The Public Theater (Artistic Director, Oskar Eustis; Executive Director, Patrick Willingham) announced today it is hosting cultural critic Jose Solís’ BIPOC Critics Lab in the 2023-2024 season. Following a successful two-year collaboration with The Kennedy Center, The Public is honored to continue founder Jose Solís’ commitment to creating an educational space for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) writers in the realm of cultural criticism. Applications for the cohort are open now and will be available through Sunday, April 30.
Sessions for the Lab will span over the course of The Public’s 2023-2024 season, and those chosen to participate will receive offers to join the cohort in mid-June, with the cohort officially beginning in July during The Public’s Free Shakespeare in the Park production of HAMLET. This iteration of the cohort will be a hybrid model of in-person and online sessions. Applicants local to NYC or living in the tri-state area will be prioritized. For more information on The Public’s iteration of the BIPOC Critics Lab and to apply, visit publictheater.org.
“I am thrilled that The Public will continue to build upon its work with the BIPOC Critics Lab as we host the next iteration during our 2023-2024 season,” shared Public Theater Executive Director Patrick Willingham. “Throughout our partnership with the Lab over the past three years, we have had the opportunity to work with Jose Solís and amplify his mission as we work to give space to and commission the next generation of cultural critics, a commitment that directly aligns with our organization-wide Cultural Transformation Plan. Hosting the Lab is a perfect next step in supporting Solís’s vital work as we continue to champion diversity within arts journalism and the theater industry as a whole.”
In an effort to further the movement initiated by Jose Solís and to expand both past and present cohorts’ networks, The Public welcomes theaters in New York City, arts and cultural press agencies, and regional theaters around the world to collaborate with the Lab’s early career BIPOC journalists for future commissioning opportunities. To learn more, please email BIPOCCriticsLab [at] publictheater.org.
“Since the program first began three years ago, over 30 BIPOC critics have had their works published via assignments set up by the Lab, with many of them going on to continue successful careers as freelancers, editors, and staff reporters for various outlets across the U.S.,” shared founder Jose Solís. “The Public has been an invaluable supporter of the Lab since its inception. I’m overjoyed to be working with an arts organization that not only has kept all the promises made to the BIPOC theater community in 2020, but has gone beyond in order to create a more inclusive field. The Public has made me feel like family and that’s an indescribable feeling. With a Lab hosted and funded by them, the sky is truly the limit. ”
