Organizer Information
ARTS 14C is an arts organization and creative community based in Jersey City, New Jersey, dedicated to supporting artists, presenting creative work, and developing opportunities for artists and audiences to connect. Its large-scale arts facility is located in the Powerhouse Arts District of downtown Jersey City, where it provides studio and performance spaces for a broad range of artistic practices.
Stage 14C is ARTS 14C’s new annual performing arts festival, designed to expand its support for live performance and create a multidisciplinary environment in which artists from different fields can present their work. Rather than operating as a conventional festival with a fixed sequence of performances, Stage 14C transforms ARTS 14C’s 40,000-square-foot fourth floor into a network of individual performance environments.
The festival is designed as an “open studio tour” for the performing arts. Audiences can move between different studios and discover performances across disciplines, while selected artists become part of a wider creative community. ARTS 14C provides support in areas including festival promotion, production coordination, rehearsal access, documentation, and, for selected visiting artists, potentially accommodation.
Title & Description
Stage 14C Performing Arts Festival
Stage 14C is an open call for performers and creators to participate in the inaugural annual edition of ARTS 14C’s multidisciplinary performing arts festival, taking place November 6–8, 2026, in Jersey City, New Jersey.
The festival celebrates the diversity of live performance and invites artists working across disciplines to present finished productions, new works, experimental performances, or other projects that involve live performance or create a shared artistic experience with an audience.
Stage 14C is structured differently from a traditional performing arts festival. Instead of presenting all artists on one conventional stage, the event uses ARTS 14C’s collection of unique loft studios as individual performance spaces. Studios can become intimate black-box theatres, cabarets, listening rooms, comedy clubs, performance art environments, immersive spaces, or other configurations appropriate to the work.
Selected artists may be assigned individual studios or share a performance space with complementary artists. The festival's Artist Advisory Committee determines selections and schedules based on artistic quality, originality, feasibility, and the contribution each project makes to a dynamic multidisciplinary program.
The festival is particularly suited to artists interested in intimate audience relationships, experimental presentation formats, interdisciplinary exchange, and discovering audiences outside their usual artistic communities.
Categories
Stage 14C welcomes a broad range of Performing Arts and multidisciplinary practices, including:
- Theater
- Dance
- Music
- Poetry / Spoken Word
- Comedy
- Film
- Circus
- Opera
- Storytelling
- Improvisation
- Performance Art
- Immersive / Multidisciplinary Performance
Eligibility
The call is open to performers and creators working across the full spectrum of live performance. Applicants may be individual artists, performers, or creative companies.
Artists do not necessarily need to present an established production. Applications may propose:
- A finished production
- A new work
- An experimental performance
- A multidisciplinary project
- A live work designed around audience participation or shared experience
The call does not state a specific nationality, residency, age, or professional-status restriction in the provided application materials. Visiting artists may be considered for accommodation support where available.
Program Benefits & Awards
Selected artists participate in the three-day Stage 14C festival and gain exposure to audiences attracted by the overall festival program. Benefits may include:
- Festival performance opportunity
- Access to audiences from the New York metropolitan region
- Festival-wide marketing and promotion
- Regional advertising, including PATH advertising and digital campaigns
- Social media promotion
- Press outreach and calendar listings
- Promotion through ARTS 14C’s artist, patron, member, and supporter networks
- Cross-promotion with other festival performances
- Potential complimentary rehearsal space in ARTS 14C studios
- Potential professional photography, video, and/or audio documentation
- Potential overnight accommodation for selected visiting artists
- Production and technical coordination
- Basic lighting, power, and seating
- Opportunities for multidisciplinary artistic exchange and networking
- Individual discussions regarding additional technical requirements
The organization notes that selected artists may receive financial, professional, or logistical support depending on the needs of the project. The provided call does not specify a fixed cash award or guaranteed performance fee.
Application Fee
None
How to Apply?
Online Application
Key Dates
- Application Deadline: 8 September 2026
- Notification Date: 18 September 2026
- Soundcheck/dress rehearsal: 3 November 2026
- VIP opening night and opening celebration: 6 November 2026
- Festival Day: 7 November 2026
- Deadline for all Stage 14C sets to be de-installed: 14 November 2026
Location
Jersey City, New Jersey, United States
Additional Details
Stage 14C is particularly distinctive because the performance space is part of the artistic proposition. Each studio has its own architecture, scale, and atmosphere, and ARTS 14C works with accepted performers to identify the space that best matches their project.
Selected artists should be prepared to discuss their spatial, technical, and production requirements with the festival team. Basic lighting, power, and seating are provided, while additional technical needs are considered individually.
The festival schedule is divided into three distinct days. Friday focuses on the opening celebration and highlighted performances; Saturday is the principal festival day with performances across as many as 24 stages; and Sunday is designed as an all-ages Family Day.
The festival is also positioned as an audience-development opportunity. Rather than requiring each artist to attract an entirely independent audience, Stage 14C markets the festival as a destination for discovering live performance in many forms. This structure can give emerging and multidisciplinary artists opportunities to reach audiences who might not otherwise encounter their work.
Artists should note that the call does not specify a guaranteed monetary prize or fixed artist fee in the supplied information. Any financial, professional, or logistical support is dependent on the selected project's needs.