National Performance Network

National Performance Network As an artist-centered, field-generated network, the National Performance Network is unique in its structure.

The National Performance Network (NPN) supports artists in the creation and touring of new work, and advances racial and cultural justice in the arts presenting field. Its active and engaged network of presenters form an interconnected web or relationships through which support and services are strategically designed, effectively distributed, and successfully leveraged.

Repost from •Join us for the 25th Anniversary FRESH MEAT FESTIVAL ‼️3 unforgettable nights of groundbreaking performance...
06/05/2026

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Join us for the 25th Anniversary FRESH MEAT FESTIVAL ‼️3 unforgettable nights of groundbreaking performance featuring boundary-pushing dance, music, drag, theater, and interdisciplinary performance! We’re celebrating 25 years of trans and q***r artistry, resilience, and joy!🎉

For 25 years, the FRESH MEAT FESTIVAL has been a home for trans, q***r, and gender-expansive artists to take the stage boldly, unapologetically, and brilliantly. This June, we gather to celebrate a legacy of artistry, resistance, joy, survival, and community unlike anywhere else in the world.

📣Featuring world premieres by:
B. DeVeaux
Pangaea
Shawn Lee with Bay Area Independent Chinese Dancers
JanpiStar

🌟 Plus performances by:
Filipino American drag supergroup Filipinx .pinx
New Voices Bay Area Transgender, Intersex & Genderq***r Chorus
Zuzu Beloved .beloved
Shawna Virago
Sean Dorsey Dance

✨This is more than a performance festival. It’s a celebration of trans and q***r brilliance, community resilience, and the power of gathering together in a time when coming together matters deeply.

✨ Arrive early for our pre-show red carpet celebration featuring:
📸 Photo booth
🎶 Music + community gathering
💃 Red carpet glamour moments
❤️ Joy, connection, and celebration!

Audiences are encouraged to dress in formal “red carpet” attire and celebrate 25 years with us in style.

📍 Z Space
450 Florida Street, San Francisco

🗓️ June 19–21, 2026
Friday, June 19 @ 8PM
Saturday, June 20 @ 8PM
Sunday, June 21 @ 3PM

Repost from •On June 12, 2026, “Excavación del presente / A Tender Excavation” opens at CECUT / Tijuana Cultural Center ...
06/05/2026

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On June 12, 2026, “Excavación del presente / A Tender Excavation” opens at CECUT / Tijuana Cultural Center () in Mexico. This is the first international traveling exhibition for the organization in its 48-year history!

Expanding on its original presentation at The Luckman Gallery, the exhibition has been thoughtfully reimagined for one of CECUT’s 5,000-square-foot galleries.

Artists featured in the exhibition include Zeynep Abes, Susu Attar, Jamil G Baldwin, Mely Barragán, Artemisa Clark, Arleene Correa Valencia, Mercedes Dorame, Prima Jalichandra-Sakuntabhai, Leah King, Tarrah Krajnak, Heesoo Kwon, Ann Le, Arlene Mejorado, Star Montana, and Camille Wong.

This partnership reflects our shared commitment to fostering binational dialogue at a moment when the border remains a site of intense political scrutiny. Visit the link in our bio to learn more about the public programs presented by LACE and CECUT.

“Courage,” writes cultural strategist Roberto Bedoya, “is not linked to the lone, brave soul who runs into a burning hou...
06/05/2026

“Courage,” writes cultural strategist Roberto Bedoya, “is not linked to the lone, brave soul who runs into a burning house to save lives, but the fire bucket brigade that, as a unit, works to put out the fire." In his recent essay, “The Courage of Imagination, A Pro-Democracy Movement, and the Civic We,” he offers an analysis of today’s authoritarian efforts to dismantle civic life, challenges to arts philanthropy, and remedies for civic trauma.

Read Roberto Bedoya's article: https://reader.giarts.org/read/courage-imagination-civic-we

Pictured: Roberto Bedoya

When external forces threaten our organizations, we pay attention. But what about the cracks that form from within? “Tra...
05/29/2026

When external forces threaten our organizations, we pay attention. But what about the cracks that form from within? “Transforming Our Organizations, Transforming Ourselves” from Convergence Magazine, featuring NPN Director of Racial Justice and Movement Building Sage Crump and other movement leaders, offers examples of how organizations are navigating the pressures of 2026, from re-examining urgency to addressing anti-Blackness to clarifying roles and decision-making.

Read the full article: https://convergencemag.com/articles/transforming-our-organizations-and-ourselves/

”We Are the Promised Land” is a multimedia altar to Black land legacies in the Mississippi Hill Country curated by Annet...
05/26/2026

”We Are the Promised Land” is a multimedia altar to Black land legacies in the Mississippi Hill Country curated by Annette Hollowell (Foxfire Ranch) and free feral, with support from NPN's 2021 Creation Fund, 2023 Development Fund, and 2024 Documentation & Storytelling Fund. With all the Black land loss stories in Mississippi, this project explores how the Hollowell family has kept their land for over a century, and what it has cost them.

