OZ Arts Unveils Selection Of Local Artists For The Fourth Annual Brave New Works Lab

Contemporary arts center OZ Arts Nashville has announced the diverse line-up of local artists for its fourth annual Brave New Works Lab, with performances May 15-17 at the organization's expansive Creative Warehouse.

The development program for innovative new artistic creations invites local artists to transform the space into a laboratory for innovation, incubating a never-before-seen performance work in a shared-bill format with all four short works included in the same night. Performances in the Brave New Works Lab this year feature diverse expressions of dance and choreography alongside highly innovative multimedia infusion in multiple projects and lively music performances.

With a focus on multimedia experimentation and collaboration, the 2025 program features 4 unique performance pieces, selected from over 40 proposals from Nashville-based artists seeking to bring new, avant-garde ideas to the stage. This year's projects include a new work from choreographer Stacie Flood-Popp and her dance-theater collective Found Movement Group inspired by Hieronymus Bosch's iconic painting The Garden of Earthly Delights; a collaboration between local choreographer Windship Boyd and South African dancer Tumelo Michael Moloi exploring the interplay between gumboot dance developed during apartheid and the popular step-dance seen at HBCU's; a trippy live music and multimedia experience from spoken word artist Landry Butler and his Inglewood Social Club jam band; and a fresh dance creation from Hip-hop choreographer Kourtney "Koko" French for a group of stunning dancers exhibiting the limitations of time.

The Brave New Works Lab is designed to give local artists an opportunity to boldly premiere new creations and works-in-progress in a welcoming and safe space designed to bring together creators and art lovers for three evenings of artistic expression. OZ supports these brave artists by providing them with the resources needed to bring their creative ideas to life. The Lab aligns directly with OZ's focus on producing and presenting the work of local artists who reflect the city's diverse society, utilize new artistic forms and technology in creative ways, and provide opportunities for meaningful engagement with audiences.

"The Brave New Works Lab has proven to be a vital program for the development of thrilling new local works, and we are ecstatic to feature such a high-impact group of projects this year," said Mark Murphy, Executive and Artistic Director of OZ Arts Nashville. "The four artist teams chosen the 2025 Lab program are all an important part of Nashville's vibrant performing arts scene who have put forward inventive, contemporary projects that will make quite the impression on audiences who come out to support the debut of these new works."

OZ Arts will present Brave New Works May 15-17 in its expansive Creative Warehouse. Tickets start at $20 and are on sale now at this link. Artist applications for next year's edition of Brave New Works Lab will open in the fall of 2025.

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