Colourful illustration with dancing characters

Illustration by Ashwin Chacko

Weft Studio: Applications Now Open

18 June 2021

“Is there a story you really want to tell that only you can? That only you have the right to? Do you wish you saw more people like you on stage, on screen, in print, in galleries, talking about the things you really want to talk about? Do you want to be paid to spend time on art experiments and ideas that you don’t yet have an audience for? Then we want to hear from you.”
Dylan Coburn Gray, Weft Studio Facilitator

Weft Studio is an initiative for Black artists and artists of colour who want to make their own work on their own terms. We are opening applications for a studio group of 14 artists to participate in a developmental workshop period, led by facilitator Dylan Coburn Gray, with interventions from international mentors. This workshop period will take place from July – December 2021. The Weft Studio participants will be early career artists, who want to create bold, dynamic, cross-disciplinary performances and connect with an engaged network of peers. Sound like you? Keep reading!

Weft Studio is open to artists of all performance disciplines. Artists of all experience levels are welcome, too, provided the Weft Studio represents a new opportunity for them. Participants will have the chance to present to each other on past work and work-in-progress in group sessions, as a way of both expanding their stock of techniques/working methods and deepening their sense of their own practice. This collaborative development, along with group discussion of a syllabus of formally and thematically daring works, as well as ongoing individual correspondence/feedback from Dylan, will equip participants to develop ideas for new performance projects in a spirit of inquiry and exchange.

Dylan Coburn Gray is the Facilitator of Weft Studio. He’s a writer, theatre maker and spoken word artist. His Verity Bargate award-winning play Citysong was co-produced by the Abbey Theatre, Soho Theatre and Galway International Arts Festival. Dylan has lead large-scale devising processes for new work at DYT and Youth Theatre Ireland. Dylan is currently under commission by Fishamble and the National Theatre, London for their NT Connections scheme and is a founding member of the dynamic young theatre company MALAPROP.

This work is part of Weft, Dublin Fringe Festival’s new project focusing on talent development and network building for emerging and early career Black artists and artists of colour in Ireland. If you have any questions or want to have an informal conversation about whether this opportunity might be the right fit for you, email us on to set up a chat with Dylan.

What you can expect from being part of the Weft Studio:

  • A fee of €3900 for 23 Studio sessions and 7 additional contact days for masterclasses, group commitments etc.
  • An engaged group of peer artists for discussion, feedback, and collaborative experimentation.
  • Masterclasses and discussion sessions with exciting international mentors who will be selected to support the strengths and interests of Studio participants.
  • Discussion of a syllabus of formally and thematically daring works of art, not all by racialised artists but all engaged with - and critical of - the racism underpinning canon and 'craft'.  
  • Ongoing correspondence with and support from facilitator Dylan Coburn Gray across the Studio timeline, July – December 2021.
  • A selection of tickets to Irish and international performances.
  • Trips to see a selection of performances (remotely or live, to be decided in line with current governmental guidelines regarding COVID-19).
  • The opportunity to work on a collaborative project with your fellow Studio members to create an artistic record of your Studio time.
  • Participation in a thorough documentation of the project, including video footage and social media output.
  • Dates and scheduling to be decided in collaboration with Dylan and the Project Coordinator to best suit participants.

Who Should Apply?

  • New and early career makers who are interested in learning about the process of creating work for live performance.
  • People with the ambition of creating live performance in the near future – we encourage applications from all performance disciplines.
  • People who have a story they’ve been waiting to tell or an artform they’re excited to explore.
  • Active participants, who are open to creative conversations and collaborative practise.
  • Artists with availability from July to December 2021 to attend twenty-three sessions with Studio Facilitator Dylan Coburn Gray, alongside other masterclasses and events.
  • We’re looking for people with creative vision and ambition. You might not consider yourself an ‘artist’ yet.
  • This is an initiative for Black artists and artists of colour who are Irish or living in Ireland.
  • You must be over 18 years of age and have legal status to work in the Republic of Ireland.

If you have any questions or would like to have an informal conversation about this opportunity, please contact us on weft@fringefest.com.

PRE-APPLICATION INFORMATION SESSION 
Dublin Fringe Festival and Dylan Coburn Gray will host a pre-application session on 28 May. This will take place via Zoom. If you are interested in attending, please get in touch by email.

MAKING AN APPLICATION 
1
Read the above guidance carefully.
2. Complete the expression of interest form here OR send a video submission via Dropbox to weft@fringefest.com. Video submissions should be no more than 5 mins long and must speak to each of the questions in the online form.

*This deadline has been extended* The new deadline for applications is 10am GMT on Monday, 28 June

Notes:

  1. This work will be undertaken with rigorous adherence to government guidelines for the ongoing management of the COVID-19 pandemic, individual requirements will be taken into account.
  2. Work will begin remotely this summer. Possible in-person workshops or events in future will take place in Dublin.

Weft is proudly funded by the Arts Council/ An Chomhairle Ealaíon through the Open Call initiative for 2021.