upcoming grant deadline: 05/15/2024

upcoming grant deadline: 05/15/2024

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Philadelphia Young Playwrights [PYP] seeks 1 Special Projects Fellow

Philadelphia Young Playwrights seeks one Special Projects Fellow for a two-year commitment from Summer 2018 through Summer 2020. The Special Projects Fellow will focus on initiatives that provide safe, empowering spaces for young artists of color.

Throughout their tenure, the Special Projects Fellow will focus on initiatives that provide safe, empowering spaces for young artists of color to be cultivated and heard. Individuals with 2+ years as a professional theatre artist and/or educator who wish to deepen their curriculum development, project management, and teaching artist skills, as well as their knowledge of the inner workings of a non-profit, are invited to apply. 

Mentored by our Executive Director, Program Staff and Resident Teaching Artists, the Special Projects Fellow will:

- Participate in the design, implementation and administration of our onsite programs and special projects.
- Serve as a Co-Facilitator and Mentor for Performing Identities (run in collaboration with The Colored Girls Museum), an out-of-school-time program that focuses on telling the stories of young women of color.
- Serve as an Assistant Teaching Artist and Mentor for Resident Playwrights, an out-of-school-time program for young playwrights who wish to hone their craft as artists.
- Serve as a Project Assistant for Mouthful, Young Playwrights’ podcast, which connects student voices to issues in our community.
- Engage in discussion and professional development workshops around current trends, goals, and best practices in theatre, education, and new play development.
- Participate in trauma awareness training.
- Reflect with program staff on the progress of their fellowship goals, with an opportunity to create, facilitate and administer their own special program over the course of their two years with PYP.

The 2018-2020 Special Programs Fellow will focus on instruction, curriculum, and evaluation for grades 8 - 12. 

In addition to a slate of 6+ onsite programs and special projects a year, PYP partners annually with over 90 classrooms to support students in grades 3 through 12 to enhance literacy and self-expression through playwriting, and also produces professional productions of student plays and monologues throughout the year. To that end, additional opportunities for Fellows to deepen their understanding and practice of supporting students of all ages and abilities include:

- Serving as an Assistant Teaching Artist for at least 1 Core Program classroom, mentored by a Resident Teaching Artist;
- Serving as a co-facilitator for our summer programs;
- Assisting with virtual content management for our curriculum, professional development, and literary anthologies of previous winning writers’ work; 
- Assisting in the outreach, program management, and literary management of our Mouthful Monologue Festival;
- Participating as a member of our summer literary committees to determine winners of the annual playwriting festival, and crafting written dramaturgical feedback for playwrights. 

Qualifications: 

To apply, candidates should be a practicing theatre artist with an undergraduate degree in Theatre, Education, or a related field. Candidates must have a passion for working with young people, and should have experience using playwriting or theatre-making as a tool to enhance literacy and/or self-expression. Ideal candidates will hold experience as an actor, director, dramaturg, designer, and/or playwright in a new play development context. 

Calendar and compensation:

The Fellowship takes place from Summer 2018 thru early August 2020. Fellows work 20 hours per week.  

The majority of hours for special programs fall on Mondays through Fridays in the late afternoon/early evening as well as Saturdays, with some daytime hours Monday through Friday for administrative tasks and in-school programs. Fellows work with program staff to create a weekly schedule. 

A total stipend of $21,000 is provided in ten installments over the course of the two-year fellowship. 

Fellows receive paid vacation and sick leave as part of their contract. There are additional opportunities to earn income through classroom acting, working on productions, and teaching additional classrooms/workshops, if qualifications align. 

To apply, submit a resume and personal narrative of 2 pages or less to info@phillyyoungplaywrights.org. Applicants are encouraged to submit a sample lesson plan as well, though not required. 

Submit all documents as a single PDF. Email subject should read: Special Projects Fellowship Application [Last Name] [First Name]. 

Your personal narrative should include the following:

1) Briefly describe your previous experience working with young people, and/or what it means to you as an artist and educator to work in this field.
2) Describe the specific goals you would like to pursue through the Special Projects Fellowship, and how this experience would further and/or enhance your theatre and teaching artistry. 
3) Describe a potential special program you would like to create and facilitate over the course of the fellowship.

Applications will be accepted until May 16th, 2018. However, interviews will begin on a rolling basis with potential candidates as soon as April 23rd. 

Young Playwrights strives to employ a roster of artists that reflects the diverse landscape of our region. Questions about the Special Projects Fellowship can be directed to info@phillyyoungplaywrights.org.

 

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