Stage 14C Open Call for Performing Artists 2026

Overview

Stage 14C is an open call for performers and creators to participate in the inaugural annual edition of ARTS 14C's multidisciplinary performing arts festival, taking place November 6–8, 2026, in Jersey City, New Jersey. The festival celebrates the diversity of live performance and invites artists working across disciplines to present finished productions, new works, experimental performances, or other projects that involve live performance or create a shared artistic experience with an audience.

Festival Format

Stage 14C transforms ARTS 14C's 40,000-square-foot fourth floor into a network of individual performance environments. Instead of a conventional stage, the festival uses the organization's collection of unique loft studios as individual performance spaces, which can become intimate black-box theatres, cabarets, listening rooms, comedy clubs, performance art environments, immersive spaces, or other configurations. Selected artists may be assigned individual studios or share a performance space with complementary artists.

Disciplines & Categories

Stage 14C welcomes a broad range of performing arts and multidisciplinary practices, including: Theater, Dance, Music, Poetry/Spoken Word, Comedy, Film, Circus, Opera, Storytelling, Improvisation, Performance Art, and Immersive/Multidisciplinary Performance.

Eligibility

The call is open to performers and creators working across the full spectrum of live performance. Applicants may be individual artists, performers, or creative companies. Artists do not necessarily need to present an established production. Visiting artists may be considered for accommodation support where available.

What to Submit

Applications may propose a finished production, a new work, an experimental performance, a multidisciplinary project, or a live work designed around audience participation or shared experience.

Benefits & Support

Selected artists participate in the three-day festival and gain exposure to audiences from the New York metropolitan region. Benefits may include festival performance opportunity, festival-wide marketing and promotion, regional advertising including PATH advertising and digital campaigns, social media promotion, press outreach and calendar listings, potential complimentary rehearsal space, potential professional photography/video/audio documentation, potential overnight accommodation for selected visiting artists, production and technical coordination, basic lighting, power, and seating, and opportunities for multidisciplinary artistic exchange and networking. Selected artists may receive financial, professional, or logistical support depending on the needs of the project.

Key Dates

• Application Deadline: 8 September 2026
• Notification Date: 18 September 2026
• Soundcheck/dress rehearsal: 3 November 2026
• VIP opening night and opening celebration: 6 November 2026
• Festival Day: 7 November 2026
• Deadline for all Stage 14C sets to be de-installed: 14 November 2026

Application

Online application. No application fee.

Additional Details

Stage 14C is distinctive because the performance space is part of the artistic proposition. Each studio has its own architecture, scale, and atmosphere, and ARTS 14C works with accepted performers to identify the space that best matches their project. Selected artists should be prepared to discuss their spatial, technical, and production requirements with the festival team. Basic lighting, power, and seating are provided, while additional technical needs are considered individually.