Upcoming
Applications for the fourth edition of Open Call closed earlier this year. For program updates, join our mailing list.
To learn more about the 2023 – 24 Open Call artists, as well as the artists in previous editions, explore the rest of this page.
About Open Call
Launched as part of The Shed’s inaugural-year program, Open Call is a large-scale commissioning program for early-career, NYC-based artists. For its third edition, 18 proposals out of more than 1,200 total submissions by artists and collectives were chosen by interdisciplinary leaders and professionals in their fields, including other artists and members of The Shed’s staff, to present work in an exhibition in fall 2023 and a performance series in summer 2024. Selected artists received a commissioning fee of up to $15,000 depending on the scope of their projects, robust production support, and resources to further nurture their practices and expand their audiences.
The artists who presented in 2023 and 2024 create work in disciplines from drag performance and sculpture to filmmaking and poetry, each proposing care- and community-based responses to the urgent issues of our time. On view November 4, 2023, to January 21, 2024, an exhibition presented 10 artworks by artists who bring personal stories intersecting with global history to the Level 2 Gallery. Artists presented in the exhibition included Minne Atairu, Jake Brush, Cathy Linh Che & Christopher Radcliff, Armando Guadalupe Cortés, Lizania Cruz, Bryan Fernandez, Luis A. Gutierrez, Jeffrey Meris, Calli Roche, and Sandy Williams IV. In summer 2024, in The Shed’s Griffin Theater, the remaining eight commissions featured immersive, multidisciplinary performances. Artists presenting performances included Cain Coleman, Kyle Dacuyan, Kayla Hamilton, Nile Harris, NIC Kay, Asia Stewart, Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre, and Garrett Zuercher.
Admission is free to all Open Call events.
2023 – 24 Artists
Open Call Merch
About the selection process
Artists (By Year Selected)
Jake Brush
Cathy Linh Che & Christopher Radcliff
Cain Coleman
Armando Guadalupe Cortés
Lizania Cruz
Kyle Dacuyan
Bryan Fernandez
Luis A. Gutierrez
Kayla Hamilton
Nile Harris
NIC Kay
Jeffrey Meris
Calli Roche
Asia Stewart
Sandy Williams IV
Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre
Garrett Zuercher
AnAkA
Merche Blasco
Leslie Cuyjet
Ayanna Dozier
JJJJJerome Ellis
Caroline Garcia
Emilie Gossiaux
Nazareth Hassan
Justin Hicks
Ana María Agüero Jahannes
Esteban Jefferson
DonChristian Jones
Ladi’Sasha Jones
Niall Jones
Benjamin Akio Kimitch
Eleanor Kipping
Le’Andra LeSeur
Yo-Yo Lin
Simon Liu
z tye
Tajh Rust
Pauline Shaw
Kenneth Tam
Cindy Tran
Emily Waters
Anne Wu
Justin Allen
Haley Elizabeth Anderson
Troy Anthony [presenting in summer 2022]
Caitlin Blanchfield and Farzin Lofti-Jam
Kim Brandt
Maia Chao
Onyedika Chuke
Gabriela María Corretjer-Contreras
nicHi douglas
Micaela Durand and Daniel Chew
The Extrapolation Factory
Avram Finkelstein
Fana Fraser
Moko Fukuyama
Ebony Noelle Golden
Yulan Grant
Vicente Hansen Atria and Mat Muntz
Hugh Hayden
Madeline Hollander
Maryam Hoseini and Phoebe Derlee
The Illustrious Blacks
It’s Showtime NYC!
Ayesha Jordan [presented as part of Up Close]
Tahir Carl Karmali
Richard Kennedy
Kinetic Light [presenting in 2022]
Sam Lavigne
Maya Lee-Parritz
Prince Harvey
Kyle Marshall [presenting in summer 2021]
Asif Mian
Troy Michie
MIPSTERZ
Tyler Mitchell
Rachika Nayar [presenting in summer 2021]
Kelsey Pyro
daaPo reo
Ricky (YATTA)
Saint Abdullah [gallery / performance]
Farideh Sakhaeifar
Salsa Masala
Richard Sears, Clara Cullen, Ethan Braun, and Yael Ginosar
Harold ‘Fyütch’ Simmons
Analisa Teachworth
Christopher Udemezue (Neon Christina)
Mariana Valencia [presented as part of Up Close]
WangShui
Julia Weist
Kiyan Williams
Nia O. Witherspoon [presenting in summer 2021]
Thanushka Yakupitiyage
Program Credits
The third edition of Open Call is organized by Tamara McCaw, Senior Advisor; Darren Biggart, Director of Civic Programs; Dejá Belardo, Assistant Curator, Visual Arts and Civic Programs; and Daisy Peele, Associate Producer.
The program was conceived by The Shed’s Artistic Director Alex Poots; Tamara McCaw, Senior Advisor; Emma Enderby, former Chief Curator; and Senior Program Advisor Hans Ulrich Obrist.
Special thanks to former program team colleagues who facilitated the third edition’s call for proposals and selection process: Solana Chehtman, Sarah Khalid Dhobhany, Alessandra Gómez, and Andria Hickey.
Thank you to our partners
Additional support for Open Call is provided by The Wescustogo Foundation and Jody and John Arnhold | Arnhold Foundation.
The creation of new work at The Shed is generously supported by the Lizzie and Jonathan Tisch Commissioning Fund and the Shed Commissioners. Major support for live productions at The Shed is provided by the Charina Endowment Fund, with additional support from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
The Shed is connected by