Media Artist + Activist Residency

Haga clic aquí para obtener más información sobre nuestros programas en español.

Overview

The Media Artist + Activist Residency (MAR) provides grants of $25,000 to women, trans*, and gender nonconforming media artists working in close collaboration with social justice/cultural organizations to document, reframe, and/or amplify the issues and campaigns addressed by the organization.

The residency aims to reveal and extend the ways that artists and artistic processes can work within cultural and social justice organizations to achieve social change. Media artists and organizations apply collaboratively with proposals for a project that embeds the artist in the work of the organization for one year. Five residencies will be awarded, with each residency providing a $15,000 grant to the artist, and a $10,000 grant to the organization. Read more about the 2021, 2022, or 2023 residents here.

Leeway understands Media Arts as an expansive category including but not limited to:

film and video (narrative, documentary, experimental)
audio
podcast
installation/projection
animation
interactive design
digital art
games/gaming
web-based content
multimedia/multidisciplinary work
…and more

Please note: This is not simply a production grant for the artist’s work. This is collaborative residency where media artists and social justice organizations work together to shift power and create change!

For more information, eligibility, and how to apply, read the MAR guidelines here or below.

*Leeway is a trans-affirming organization committed to gender self-determination, and we use the term “trans” in its most inclusive sense, as an umbrella term encompassing transsexual, transgender, genderqueer, Two-Spirit people, and anyone whose gender identity or gender expression is nonconforming and/or different from their gender assigned at birth.

Important Information

THE MEDIA ARTIST + ACTIVIST RESIDENCY APPLICATION IS A COLLABORATIVE APPLICATION.

Media artists and collaborating organizations will apply collaboratively for one central project; however, each party will need to fill out respective sections of this application.

Artists will complete the Media Artist + Activist Residency Application
Organizations will complete the Collaborating Organization Form

Both respective sections need to be submitted by the deadline: Monday, June 24, 2024 by 11:59PM.

Eligibility for Artists

You are eligible to apply if you:

Are a media artist
Live in Bucks, Camden, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, or Philadelphia County
Are at least 18 years old
Identify as a woman, trans*, and/or gender nonconforming person
Are working collaboratively with a social justice/cultural organization (and are not on the staff or board of that organization)

If you are a media artist who works with another media artist or as part of a media-based collective and want to apply together, we encourage you to do so. We understand that most projects are done in collaboration with others, so you are only required to submit a co-applicant form if you are playing the same roles as artistic directors or partners for the project. Applicants may only apply once per cycle, whether submitting as part of a collective or as an individual.

Eligibility for Organizations

You are eligible to apply if your organization is:

A social justice/cultural organization** with a 501(c)3 status and/or fiscal sponsorship
Located in Bucks, Camden, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, or Philadelphia County
Working with an operating budget less than $1.5M
Collaborating with a media artist (who is not on the staff or board of your organization)

** a cultural organization must have a social-justice intention as part of its mission and work with communities that are often ignored, silenced, and/or marginalized because of who they are (for example - people of color; immigrants; queer people; trans* and/or gender nonconforming folks; poor and working-class people; people with disabilities; etc.)

Information and Application Support Sessions

Information Sessions provide an overview of the grant and offer guidance, from Leeway staff and past grant recipients, on how applicants might best prepare their applications.

Wednesday, May 29: 5:30-6:30pm, Online with Gabrielle Patterson (MAR ‘23)
Wednesday, June 5: 5:30-6:30pm, In-person @ PhillyCAM with Danya Abdelhameid + Chris Rogers of Friends of Tanner House (MAR ‘23)
Thursday, June 13: 12pm-1pm, Instagram Live with Anula Shetty + Cesali Morales of Norris Square Neighborhood Project (MAR ‘22)

Applicant Support Sessions provide a space for applicants to get 1-on-1 support and direct feedback on their ideas and applications from Leeway staff.

Tuesday, June 11: 10am-3pm, Online appointments
Friday, June 14: 10am-3pm, In-person @ Asian Arts Initiative
Traducción al español en el sitio
Thursday, June 20: 2pm-7pm, Online appointments

For more information or to RSVP for any of the above sessions, visit: leewayfoundation.eventbrite.com or call 215.545.4078.