What is Creating Queer Communities?

Queer Cultural Center is thrilled to announce the next round of Creating Queer Communities, our beloved professional development training program for Queer and Trans artists in the San Francisco Bay Area. For over 25 years, Creating Queer Communities has been an incredibly successful program that gives artists an opportunity to build their knowledge base around their artistic practice by providing small grants, free educational opportunities, and mentorship.

This open call is for the 2025 Level One cohort of Creating Queer Communities. For this cohort, QCC defines a new or early career artist as someone who has less than 3 credited, published works. The CQC Level One cohort will will be supported in developing work to perform in the Fall of 2025 in a showcase.

Why apply?

QTBIPOC artists selected for the 2025 Level One CQC emerging artist development cohort will receive:

Structured virtual and in-person training series of six workshops including topics such as Taxes for Artists, Budgeting, Grant Writing, Marketing, and more, in Oakland and/or SF.
Opportunity to perform in QCC’s 2025 Fall Queer Arts Festival emerging artist showcase (15 min set per artist)
One-on-one coaching from QCC staff for artistic and technical production support
Professional headshots
Honorarium to support participation in the 6 workshops at $75 per workshop (total of $450)*
$500 commission for your new work to be presented in the 2025 Fall Queer Arts Festival new artists showcase (October/November 2025)*

*If you are accepted into the CQC Level 1 cohort, you’ll need to sign up for QCC’s online payment system, including your banking info, government name, and uploading a W9.

Who can apply?

You are eligible to apply if you:

Have an artistic or creative practice falls into one or more of these four categories:

Are a new or early career queer artist embarking on your journey into the art world. QCC defines a new or early career artist as someone who has less than 3 credited, published works.
Are based in the SF Bay Area
Are at least 18 years old
Identify as a member of the LGBTQIA2S+ community
Identify as Black, Indigenous, or another Person of Color
Are willing and able to attend mandatory workshops from December 2024 – September 2025 (some in person in San Francisco and Oakland)
Want to share your artistic work in a 15-minute set in the Fall 2025 National Queer Arts Festival Emerging Artists Showcase for 2 nights in October/November 2025 (exact dates to be confirmed)
Want to create and share artistic works that nourish, connect, or mobilize queer and trans communities in the San Francisco Bay Area and its diaspora
Seek foundational knowledge to gain confidence and learn how to grow your creative practice.
Have an artistic or creative practice falls into one or more of these four categories:

Literary	Theater/Performance	Music	Event Production
Poets, playwrights, songwriters, novelists, graphic novelists, storytellers, spoken word	Actors, performance artists,	Singers, musicians, DJs, music producers,	Party planners, stage managers, fundraisers,

Before applying, please read the following thoroughly. When you’re ready to apply, you may access the application form here. The application includes a checklist to help you gather the necessary materials and information, including contact details, a brief project overview and budget (using the provided template), artist CV or resume, bio, artistic work samples and descriptions (optional).

CQC Level One Workshop & Services for 2025

December 2024: Orientation
January 2025: Tax Workshop
February 2025: Budget Workshop
March 2025:Creating Artist Bios Workshop
April 2025: Artist Statements & Cultural Relevance Statements Workshop
May 2025: None, meet up at NQAF Workshop
June 2025: Mid-way Program Evaluation, meet up at NQAF Workshop
July 2025: None
August 2025: Headshots Workshop
September 2025: Marketing and Communications Workshop
October 2025-November 2025: No workshops due to production preparation for the Fall 2025 CQC1 Showcase

Compensation

All selected artists will receive a $500 commission to produce new work for the 2025 Fall Queer Arts Festival as well as honoraria of $75 per workshop ( workshops, honorarium total of $450). The total combined compensation for each artist will be $950, including the commission and workshop honoraria.

