customarily allotted. DEEP SPACE is designed to allow artists to dig deeply into the processes of creation and production, with space for exploration and time for discovery.

NACL prioritizes projects that stand to gain the most from these resources of space and time that the NACL residency center uniquely provides. One aspect that differentiates DEEP SPACE from many other residency programs is our ability to accommodate groups and not just individuals. Time spent living and sharing meals together in the NACL artist residence allows for a special ensemble experience which profoundly affects the work produced next door in the theatre, an expansive space that lends itself to experiments in movement and sound.

So, we are inclined toward supporting work that can really grow in and fully utilize our space. We are also predisposed toward groups, whether one-project collaborators or permanent ensembles — which is not to say we discourage individual writer/performers from applying. We have hosted plenty of individuals whose work has leapt from floor to ceiling, and even out the doors. What we are saying is, take all this in and take a moment, before you apply, to make sure this is the place your work will need to really lift off.

IF YOU OR YOUR COMPANY WOULD LIKE TO BE CONSIDERED FOR A FUTURE RESIDENCY, PLEASE COMPLETE THE FORM BELOW.