Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning Submission Manager

Meet The Playwright LAB 2026

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MEET THE PLAYWRIGHT (LAB) RFP

Deadline: Monday, July 13, 2026

Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning (JCAL) is pleased to open its application portal for the 6th annual Meet the Playwright (MTP) program, now expanded into an 8-month MTP Lab for professional development and showcasing new, unpublished, unproduced plays by a four-member cohort.

MTP Lab will continue to spotlight early-career theater writers who identify as BIIPOC (Black, Indigenous, Immigrant, People of Color). While MTP prioritizes Queens-based writers identifying as BIIPOC, any NYC-based BIIPOC playwright may apply. Applicants will be selected by a peer jury comprised of playwrights, creative professionals, and cultural leaders representing the diversity of NYC’s theater community.

Led by Program Manager Iyvon E., the MTP Lab is a cohort-based playwright residency that invests in early-career writers through long-arc career and dramaturgical development combined with industry mentorship and access. This takes the form of biweekly convenings (remote, offsite, and at JCAL), professional development workshops, and mentoring processes. Two mentors in particular—a playwright mentor and a producing/directing mentor—drives the playwrights’ growth, amplifying and deepening progress made in regular writing labs through one-on-one support and seminars with guest speakers.

The MTP Lab culminates in a staged reading of a new work by each member of the cohort at JCAL’s 94-seat studio theater that is free and open to the public, followed by a moderated Q&A with the audience and a reception in the playwright’s honor. Each cohort member receives $300 per month, a total of $2,400, for participation in the program. Each playwright may also schedule up to 100 hours of free rehearsal space prior to the staged reading.

Timeline (Important Dates)

LAB MEETINGS (WEDNESDAYS 7:00 pm–9:00 pm)

Participating playwrights are required to attend all the meetings listed below.

October 2026

· October 7, 2026

· October 21, 2026

November 2026

· November 4, 2026

· November 18, 2026

December 2026

· December 2, 2026

· December 16, 2026

January 2027

· January 6, 2027

· January 20, 2027

February 2027

· Feb 10, 2027

· Feb 24, 2027

March 2027

· March 10, 2027

· March 24, 2027

April 2027

· April 7, 2027

· April 21, 2027

May 2027

· May 5, 2027

· May 19, 2027

Public Reading Dates (FRIDAYS 8:00 pm)

· Feb 19, 2027

· March 19, 2027

· April 16, 2027

· May 14, 2027

Eligibility & Criteria

· All applications and materials MUST be submitted via Submittable.com. Applications received by other methods, such as dropping off or handing directly to JCAL personnel, will not be considered.

· Playwrights submit 25 pages of a fully developed play and 10 pages of a new play that they propose to develop through the program. Semi-finalists will be invited to submit the complete manuscript of their fully developed work.

· The proposed play, when completed, typically has a running time of 90 minutes or less.

· Playwrights whose work has had professional productions beyond the Actors’ Equity Showcase Code are not eligible for this program.

· Playwrights must be age 18 or older to participate.

Selection

· Submissions are reviewed and adjudicated by a peer jury of theater professionals.

· The jury will select finalists for interviews with the Project Manager and JCAL leadership.

· Interviews take place virtually during the week of August 9, 2026, and August 16, 2026.

· Four selected playwrights for the MTP LAB will be notified during the week of August 30, 2026.

About JCAL

Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning (JCAL), founded in 1972, is a multidisciplinary arts center based in the diverse community of Southeast Queens. Our mission is devoted to offering quality visual and performing arts and to providing accessible education programs to encourage participation in the arts.

JCAL’s core service area is Southeast Queens. We welcome artists, learners, and audiences to the Jamaica Arts Center and the Jamaica Performing Arts Center, both in downtown Jamaica, and to partner sites, such as the public schools and senior centers in Queens. We also welcome artists, learners, and audiences to partner projects at the Red Wall Art Gallery at Resorts World New York City, Terminal 6 at John F. Kennedy International Airport, and Greater Nexus, operated by Greater Jamaica Development Corporation.

When selecting artists, we give priority to those who live or practice in Southeast Queens, followed by artists from throughout the “world’s borough,” and then from the Greater New York City area and beyond. Our arts and education programs similarly aim to “super-serve” Queens audiences—and to welcome everyone to downtown Jamaica.

JCAL is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 am to 6 pm and is closed on major holidays. For additional information, call JCAL at 718-658-7400 or visit www.JCAL.org.

Contact:

Dsmith@JCAL.org

ARTWorks Fellowship: 2026-2027

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Submit

RFP Opens: Monday, June 1, 2026

RFP Closes: Monday, July 13, 2026

Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning (JCAL) invites New York City-based visual artists to apply for its Artist Fellowship Training Seminar Series (ARTWorks), a six-month Fellowship that focuses on career sustainability and amplifies the work of emerging, underrepresented visual artists. While all New York City-based visual artists may apply, priority will be given to Queens-based BIIPOC artists.

