Spencer Armstrong, Jay Délise and Alejandra Venancio Join The Tank's Inaugural Producers Cohort

The Tank is launching the inaugural year of The Tank Producers Cohort, funded generously by a grant from the Mellon Foundation.
 
George Strus has joined The Tank's staff as Producers Cohort Facilitator, leading Fellows who will begin their program in September 2023. The 2023-24 class of Fellows will include Spencer Armstrong, Jay Délise and Alejandra Venancio.
 
"In first meeting Alejandra, Jay, and Spencer, I was immediately struck by the ways in which each of them spoke of the theatrical art form and the role of a 'producer' within it. All three bring different strengths and areas of growth to the table but share the same human-centric and value-driven ways of working,” said Facilitator George Strus. “Thanks to the unprecedented resources provided to us by The Tank and the Mellon Foundation, they will have the luxury of not only hands-on experience, but also ongoing dialogue excavating the duties, roles, and responsibilities of a theatrical producer. As we all continue to learn and grow from one another, I am energized by imagining not only how this program will help refine these three remarkable thinkers and further The Tank's mission, but also impact the field overall in the long term."  
 
The Tank has organically supported emerging producers and independent self-Producing Artists and companies throughout its 20-year history. The support of the Mellon Foundation, with the largest single grant in The Tank’s history, allows the company to formalize this work through the newly-minted Producers Cohort program. 
 
The Tank Producers Cohort is an innovative program designed to support the unique needs of emerging creative producers and to invest in pathways to increase and expand representation for those who have been traditionally excluded from producing opportunities. This program engages 3-5 early-career producers for renewable one-year fellowships, with annual awards of $15,000 and opportunities for additional funding for creative work and professional development.

Fellows will participate in regular meetings, led by the facilitator and including both practicum discussions and guest artist sessions with mentor practitioners in the field. With Tank staff and facilitator mentorship, Fellows will also take on hands-on learning opportunities by producing at The Tank, including Tank Core Productions and Presented Works. With The Tank’s volume and variety of programming, Fellows will be matched with projects that engage their artistic interests and introduce them to potential long-term collaborators, while meeting their level of experience and current practical learning goals. 
 
As a capstone to their fellowship, each Fellow will have the opportunity to produce a presented show at The Tank as the instigating artist, whether as the generative artist, a curatorial force, or another model that centers creative producing as artistic practice.
 
To support their in-depth integration into the Tank’s programming, during their residency Fellows will be provided with workspace in The Tank’s office, Tank meeting and rehearsal space, and The Tank’s institutional resources such as the Employee Assistance Program, memberships, software, and fiscal sponsorship, as well as staff support and mentorship–offering The Tank as an artistic and professional home.
 

ABOUT THE TANK

 
Founded in 2003, The Tank is an Obie Award-winning, multi-disciplinary non-profit arts presenter and producer, which provides a home to emerging artists working across all disciplines, including theater, comedy, dance, film, music, puppetry, and storytelling. Led by Artistic Director Meghan Finn, Managing Producer Molly FitzMaurice, and Director of Artistic Development Johnny G. Lloyd, The Tank champions emerging artists engaged in the pursuit of new ideas and forms of expression. In doing so the company removes the economic barriers from the creation of new work for artists launching their careers and experimenting within their art form. From the company’s home with two theaters on 36th Street, The Tank serves over 2,500 artists every year, presents over 1,000 performances, and welcomes 36,000 audience members annually. The company fully produces a curated season of 8-12 theatrical World or New York premieres each season.
 
Recent Tank-produced work includes The New York Times Critics' Picks Simon and His Shoes by Laurel Haines and Steph Singer (2022), Taxilandia by Flako Jimenez (2021), OPEN by Crystal Skillman, directed by Jessi D. Hill (2019); Red Emma & The Mad Monk by Alexis Roblan, directed by Katie Lindsay (2018); and The Offending Gesture by Mac Wellman, directed by Meghan Finn (2016), as well as Drama Desk Award-nominated productions The Hunger Artist (2018), The Paper Hat Game (2017), the ephemera trilogy (2017), Ada/Ava (2016) and youarenowhere (2016).
 

ABOUT THE Andrew W. Mellon FOUNDATION
 

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation believes that the arts and humanities are where we express our complex humanity, and we believe that everyone deserves the beauty, transcendence, and freedom to be found there. Through our grants, we seek to build just communities enriched by meaning and empowered by critical thinking, where ideas and imagination can thrive.
 
 
 
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
www.TheTankNYC.org
 
 

GEORGE STRUS

(they/them) is a trans non-binary Latiné artist based on the unceded ancestral lands of the Munsee Lenape people (colloquially known as New York). They founded Breaking the Binary Theatre: a new work development and community building hub for transgender, non-binary, and Two-Spirit+ theatermakers. In addition to their role as Founding Artistic Director of Breaking the Binary Theatre and their freelance producorial and dramaturgical work, they also currently serve as Artistic Producer at The Sol Project, Seasonal Producing Manager at The Public Theater, Producers Cohort Facilitator at The Tank, and Theatre Scout at Curate Management. Previously, they held positions at Second Stage Theater, A3 Artists Agency, Manhattan Theatre Club, Pride Plays at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, Playbill, Stacey Mindich Productions, Alchemation, Telsey + Company Casting, Paper Mill Playhouse, and Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.
 

SPENCER ARMSTRONG

(he/him) is a producer and creator of original works. His productions have been presented at HERE Arts Center, The Bushwick Starr, The Dramatists Guild Fund, and Dixon Place. Spencer’s areas of exploration include queer liberation, the internet in millennial culture, literature, midwestern values, and sex positivity. He has had the pleasure of working with New York’s leading downtown ensembles, including Elevator Repair Service, Theater Mitu, Tectonic Theater Project, and Siti Company. Spencer is a proud alum of The Lincoln Center Theater’s Directors Lab 2019 and The Beth Morrison Producers Academy 2022. Currently, he is producing La Villa Morte with Catapult Opera, opening this Winter at The Greek National Opera in Athens and NYU Skirball in the Spring.
 

JAY DÉLISE

(they/them) (official jester of Sugar Hill) is a writer, theater historian, performance artist, eater of grapes, and producer based in Harlem, New York. They have performed at The United Nations, The Schomburg Center, and The Pulitzer Center. Their work has been highlighted around the world and in publications including Afropunk, Vagabond City, Glass Poetry Press, and Huffington Post.
 

Alejandra Venancio

(she/her/hers) is a theater-maker from Colorado with a BFA from the Hartt School and an MA from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art's Theater Lab. Her focus on collaborative storytelling is rooted in devised, experimental and physical theater. As a performer, her recent work includes Discus (ART/New York) with Hunger & Thirst and Marta Nesspek Presents... (streaming on Twitch) and The Extremely Grey Line (New Ohio Theatre Ice Factory) with 23.5° Tilt. Other collaborations include 40 Volume (The Knockdown Center), The Vyuga Project (Dixon Place), and A Dead Tree Gives No Shelter (RADA Theatre Festival).
 

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