Welcome!
The Democracy Cycle's 2025 Open Call is open as of January 13, 2025 - the application deadline has been extended and will now be open until April 16, 2025 before 5pm ET
About The Democracy Cycle
Over a five-year period beginning August 2023, The Democracy Cycle, a program of PAC NYC and Civis Foundation (a Galvan Initiatives affiliate), will commission and develop a total of 25 new performing arts works across the fields of theater, dance, music, opera, and multi-disciplinary performance. The commissioned works, to be selected over the course of three annual Rounds of Open Calls (2024, 2025, 2026), will explore themes relating to the nature, practice, and experience of democracy.
Our hope is that projects commissioned as part of The Democracy Cycle will enrich and expand the discussion around and participation in democracy – be it in the national, state, regional, or hyperlocal community realm – as it is practiced both within the United States and worldwide.
For more information, please review our Submission Guidelines and Application Details on the PAC NYC website as well as the Frequently Asked Questions, or FAQs.
Using Submittable
- You will need to create a free Submittable account to submit to these forms.
- You can save a draft of your work if you would like to finish filling out the form at a later date.
- Please note that once you hit "submit" you will be able to go back to re-edit your application (this is new this year), however you then must hit "submit" again before the deadline.
- Submittable works best on Google Chrome, Firefox, and Safari. Internet Explorer is not supported. Please make sure you are using a supported browser.
- We will follow up with you about your submission by email. Please be sure to safelist notification emails from Submittable and check the email you used to sign up for your Submittable Account regularly.
Technical Questions?
Check out the Submitter Resource Center or contact Submittable Customer Support.
Over a 5-year period, The Democracy Cycle – a collaboration between the Perelman Performing Arts Center (PAC NYC) and Civis Foundation – will commission and develop 25 new performing arts works across the fields of theater, dance, music, opera, and multidisciplinary performance that explore themes related to the nature, practice, and experience of democracy, particularly as it is practiced in the United States. Each commissioned project will receive a total award of $60,000 USD, consisting of $30,000 to create the new work and an additional $30,000 in support of the work's development (research, readings, workshops etc.).
To apply, please answer the below questions, fill in your projected development budget, and upload your resume/CV and work samples.
We recommend referencing The Democracy Cycle's page on PAC NYC's website while filling out this application. This page contains Submission Guidelines for completing this application, the review timelines, answers to frequently asked questions, and more.
See also the Resources section at the bottom of this page.
Deadline: this application will be open until Tuesday, April 16, 2025 (extended from April 1) before 5:00 PM ET. The Democracy Cycle does not accept late applications. To avoid encountering any technical difficulties that prevent you from completing your application we strongly recommend that you have all your material uploaded and your application finished and submitted by or before March 27.
Technical Questions regarding Submittable? Check out the Submitter Resource Center or contact Submittable Customer Support.
Resources for The Democracy Cycle:
- The Democracy Cycle page on the PAC NYC website where you may find:
- The Democracy Cycle Request for Proposals as a downloadable PDF
- The Democracy Cycle Submission Guidelines
- The Democracy Cycle frequently-asked-questions or FAQs. (FAQs will be updated as new questions arise.)
- Sign up for a one-on-one eligibility consultation via Calendly
- Attend the webinar / info session February 13, 1:00pm ET. Registration information will be available at The Democracy Cycle and the webinar will be recorded and posted on The Democracy Cycle homepage
- The Democracy Cycle Submission Guidelines as a downloadable PDF
- Email democracy.cycle@pacnyc.org with any questions not answered in the Submission Guidelines, on the website, in the webinar, or in the FAQs. Please allow at least 7 business days for a reply.
Reminder, the extended deadline is: April 16, 2025, before 5:00 PM ET = Deadline for the 2025 Open Call