During ARTWorks, six artists will regard their practice as a small business, identify entrepreneurial and professional goals, and generate a long-term plan to accomplish them. In doing so, ARTWorks Fellows receive the practical knowledge to navigate the aesthetic and socioeconomic complexities and substructures of the New York art world. Through fiscal and technical support, Fellows will learn the business of art as they expand their professional network.

Fellows will engage in regular meetings with the rest of the cohort, coordinated by the Program Manager. Fellows will also be required to participate in at least six events in a Seminar Series that will explore topics chosen by the Program Manager in consultation with the Fellows. Seminar speakers may include:

· established and emerging artists from Queens, New York City, and the United States at large,

· curators, conservators, exhibition designers, and researchers,

· MBAs, MFAs, CPAs, managers, and agents,

· gallerists, collectors, academics, and appraisers,

· journalists, editors, and critics,

· observers, supporters, and influencers in NYC’s contemporary visual art scene

Past Seminar topics have included:

· artist copyright & contracts,

· building relationships with collectors,

· establishing one’s artistic legacy,

· working with commercial galleries,

· career insights,

· writing about art,

· grant writing,

· wellness and artmaking,

· using social media and other marketing tools to promote one’s work,

· taxes and accounting for artists,

· art handling basics, and more!

Fellows will also engage periodically with an established career artist, who will serve as Artist Mentor to the group. During the program, the ARTWorks Artist Mentor and Program Manager will both act as contact points and resources. Their roles, in part, are to ensure that the Fellowship serves the needs and meets the interests of each artist. Occasions for peer-to-peer, group, and/or one-on-one guidance and feedback are provided.

Members of the 2026 ARTWorks cohort will have the opportunity to interact with previous ARTWorks Fellows for occasional guidance and support. After their own Fellowship is completed, the 2026 cohort would be welcome to mentor future cohorts as well.

Each Fellow in the ARTWorks program receives $5,000, paid out over the course of the program. Fellows are also eligible for free studio space at JCAL, comprised of about 550 square feet, on an as-available basis. (Applicants should be aware that this studio space will be shared with other JCAL programs.) One 7’ x 4’ studio closet will be allotted to Fellows for storing projects and materials if needed. Working through the Program Manager, Fellows may also take one free class at JCAL on a space-available basis.

At the conclusion of ARTWorks, Fellows participate in a two-month public group exhibition (with catalogue) in JCAL’s Miller and Community galleries.

Program Timeline:

· Applications due midnight Monday, July 13, 2026

· First round selected artists notified via email on Monday, August 3, 2026

· Interviews: August 11 – 14

· Selected Fellows notified: August 21

· Contract and supporting materials due midnight Friday, September 4, 2026

· Announcement of Fellows made public on Friday, September 18, 2026

· ARTWorks 2026 begins Wednesday, October 7, 2026

· ARTWorks 2026 Exhibition Opens Friday, April 9, 2027

· ARTWorks 2026 ends Friday, June 18, 2027

Program Eligibility:

Top priority will be given to Queens-based artists of underrepresented communities. Artists with multidisciplinary practices are welcome to apply, with the understanding that ARTWorks focuses on visual artists who work in traditional forms.

Applicants must also:

· reside in New York City (preferably Queens) or Long Island,

· identify as BIIPOC (Black, Immigrant, Indigenous, People of Color),

· demonstrate clarity of concept in their work and strong evidence of craft,

· possess a deep commitment to social practice in their work,

· not have received major exposure via exhibitions, grants, or other residencies,

· not be enrolled full- or part-time in any college degree or certificate program.

· past ARTWorks Fellows are ineligible.

Selection Criteria:

Artists will be evaluated on the strength of their submission (see Application Requirements). Strong preference will be given to Queens-based artists and to those artists who demonstrate an interest in, and commitment to, those issues relevant to underrepresented communities of Queens and the greater New York City area.

Fellows will be selected by a jury that will evaluate all submissions without obvious identifiers. As a cultural institution, JCAL is committed to serving those of all races, colors, religions, languages, gender identities, sexual orientations, national origins, ages, disabilities, socioeconomic statuses, marital statuses, and all other differences. Demographic information will be collected internally by JCAL to determine program eligibility and for grant reporting purposes only.

Application Requirements

To apply, all of the following must be submitted online to the ARTWorks Submittable Portal.

· Work samples: six images (.jpg, .pdf, .png, .tiff only) OR two videos 3-5 minutes in length (.mp4, .mov, .wmv, Quicktime only). No password-protected files will be reviewed.

· One-page description of work samples, including title, date, dimensions, and medium (for images) or title, date, duration, B&W/color, and silent or sound (for videos).

· One artist statement of no more than 300 words.

· One professional reference of no more than 300 words.

· CV with all relevant contact information.

· One paragraph summarizing your expectations of ARTWorks.

All submitted materials, including work samples, must be original to and the sole property of the applicant, or the application will be disqualified. Applications will not be considered complete and will not be reviewed without all required materials submitted.

Major support for ARTWorks is provided by the Jerome Foundation, with additional support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Mellon Foundation, and the Howard Gilman Foundation. JCAL is especially grateful for support from City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, City Council Member Nantasha Williams, and the Office of the Mayor through the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. JCAL also acknowledges season support for visual arts from Con Edison.

Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning