Artistic Residency Programs
WADE's Artistic Residency Programs support artists developing bold, socially engaged work through a combination of mentorship, dedicated space, material resources, and research-driven creative exploration. Each program is rooted in WADE's broader mission to amplify historically underrepresented voices and catalyze systemic change through the arts.
The residencies address specific gaps identified through direct listening and community engagement — providing artists with the rehearsal space, production opportunities, logistical support, and financial resources they need to create meaningful work without compromise. Programs are designed to be equity-centered environments where artists can explore themes of identity, power, and social transformation, free from the constraints that have historically limited their expression.
Our Residency Programs:
Pride Residency, Performance and Community Engagement Program
Visit our Pride Residency Archives:
2025
2024
2023
Created by WADE after a series of listening sessions with the LGBTQA+ artistic community, the project responds to the need for underrepresented and historically marginalized artists for free rehearsal space, professional production opportunities to create work plus logistics and financial support to interact and impact the communities that are important to them. The Pride Residency, Performance and Community Engagement is divided into Spring and Fall Session.
The Spring Session revolves around the creative process. Up to four emerging LGBTQ2+ choreographers are awarded up to fifty hours of rehearsal space to create a new work or fine-tune an existing one that amplifies their voices and experiences. The rehearsal process runs from January to June for a total of twenty weeks and culminates with a performance, free to the audience in the Jack Crystal Theater in June. A moderated conversation with the artists and informal mingling session will follow the performance. The choreographers receive mentoring feedback from WADE collaborators, professional photographs and videos for their portfolio and a small stipend.
The Fall Session is dedicated to help the artists create and execute a one-of-a-kind community based event for their chosen organizations. These events can range from movement classes, to lecture demonstrations, to informal performances, Q&As, to a combination of different practices. The choreographers will receive four two-hour virtual training sessions to create a clear curriculum with specific learning objectives plus two in-person “vision sessions” in which the plans of each community based event are presented and finalized.
Full ON Subject Residency
Visit our Full ON Subject Residency Archives:
2025
The Full ON Subject Residency is WADE’s inaugural multidisciplinary residency program that supports New York City-based, women-identifying and nonbinary choreographers in developing original dance works centered on feminist narratives, free from the constraints of the patriarchal male gaze. Rooted in WADE’s mission to amplify historically underrepresented voices and create systemic change through the arts, the residency offers choreographers a rare opportunity to explore themes of identity, power, and social transformation within a supportive, equity-centered environment.
This multi-year initiative provides artists with financial support, rehearsal space, curatorial mentorship, and production resources. The program challenges participants to examine how empowering women and nonbinary individuals can open new pathways to addressing deeply rooted systemic issues such as domestic violence, generational poverty, and social injustice.
Full ON Subject functions as both a platform for bold artistic experimentation and a catalyst for dialogue around social justice. It exemplifies WADE’s core belief that feminist leadership in the arts is essential to imagining and building a more just world. Through movement, storytelling, and intentional community engagement, the residency supports the development of work that is not only artistically impactful but deeply connected to collective healing and action.