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Request for Proposals
2014 Alembic Resident Artist Program
Deadline Dec. 15, 2013

Alembic = apparatus used in alchemy or distilling. The word “alembic” is also used metaphorically for anything that refines or transmutes, as if by distillation (as in “the alembic of creative thought”). 

PWNW || LAD is proud to announce that, with the continued support of the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation SEED Grant, we are entering into year two of the Alembic Resident Artist Program.

Alembic Resident Artist Program
Two artists or artist groups working in original and contemporary time-based performance, dance, and/or media arts from the Portland area will receive 100 hours of studio time to be used between Feb-October 2014. 50 of these hours can be weekday evening “prime” time and 50 hours weekday or weekend time. Additional time once the 100 hours is reached, or for more prime evening time during the residency, can be rented at $5-6/hr through December 2014.

The artists will share the results of their studio time with each other, the panel and invited friends at least twice before August 2014. In September 2014 our out of town Visiting Alembic Artist will be in residence and at the end of her residency PWNW will produce an event for the public, in which the 3 artists present work in whatever format fits their desires and needs: fully-mounted work, work in progress, lecture-demo, etc.

For 2014 our Visiting Resident Artists is Blake Beckham, choreographer and artistic director (with ex-Portlander Malina Rodriguez) of The Lucky Penny in Atlanta, Georgia, which we like to think of as a sister organization to PWNW. The Lucky Penny, was like PWNW, the recipient of the inaugural round of SEED Grants from the Rauschenberg Foundation.

Application Process:  Send an email to performanceworksnw@gmail.com with the following attachments.

1. Bio (up to 500 words) Include any website, blog or other links where you virtually reside/create/live

2. Essay: You and your making (up to 800 words)

Possible questions to address: Where are you in your trajectory as a maker? What are your questions, areas of investigation and how might you explore them?  How do you view yourself as an explorer of form, content, genre within a contemporary context? What does it mean to you to be an artist in this time and place? How do you plan to use the time? You can be working on a specific project, investigating a new approach to your practice, developing a class or workshop. Any or all of these or ideas we haven’t thought of are eligible.

3. Work Sample– up to 2 samples of continuous selection from a work (no short clips as in promo reels) of previous or in-progress work, 10-15 minutes total. YouTube or Vimeo links only. No DVDs.

• Year of Premiere  + Year of Performance if different
• Title and URL (Vimeo or YouTube link)
• Credits including your role in the production
• Viewing points – For example: “Please watch minutes 8-15 of this sample
• Length of sample & length of complete piece, if an excerpt. Also where in the piece this was. For example: This excerpt begins 30 minutes into a 55 minute piece.

• The Alembic Artist’s work aligns with PWNW’s mission to advance experimentation in contemporary performance and media arts.
• The Alembic Artist demonstrates a keen investigative spirit and a self-aware intelligent questioning of her or his own process.
• The time spent at PWNW has potential for significant impact on the growth and process of the artists