Accelerate your creative life.
OVERVIEW
ACCELERATOR is Los Angeles Performance Practice (LAPP)’s flagship artist development program—a nine-month intensive that empowers multidisciplinary artists to build sustainable, visionary, and self-determined creative careers.
Over the course of a school-year-length arc, a thoughtfully-selected cohort of Los Angeles-based artists will engage in professional development workshops, in-depth mentorship, and peer accountability to design a resilient creative life. By the end of the program, participants will have artist statements that celebrate their whole selves, a personalized strategy for resourcing their practice, and a sustainable approach to producing the work they’re passionate about.
ACCELERATOR is designed and stewarded by professional producers and industry leaders with hands-on experience navigating the complexities of the contemporary arts ecosystem. A deep-dive into the full spectrum of LAPP’s producing toolkit, ACCELERATOR is a rare opportunity to workshop your practice inside of a producing infrastructure built specifically to support boundary-pushing, multidisciplinary work. Be a part of LAPP’s 15-year-long legacy of guiding bold new works from inception to tour, and championing artists who defy categorization.
Participants commit to twice-monthly sessions (one in person in Silverlake, Los Angeles, and one online via Zoom) as part of a rigorous, intimate, and supportive creative cohort.
IMPACT
ACCELERATOR is a one-of-a-kind offering grounded in the real-world need of artists. Unlike traditional professional development programs, ACCELERATOR supports the full multidisciplinary span of an artist’s practice, and encourages expansive, creative thinking around resourcing that reaches beyond grantwriting into entrepreneurship and values-led field leadership.
Past ACCELERATOR participants have won competitive grants, fellowships, and residencies from the likes of The Annenberg Foundation Blue Sky Center, The California Arts Council, The Center for Cultural Innovation, The Dramatist Guild Foundation, The Foundation for Contemporary Art, LA County Arts and Culture, Long Beach Creative Corps, New England Foundation for the Arts, The Race Forward Fellowship, The Ucross Foundation, and the University of Southern California. One 2023-2024 participating artist secured over $90,000 in funding, while participating in ACCELERATOR, as a direct outcome of the program. In addition to securing grants, artists launched projects, found accountability partners, learned innovative strategies for budgeting, and expanded their presence on the web.
“ACCELERATOR was an invaluable resource–the kind of nurturing environment where I am known as an artist,” says one participant. Another says, “[ACCELERATOR] introduced me to a cohort of interesting artists… a few with whom I have developed more in-depth relationships that may lead to future collaboration. I got a $50K-75K grant–the biggest grant I’ve ever received! I really thank ACCELERATOR for this.”
TAKEAWAYS
By fully participating in ACCELERATOR, including attending all sessions and completing work between sessions, artists will take away:
TELLING YOUR STORY
- Competitive artist bio(s) that represent the full scope of your multidisciplinary practice
- Artist statement(s) that have been workshopped by both peers and professional reviewers
- Clear, compelling descriptions of current creative projects
- Strategic language to position your work across multiple disciplines and contexts within the contemporary arts landscape
MAKING A LIVING AS AN ARTIST
- A personalized strategy for resourcing your practice that blends grants, entrepreneurship, and other income
- A minimum of 10 completed applications to grants, fellowships, or residencies
- A custom database of grants and opportunities that you commit to applying to on a regular basis
- Other concrete resources for sustainable artist careers, including:
- Balancing multiple income streams
- Running your own creative business
- Valuing your labor and negotiating higher rates
GROWING IN COMMUNITY
- Mentorship from professional producers with field-wide perspective
- Deepened relationships to LAPP’s national network of artists and organizations
- A peer cohort that becomes part of your long-term creative ecosystem
- Feature on LAPP’s public-facing channels including website and social media
- Free access to all LAPP programming for the program duration
- One day per week access to in-person co-working space
- Discounted fiscal sponsorship rates through LAPP for future endeavors
- Potential joint grant applications with LAPP as 501(c)(3) partner
TIMELINE + SESSIONS
ACCELERATOR 2025 will run from November 2025 through July 2026. The deadline to apply is October 10, 2025, and selected participants will be notified by the end of October. The first session will kick off in mid-November.
