National Center For Choreography - Akron Announces Third Artist Cohort Of Creative Administration Research Program

The National Center for Choreography - Akron (NCCAkron) announces the third cohort of the Creative Administration Research (CAR) program. This fall, five additional artists will be onboarded into the program: Dominic Moore-Dunson (Akron, OH), Iquail Shaheed (Philadelphia, PA), jumatatu m. poe (Philadelphia, PA), Pioneer Winter (Miami, FL), and Rosie Herrera (Miami, FL).

With lead support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Creative Administration Research program is fostering a national think tank of up to 20 Artist Teams between now and June 2023. These teams include the dance Artist, a curated Thought Partner, and NCCAkron team members. Each Artist Team engages in an artist-dedicated Investigative Retreat, with time and space to identify administrative experiments that support artistic practices. Focused on challenging the dance ecosystem to think beyond the boundaries of known, traditional models and "best practices," NCCAkron's CAR program adds new cohorts of five or six Artist Teams every six months. In January 2022, an open application will be announced for the fourth and final CAR cohort, and in June 2022 NCCAkron will hold a national convening for all Artists and their Thought Partners in Akron, OH.

Brian Brooks (New York, NY), who is part of the first cohort of artists to join the Creative Administration Research program, shares his experience, "Reflecting upon our past strategies and outcomes to realize strengths and patterns has been amazing. I've been able to recognize successful team-building techniques that I hadn't completely owned before. I've been honestly inspired by NCCAkron's idea of "Creative" Administration and using choreographic tools to create more cohesive management approaches. This idea has really been quite illuminating and pivotal. Each conversation concerning the work, whether artistic or financial or educational or logistic, has potential connections to other partners, and I find myself looking to connect these dots more and more."

This third and latest cohort includes artists based in Knight Foundation resident communities. The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation provided the initial funding to establish NCCAkron in 2015.

"Leveraging the support from the Mellon Foundation for the Creative Administration Research program to tap artists in communities where our founding partner [Knight] has strong investments and commitments is a step to further highlight and develop the dance ecosystem outside of New York City." says NCCAkron Executive/Artistic Director Christy Bolingbroke. "The so-called best practices developed across our sector over the past 70 years presume everyone's operating environment is the same. Through the CAR program, we aim to investigate and discover what unique opportunities and solutions are specific to each artist's chosen home, too."

Thought Partners are identified through the CAR Work-in-Process: a series of small group discussions by nomination and invitation with arts administrators, artists, funders, and presenters to discuss current dance business models and the potential around the program. Since beginning the series in summer 2020, NCCAkron has brought together 57 thinkers and leaders across the arts sector. From the group of participants, NCCAkron curates a selection of potential Thought Partners for possible pairings for each Artist. Artists make their own final selections.

The third cohort of Thought Partners includes individuals who have been Thought Partners to other cohort Artists including Antuan Byers (New York, NY) and Francine Sheffield (Richmond, VA). Byers will continue as Thought Partner to second cohort Artist Bebe Miller (Columbus, OH) in addition to working with third cohort Artist Dominic Moore-Dunson. Similarly, Sheffield will continue with Abby Zbikowski (Columbus, OH/ NYC) in addition to her new role with Rosie Herrera. Thought Partners who are new to the program include Dixon|Dahlia Li (New York, NY), Sydnie L. Mosley (New York, NY), and Reuben Roqueñi (Portland, OR). The aforementioned Thought Partners will be working with the following third cohort Artists, respectively: Pioneer Winter, Iquail Shaheed, and jumatatu m. poe. Artist and Thought Partner bios appear below.

"I am delighted to join the Creative Administration Research program this fall with Francine Sheffield as my Thought Partner," says Artist Rosie Herrera. "I look forward to investigating administrative practices that can reflect my own creative process and practices."

In January 2022, an open application will be made available for the public to apply to the Creative Administration Research program for a fourth and final cohort under this current grant award. The open application process will be guided by an Artist Selection Committee, which includes Creative Administration Research Artists, Thought Partners, and Works-in-Process participants.

All active Artists and Thought Partners will join NCCAkron for the inaugural National Summit Convening in Akron from Thursday, June 2 through Saturday, June 4, 2022. The planning of the inaugural convening will be informed by the Convening Planning Committee including Creative Administration Research Artists and Thought Partners in addition to national scholars.

For updates about the Creative Administration Research program, subscribe to NCCAkron's newsletter at nccakron.org/engage.

The Creative Administration Research program is made possible with lead support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Photo Credit: from L to R: Artist Dominic Moore-Dunson, Thought Partner Antuan Byers, and NCCAkron Executive/Artistic Director Christy Bolingbroke (photo Dale Dong).

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