Creative Capital’s Taller profesional para artistas (Taller) is a free four-month career development program for Spanish-speaking Latinx artists in New York City. The program introduces artists of all disciplines to planning, financial, fundraising, and promotion skills and tools, building the capacity of each artist to reach their creative goals, strengthen their communities, and develop thriving careers. It will also address the challenges faced by Latinx artists working in multiple cultural and linguistic contexts in New York City, while fostering a supportive peer community of artists advocating for themselves and each other.
Taller profesional para artistas
The program is co-hosted by El Puente de Williamsburg and the Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics, and workshops will take place at these sites and at the Creative Capital office in Lower Manhattan. This program is offered free to accepted artists thanks to support from The New York Community Trust.
Applications for the current Taller session is closed. Please check back for the next application cycle.
What will the program cover?
Participating artists will learn:
- How to use planning and goal-setting in your life and career
- Strategies for balancing time and money
- How to create and use a business plan
- Verbal communications for a variety of situations, including negotiations and “elevator pitches”
- Strategies for fundraising and generating revenue, including how to partner with venues, donors, and funders
- How to determine and communicate the real cost of your work for budgets and grant proposals
- How to identify and reach new audiences through targeted marketing and networking
- Opportunities and tips for navigating international markets and international collaborations
- Tools for addressing the challenges of working across multiple cultural contexts
- Strategies for self-advocacy and self-care
What is the program schedule?
We are accepting applications through July 31 for two concurrent Taller classes beginning this October. One class will take place at El Puente in Williamsburg mostly on Saturdays and the other at Hemispheric Institute in the East Village on Thursdays. Full schedule details are listed below. Each program will feature the same content and facilitators, and artists can choose which location and schedule is best for them.
In partnership with El Puente in Williamsburg:
- Saturday, October 5, 2019 1:00-4:30pm at El Puente Workshop #1
- Saturday, October 26, 2019 1:00-4:30pm at El Puente Workshop #2
- Saturday, December 7, 2019 1:00-4:30pm at El Puente Workshop #3
- Thursday, January 23, 2020 5:30pm-9:00pm at Creative Capital (Lower Manhattan) Workshop #4
- Individual and small group work 30 minutes per week for the duration of the program
- One or two individual consultation sessions with workshop facilitators
In partnership with Hemispheric Institute (Hemi) in the East Village:
- Thursday, October 3, 2019 5:30pm-9pm at Hemi Workshop #1
- Thursday, November 7, 2019 5:30pm-9pm at Hemi Workshop #2
- Thursday, December 5, 2019 5:30pm-9pm at Hemi Workshop #3
- Thursday, January 16, 2020 5:30pm-9pm at Creative Capital (Lower Manhattan) Workshop #4
- Individual and small group work 30 minutes per week for the duration of the program
In addition, participants will be invited to a final convening to take place in 2020, date to be determined.
All workshops are provided free of charge to accepted artists. Dinner will be provided at each workshop.
Who is eligible?
This program is open to Spanish-speaking Latinx artists living in the New York City area. Artists of all disciplines including but not limited to performing arts, visual arts, film, literary arts, media, design, social practice, and technology are encouraged to apply.
Applicants should:
- Have a demonstrated history of devoting themselves to meaningful, focused artistic activity outside of a degree-granting program (minimum of 3 years)
- Create original works of art (not solely perform other’s works, although this may be part of one’s practice)
- Demonstrate a readiness and eagerness to actively participate in the program by engaging with fellow artists and facilitators in a meaningful way
- Be proficient in Spanish, the working language of the program
- Be at least 18 years or older by October 2019
- Live in the greater New York City/tri-state area. Priority will be given to Brooklyn- and Queens-based artists for the El Puente program and Manhattan- and Staten Island-based artists for the Hemi program
- Commit to participating in all of the program components listed above, including four in-person workshops
Artists who will be enrolled in BFA or MFA programs in 2019-20 are not eligible.
Who will be selected?
Up to 50 artists—two classes of 25 each—will be chosen based on the quality of their work, a demonstrated readiness to enter a new phase of growth in their artistic careers, and their eagerness to contribute to the workshop group. We are committed to diversity in all of its forms including but not limited to ability, age, education, ethnicity, gender, geography, race, religion, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and experiences.
Selections will be made via panel in September and notifications of acceptance will be sent in mid- September.
Workshop leaders
Ela Troyano
Taller was conceived and is led by Creative Capital Awardee Ela Troyano. Troyano is an interdisciplinary artist born in Cuba and based in New York City. Throughout her 35-year career, her films and performances have straddled the worlds of documentary and fiction, installation and live action. Troyano has coached artists since 2001 and has led workshops since 2003, and was instrumental in creating artist point-of-view content for Creative Capital’s Strategic Planning curriculum. She also developed Taller and has presented each workshop since 2010.
Carmelita Tropicana
Carmelita Tropicana is a Cuban American playwright and performance artist. Tropicana has written solos (Milk of Amnesia), plays (Chicas 2000) and performances (Performance Art Manifesto.) She has received fellowships and awards including: the Guggenheim Fellowship, fellowships from New York Foundation for the Arts for playwriting and performance art, an Obie award, Anonymous Was A Woman and Creative Capital awards for a collaboration with playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins.