Press Release: NWNW Returns
Northwest New Works Festival returns by popular demand with a new format to showcase the most daring, cutting-edge performances in our region once again!
Applications open in Fall 2024
Artist projects announced early 2025
Performance Dates: June 12-14, 2025
Seattle, WA (June 11, 2024) – Since 1983, the NW New Works Festival (NWNW) has been a vibrant celebration of artists from all performance disciplines, showcasing the dynamic arts community of the Pacific Northwest. After a 5-year hiatus, the people have spoken - and On the Boards is thrilled to announce the festival’s much-anticipated return!
NWNW has been a cornerstone for contemporary performance artists, providing a vital platform for experimentation and creative cross-pollination. This festival directly supports artists in creating and presenting new works, and developing their practices, while offering them an invaluable stage to shine. It's a rare opportunity for audiences to witness groundbreaking performances and be among the first to experience the most forward-thinking and boundary-pushing art of today, enriching the cultural fabric of Seattle.
“NW New Works is a crucial platform for the development and presentation of Northwest artists,” says Executive Director Megan Kiskaddon. “The festival energetically pushes the culture of Seattle forward.” This beloved festival is part of a constellation of platforms that include 12 Minutes Max at BASE and Next Fest Northwest at Velocity Dance Center, all working to support the creation and presentation of performance in this region.
Curated by Kemi Adeyemi (professor, writer, dramaturg), Roya Amirsoleymani (curator, writer, producer), and Fox Whitney (artist, writer, producer), the 37th NWNW will feature eight new works selected from an open call application in Fall 2024. These works will be performed across the two stages at OtB over three days in June 2025.
In an effort to make the festival more equitable and responsive to the regional arts community, OtB is implementing an updated festival model. The festival features a curatorial cohort made up of regional artists, teachers, and arts professionals who will select the 8 artistic projects from an open call. This new iteration aims to be responsive to the needs of artists. “I wanted to bring the festival back in a responsible way,” says Kiskaddon. The new model will include higher, more equitable artist fees, stipends for project development, rehearsal space, and production support as well as professional development sessions with OtB’s marketing and development teams.
NWNW has an extensive history of presenting emerging works, with past festivals featuring renowned artists and groundbreaking performances that have left an indelible mark on the arts community, including: Fox Whitney, dani tirrell, Cherdonna Shinatra, zoe | juniper, Molly Sides, Kultur Shock, Wade Madsen, Paul Budraitis, Waxie Moon, Keyes Wiley, Amy O’Neal, and more.
OtB thanks you for being a part of this extraordinary celebration of creativity and innovation. The NW New Works Festival is back and better than ever!
The return of NWNW is made possible through generous support by the Raynier Foundation and John C. Robinson.
Performance Dates: June 12-14, 2025
Thursday, June 12: 8pm - Studio Theater
Friday, June 13: 5pm - Studio Theater | 8pm - Merrill Wright Mainstage Theater
Saturday, June 14: 5pm - Studio Theater | 8pm - Merrill Wright Mainstage Theater
Contact
Jessica Tousignant
Director of Marketing, Communications, and Sales
jessica@ontheboards.org
Meet the Curatorial Cohort
Kemi Adeyemi (she/her) is an Associate Professor of Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies at the University of Washington. She is the author of Feels Right: Black Queer Women & the Politics of Partying in Chicago (2022) and co-editor of Queer Nightlife (2021). Her forthcoming book, Writing About Black Art, was a 2023 recipient of the Andy Warhol Foundation Arts Writing Grant.
Kemi founded and directs The Black Embodiments Studio, an arts writing incubator, public programming initiative, and publishing platform dedicated to building discourse around contemporary black art.
Instagram : @the_works
Website : kemiadeyemi.com
Roya Amirsoleymani (she/her) is an independent curator, writer, producer, & project manager in contemporary art and performance, based on Twana lands on the Olympic Peninsula in rural Washington. From 2012-23, she was a director & curator at Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (PICA), where she organized visual art exhibitions, performances, residencies, community and public programs, and the annual Time-Based Art Festival. She just self-published her first chapbook and is working on a long-form experimental narrative about death and friendship. Roya supports the ideas, labor, and livelihoods of artists & arts workers–especially those historically excluded from mainstream art worlds and economies.
Instagram: @roya_a
Website : royamir.com
Fox Whitney (he/him) is an interdisciplinary artist working at the intersection of performance, sound, film+video, dance, writing and visual art. He currently fronts the psychedelic transfuturist band Light Aloud and performs solo under his own name. He started the interdisciplinary performance project Gender Tender in 2012. Both Light Aloud and GT center Fox’s queer and transgender POV and engage a team of artists saturated in Fox’s methods modeled on visual + performance art practices, cults, riots, QT history and the surreal nature of transformation. . Fox’s ongoing project, MELTED RIOT is the current focus of his performance making. MELTED RIOT investigates the effects peaceful and violent forms of support and sabotage have on the bodies, minds, and spirits of the transgender and queer community. MELTED RIOT is a surreal protest song, a queer meditation, a psychedelic research project, a punk prayer.
Instagram: @fox_whitney_ @lightaloud @gendertenderforever
Website: foxwhitney.weebly.com
About On the Boards
For four decades and counting, On the Boards (OtB) has moved the needle on culture in Seattle. We continue to occupy a unique corner of this region’s cultural arena – presenting challenging, provoking, surprising, and inspiring dance, theater, and performance works. We influence the contemporary art field on a global scale, supporting and investing in local artists who go on to develop careers and performances that are shared with thousands of audience members across the world. OtB fulfills its mission by supporting artists from the Northwest and beyond, through new commissions and existing work presented online and in person. OtB offers a range of resources and events that provide in-depth information and complimentary social experiences to frame the art on its stages and create dynamic access for its audiences.
More information can be found at: ontheboards.org
Land Acknowledgment
On the Boards acknowledges that we work on the unceded ancestral home of the Duwamish and many other In-digenous peoples, recorded and unrecorded, who have been the custodians of this land since time immemorial. As settlers on this land, we extend our deepest gratitude and respect to Indigenous people past, present, and future. On the Boards is exploring ways to better align our practices with Coast Salish protocol. Part of our understanding of the protocol is making material gifts to the Indigenous peoples of this land as a way of recognizing their historic and present dedication to the well-being of the territory and all beings who make a home here. This acknowledg-ment does not take the place of authentic relationships with Indigenous communities but serves as a first step in honoring the land we occupy. We encourage you to donate to realrentduwamish.org