Experience the audio altar, listen to the podcast, and join the Substack community: https://www.wearethepromisedland.net/

Each month, NPN’s staff and board engage with a reading that deepens our understanding of how to embed liberatory practi...
05/22/2026

Each month, NPN’s staff and board engage with a reading that deepens our understanding of how to embed liberatory practices throughout our work. This month we're recommending “Building Resilient Organizations: Toward Joy and Durable Power in a Time of Crisis” by Maurice Mitchell. The article explores how movements on the Left can overcome internal obstacles that impede progress and sap resources, and it will be the subject of a free webinar by Nonprofit Quarterly (NPQ) on May 28.

Join us in this reading, watch an interview with the author, or sign up for the free webinar: https://nonprofitquarterly.org/building-resilient-organizations-toward-joy-and-durable-power-in-a-time-of-crisis/

The Collective Learning Series is organized by NPN’s Department of Racial Justice and Movement Building (DRJaM).

Pictured: “Building Resilient Organizations" author Maurice Mitchell.

Where do the stories we carry come from, and what happens when we weave new ones? Card 22 of the Mixed Metaphor Liberato...
05/22/2026

Where do the stories we carry come from, and what happens when we weave new ones? Card 22 of the Mixed Metaphor Liberatory Learning Deck, “Storytelling,” invites reflection on the narratives that shape us, who gets to tell them, and the power of crafting liberated narratives toward the world we want.

“History is not the past. It is the stories we tell about the past. How we tell these stories... has a lot to do with whether we cut short or advance our evolution as human beings.” —Grace Lee Boggs

Explore this card and others in our interactive version of the Mixed Metaphor Liberatory Learning Deck: https://npnweb.org/field/resources/lane/mixedmetaphor/learning-deck/

Repost from •known mass no. 6: SPACE / in residency at .gallery music by f. mendelssohntickets are now live at knownmass...
05/18/2026

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known mass no. 6: SPACE /
in residency at .gallery
music by f. mendelssohn

tickets are now live at knownmass.com (link in bio). i’m performing the piece daily at 6pm and 8pm from may 24 to june 6. the show lasts 1 hour. i am selling tickets as a pair, so there is only one set of tickets being sold per show. e.g., if you’d like to come at 8pm on friday, may 29, you should lock it in now, because there is only one pair of tickets available for purchase. bring a friend, bring a date, bring your mom, etc.

someone asked me if they could bring a third person - excellent question. the answer is: no more than two, no less than two in the audience. (the piece is built for two people and only works for two people.)



this work asks the two audience members to perform the following simple gestures:

hold a piece of fruit

walk a short distance in the gallery

sit in a chair

turn in a slow circle



you will receive very clear directions and the stakes will not be high (and the only people watching will be you and the person you came with).



i’m also teaching two workshops this sunday (may 17) talking about the process of making the piece, explaining various aspects of the structure and the tools i used, sharing things i learned from years of training with deborah hay (weirdo choreography master), and of course taking participants through an adapted version of the performance score (but without any of the performance spoilers). links to those classes are also in bio.

this project is part of a year of solo dance research funded by .

05/15/2026

“It is brave that you are here. It is brave that we have come this way to gather — not to wait, not to ask permission, but to remember.”
— Stephanie McKee-Anderson, Executive Artistic Director, Junebug Productions

“Whether you came here for joy, commiseration, connection, strategies, or solace, we are so glad you’re here!”
— Caitlin Strokosch, President & CEO, NPN

Three days. Hundreds of artists, organizers, and cultural workers. One river.

When NPN held its 2025 National Conference in New Orleans this past October, it was our first in-person gathering in six years and the start of our 40th anniversary year. Today we’re happy to share with you some highlights from those three days together. Whether you’re revisiting memories with us or experiencing the conference for the first time, we hope you enjoy this look back.

🎥 Featuring voices from across the network.

📸 Photos by Melisa Cardona and Roy Wallace.

“There’s a reckoning with our past that happens through Southern Gothic film,” writer and director Zandashé Brown says i...
05/15/2026

“There’s a reckoning with our past that happens through Southern Gothic film,” writer and director Zandashé Brown says in her Take Notice Fund interview. She describes her work as Black Southern Gothic horror, a genre "at the intersection of horror, psychology, and spirituality" that explores the culture of the Black South through reclaimed spiritual traditions, personal upheavals, and the oral storytelling tradition of rural Louisiana where she grew up.

Read the full interview on our Voices from the Network blog:
https://npnweb.org/an-interview-with-zandashe-brown/

Pictured: Zandashé Brown on the set of a film.

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