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New art for New York

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.

The 2023 – 24 Open Call artists. Standing, left to right: Kayla Hamilton, Bryan Fernandez, Christopher Radcliff, Calli Roche, Garrett Zuercher, Armando Guadalupe Cortés, Jake Brush. Seated, left to right: Kyle Dacuyan, Lizania Cruz, Asia Stewart, Luis A. Gutierrez, Minne Atairu, Sandy Williams IV, Jeffrey Meris. Not pictured: Cathy Linh Che, Cain Coleman, Nile Harris, NIC Kay, Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre. Photo: Dana Golan.
A group photo of the 2023 and 2024 Open Call artists. The artists are arranged class photo style in two rows, with one row in the back standing and the other seated in front.
The 2023 – 24 Open Call artists. Standing, left to right: Kayla Hamilton, Bryan Fernandez, Christopher Radcliff, Calli Roche, Garrett Zuercher, Armando Guadalupe Cortés, Jake Brush. Seated, left to right: Kyle Dacuyan, Lizania Cruz, Asia Stewart, Luis A. Gutierrez, Minne Atairu, Sandy Williams IV, Jeffrey Meris. Not pictured: Cathy Linh Che, Cain Coleman, Nile Harris, NIC Kay, Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre. Photo: Dana Golan.

2023 – 24 Artists

Open Call Merch

Show your support for new art for New York with a limited edition, adjustable Open Call cap.
A model wears an Open Call baseball cap. The cap is a light blue, like a periwinkle denim. Across the front of the cap is embroidered in white letters: New art for New York. Behind the model are rows of books softly out of focus and facing outward along a wooden wall.

About the selection process

A group of 67 interdisciplinary reviewers and panelists—from the visual arts and music to theater, dance, and performance—came together to review proposals in March and June 2022.

Artists (By Year Selected)

2022 (presenting in 2023 and 2024)
Minne Atairu
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
In The Works
Meet past artists
In The Works
Learn more about past commissions

over 3 years ago

Being Seen: An Interview with Leslie Cuyjet
I became aware of Leslie Cuyjet well before we actually met, and possibly before I even first saw her dance. As Black dancers within New York City’s mostly white experimental dance scene over the last decade or so, “which so often found her cast as a black dot on a white stage” (as reads the description of Leslie’s new choreographic work Blur), we’ve both experienced discomfort and attenuated feelings within the unspoken racial dynamics of casting and creative processes. When those “black dots”—on stage, and across studios and theater lobbies—are few and far between, it’s easy to spot each other in advance.

over 3 years ago

Between Artists: Emilie Gossiaux and DonChristian Jones
The world’s monuments often tower over us, imposing a sense of hierarchy that values their impact or ideology over the interpersonal scale of our lives. Artists Emilie Gossiaux and DonChristian Jones—who are preparing new artworks in sculpture and music performance, respectively, for OPEN CALL, and met online to talk about their progress in late March—imagine a different expression of monumentality rooted in the intimate relationships that they’ve grown from in their lives.

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

The Sponsor of Open Call is
Support for Open Call is generously provided by

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.

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