Resident Company Program

The Flea will be seeking proposals for its 3-year Resident Company Program.

The new cohort will begin January 1, 2028.

We are looking for companies who produce performing and/or visual art that asks genuine and challenging questions and resists status quo thinking, binaries, and moralizing; work that invites us into deep consideration while embracing humor or absurdity; odd, strange work that inspires awe and unique ways of seeing and being.

All Resident Companies will be expected to present a minimum of two (2) productions each year at The Flea and that they fairly compensate all artists, contractors and employees who work with them.

One (1) company will be chosen as the Key Resident Company and up to two (2) additional companies as Resident Companies. 

Submissions are now closed. Please return here Fall 2026 to apply for the 2028-2030 cohort.

Submission Components

  • Please provide a written statement/description that addresses the following:

    • Your mission

    • How you embody your mission in ways that explicitly support the leadership of and experimental art by Black, brown, and queer people

    • Your history of producing and/or presenting art, including notable successes and learnings

    • How you have connected to and built relationships with audiences and communities

    • Your approach/philosophy to creating and/or supporting new work

    • How would you use this residency to expand your company’s bandwidth, capacity, and reach

    • Provide the names, titles, and demographics of your current administrative team and Board membership, if applicable.

    • Please provide the number and demographics of the artists and contract workers you’ve worked with in the past three years.

  • Provide two (2) samples of previous projects. That can look like:

    • Unedited video of performance or presentation

    • Photography of an exhibition

    • Press, reviews, or company profiles

    • Project or organizational budget

    • Any other kind of document that helps us to know your organization and its impact on artists, audiences, and staff.

    • As our mission suggests, we are seeking experimental art that finds itself somewhere in the intersections of Black, brown, and queer identity and led by artists who identify with those intersections.

    • We believe in projects that cross/blend/subvert genres and disciplines.

    • We are looking for compelling art that requires virtuosity and that is active for audiences in some way.

    • We are looking for companies that are ready to capitalize on a residency to bring artists and audiences together in community.

  • The Key Resident Company program is a reparative partnership offered to a nascent company that centers Black, brown, and queer artists and leadership. The company will function as an autonomous company and will receive:

    • $10,000 unrestricted cash support each year

    • $36,000 space rental credits each year

    • Printing and office supplies

    • Some production resources (i.e., costume shop usage, long-term storage, etc.)

    • Digital marketing support

    • Quarterly fellowship activities with the cohort of Resident Companies

  • The Resident Company program offers up to two mission-aligned artistic companies the ability to leverage The Flea’s in-house support system—creative, technical, and producing—to further their artistic reach. The company will function as an autonomous company and will receive:

    • Three (3) weeks of free development space in the Pete theater

    • The option to host one (1) rent-free event each year at The Flea (e.g., gala, benefit, funders briefing, etc.)

    • Quarterly fellowship activities with the cohort of Resident Companies.

    • Discounted rental rates for production weeks.

    • Printing and office supplies as needed.

    • Some production resources (i.e., costume shop usage, long-term storage, etc.)

    • Digital marketing support