Important Dates

Tuesday, September 25, 2024, 6:00 to 8:00 pm PST	Online information session. Recording & slides will be posted on this webpage after the live session is over. We highly encourage all prospective applicants to attend the information session or review the materials if you can’t make it live, prior to submitting your application. REGISTER NOW!
November 5, 2024, 11:59pm PST	Applications due.
November 18 – 22, 2024	Interviews
November 27, 2024	QCC staff notifies accepted applicants by email.
December 11, 2024	Orientation (in-person, meal provided) for selected CQC Level One cohort members. This orientation is mandatory, so please mark your calendars!
December – September 2024	Monthly workshops, to be scheduled in alignment with cohort members’ availability provided at the beginning of the program. Some will be in-person in San Francisco and Oakland, some will be online. All are mandatory for selected cohort members.
October/November 2024	Fall Queer Arts Festival in-person in San Francisco and Oakland. Includes CQC Level One cohort artist showcase.

Frequently asked questions

Don’t see your question listed? Please email any questions or comments to QCC’s Program Manager Djérae Lucas: [email protected].

Q: I want to be in the National Queer Arts Festival. Does the CQC program connect me to that?

A: Sure does! CQC Level 1 & 2 cohort participants will be commissioned to make work for the CQC showcase, a vital part of our updated Spring and Fall National Queer Arts Festivals. This open call is for the CQC Level 1 cohort, which will perform in the 2025 Fall Queer Arts Festival in Oct/Nov 2025.

Q: How do I get paid?

A: You’ll need to sign up for QCC’s Gusto payment system, including your banking info, legal name, and uploading a W9.

Q: Will not having a work sample reflect negatively on my application?

A: Having a work sample is not mandatory for first level applicants. If you have work samples to share, it will help give our panel a better understanding of your work.

Q: How many hours is each workshop?

A: Each workshop varies. Some will be on the shorter side, about 90 minutes. Most workshops will last 2-3 hours.

Q: Are all the workshops required?

A: Yes. In order to participate fully and get the most out of the CQC program, workshops are required. If you are unable to attend live, we can arrange for you to make up the material for one or two workshops.

Q: Can I apply with a collaborator?

A: No. CQC Level One is targeted to individual artists. The CQC Level Two cohort, whose application opens in spring 2025, is open to collaborative acts / arts collectives.

Q: Are San Jose City and Contra Costa County considered SF/Bay Area?

A: Yes! QCC considers the Bay Area to include the 9 counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, and Sonoma counties. Please note that some activities will be in person in Oakland and San Francisco.

Q: Do I have to report the new work commission and workshop honorarium on my taxes?

A: The total between honoraria and new work commission per cohort member is $950. Since that amount is greater than $600, QCC is legally obligated to report the income on a 1099 for all artists. The second workshop in our CQC Level 1 series is on the subject of Taxes for Artists, where you can learn more about how to manage your income and expenses against your individual tax liability.

Q: Can the piece I perform in the Fall 2025 Queer Arts Festival be less than 15 minutes long?

A: Yes! Your project can be under 15 minutes but can NOT exceed 15 min.

Q: How many people will be selected for the 2025 CQC Level One artist cohort?

A: For 2025, our budget and staff capacity allows us to select up to four individual artists as members of the Creating Queer Communities Level One cohort. We hope to expand this number in the future.

Q: Am I required to attend the information session before submitting my application?

A: We highly encourage all prospective applicants to attend the information session or review the materials if you can’t make it live, prior to submitting your application. The information session is designed to help applicants put together the strongest possible application. It is to your advantage to attend live on Wednesday, September 25th or review the materials afterward. Please register here.

About Queer Cultural Center

Queer Cultural Center promotes social justice and the artistic and financial development of queer art and culture. We steward artists whose programs nourish, connect, and mobilize trans & queer communities in San Francisco and its diaspora. QCC’s services for artists include fiscal sponsorship and hands-on training with financial literacy, fundraising, and capacity building. Since our founding in 1993, QCC has served an estimated 125,000 LGBTQIA2S+ San Franciscans and the 350,000 LGBTQIA2S+ residents of the greater regional SF Bay Area. We’ve curated 26 consecutive month-long National Queer Arts Festivals featuring work from more than 2,500 LGBTQIA2S+ artists. QCC’s artist services has supported over 50 Bay Area LGBTQIA2S+ artists and arts organizations to secure over $9.2 million in programmatic and general operating funds.