Participants will meet twice each month: once in person in Silverlake, and once online via Zoom. In between sessions, participants will be expected to complete self-directed assignments. There may be optional special activities and opportunities for deeper engagement scheduled throughout the program.
ACCELERATOR will include in-depth, hands-on workshops with Los Angeles Performance Practice staff and guest facilitators. All sessions will include accountability check-ins with peers and producers to share what you’re working on, get feedback on grant applications, plan for upcoming deadlines, and more. Here are sample workshops that may be offered during ACCELERATOR.
- Miranda Wright (LAPP Founder and Executive Director of Center for the Arts at Kayenta) will teach you how to craft compelling grant applications in a three-session grantwriting course
- gina young (LAPP Director of Company Storytelling and founder of SORORITY) will share her “Making It As An Artist” Workshop, which has taught countless artists how to value their work higher, price themselves accordingly, and negotiate the rates they deserve. (“I asked for double my usual rate… and they gave it to me! I never would have thought this was possible.” – Past Participant)
- Scarlett Kim (LAPP board member and Executive Creative Producer of C.U.T.E.) will guide you in navigating the intersection of art and technology, and how to position your creative practice within the immersive industry through an artist-led, entrepreneurial lens.
- Guest artists and arts leaders will lead hands-on workshops, offering strategies on areas such as how to build audiences around your work, navigating institutional support, building up values-led business models, and sustaining collaborative relationships.
ELIGIBILITY + APPLICATION PROCESS
Through a competitive application process, Los Angeles Performance Practice will invite artists who are a strong match for the program’s offerings and values. Participation in ACCELERATOR is a nine month commitment.
Eligibility
- Artists, creators, independent producers, and culture workers at all career stages
- Working in any artistic discipline(s) in contemporary performance and/or in multidisciplinary fields, including but not limited to: theatre, dance, performance art, visual arts, music, literary arts, film, new media, art and technology, research, social practice, architecture, design, and creative writing
- Individuals and collectives are welcome to apply (program fees are assessed on an individual basis)
- 18+ years old
- Currently living or working in the Los Angeles Metropolitan area
Application Questions
- Please share a brief bio that tells us about you and your work. (150 words max)
- What projects, focus areas, or larger goals do you seek to develop through ACCELERATOR? (300 words max)
- Note: This could include artistic projects, an area of inquiry, shifts in your practice, or resourcing strategies. You are not required to enter the program with a specific project.
- Why do you want to join ACCELERATOR? (300 words max)
- How do you imagine ACCELERATOR and Los Angeles Performance Practice could support your practice?
- (If applying for subsidized program fee) A limited number of subsidies are available for the program fee ($100/month). If you’d like to be considered for the subsidy, please share any relevant information about your financial circumstances, access to institutional support, or other factors affecting your ability to pay the full program fee.
- (Optional) Portfolio, Resume/CV, Website
Evaluation Criteria
- Commitment to artistic growth and sustainable professional development
- Multidisciplinary approach that expands, challenges or experiments with form
- Openness to engage with the community through collaboration
- Alignment of LAPP’s values of inclusion and experimentation
- Potential to benefit from the offerings and structure of ACCELERATOR
PROGRAM FEE
- Total fee to participate in ACCELERATOR is $1,550.
- The program fee may be paid in 10 installments of $155. Program fees are assessed on an individual basis.
- A limited number of subsidies are available at $775 for the program. Applicants may apply for subsidies in the application form, and they will be notified at the time of the application results notification if they have been selected for a subsidized rate.
- Participation in ACCELERATOR is a nine month commitment. Partial participation is not permitted.
- There is no fee to apply to ACCELERATOR.
APPLICATIONS DUE OCTOBER 10, 2025
Questions? Email hello@performancepractice.org
