NICA's Artist Residency Program

CALL OUT FOR CIRCUS & PHYSICAL THEATRE ARTISTS

Starting in July 2024, we are opening our doors to independent circus artists and groups undergoing new act and/or show creation processes, to offer space for development.
In order to continue to create pathways for independent artist development we would like to share one major resource that is frequently identified as a need in the community: training space!

Our Goals for the Residency are to:
  • Assist independent artists with developing new works by providing an in-kind creative space.
  • Give our students connections to professional working artists by seeing how they train and create new work.
  • Offer our students an opportunity to see new work by the exciting artists in our community, at any stage of development.

AVAILABLE DATES

15 July – 26 July
29 July – 9 August
12 August – 23 August
7 October – 18 October
21 October – 1 November
6 November – 15 November

Applications now closed and will re-open soon for 2025

The Details

Successful applicants will have FREE access to one-half of the Sidney Myer space, for two consecutive weeks: Monday to Friday, between 10am - 4pm.

Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis, and residencies will be programmed throughout the year, excluding school holidays and show production periods (when the training space would be in higher demand with the NCC in performance mode).

Artists would be selected on the basis of the training space’s suitability to their project and intended outcomes, with a focus on those for whom hiring training space to be a financial barrier to new work creation.

To successful applicants, NICA will additionally provide access to the rigging points (pending an induction), acro mats (as requested), and a speaker. We cannot provide lighting or access to our main sound systems, so this opportunity would be good for shows that do not at the moment require a technical residency.

Artists selected will have to provide their own Public Liability Insurance (PLI) and risk assessments, and will be given a site induction.

During the residency, the company will give a chat to students about their creative process, and ideally (if possible) the residency ends with sharing their developed works (at whatever stage it is in) to an audience of mixed NICA staff and students.

After the conclusion of the residency, the artists will be asked to give feedback on the process and create a short video promoting their work and their time at NICA, which the marketing team can share on social media.

We've had so many applications and will be fully booked for the rest of 2025. Thank you to everyone who applied! 
Expressions of interest for the 2025 program will open soon.


If written forms are not accessible to you, we will also accept answers in the form of a video recording, a video chat, or an in-person meeting with NICA’s Alumni & Industry Coordinators. 

Contact us