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.

Geeta Dave is a painter from Prairieville, LA, whose work incorporates the wildlife and culture of her childhood in Indi...
09/01/2026

Geeta Dave is a painter from Prairieville, LA, whose work incorporates the wildlife and culture of her childhood in India. In her Take Notice Fund interview, Geeta talks about growing up surrounded by animals, how she was drawn to art from an early age, and the evolution of her artistic career after she moved to the United States. "I don’t want to lose my Indian touch," Geeta says. "My question is how can I incorporate it? That is a wonderful, but challenging, opportunity.”

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

Pictured: Geeta Dave with one of her paintings.

08/27/2026

Diaspora Vibe Cultural Arts Incubator (DVCAI) () is a local and global incubator based in Miami, Florida, that nurtures and exhibits emerging artists from Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Caribbean diaspora. In Part 3 of their Strata interview, Rosie Gordon-Wallace, Founder and Curator, and Tanya Desdunes, Executive Director, discuss the organization as a body politic, and the Caribbean crossroads their work inhabits.

Strata, a cultural political conversation from NPN, explores the role of cultural work on our journey to collective liberation through conversations with cultural workers, artists, and movement thinkers.

This interview was recorded in 2024. To learn more about Strata and NPN National Partner DVCAI: https://npnweb.org/strata/episode-dvcai/

08/26/2026

Diaspora Vibe Cultural Arts Incubator (DVCAI) () is a local and global incubator based in Miami, Florida, that nurtures and exhibits emerging artists from Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Caribbean diaspora. In Part 2 of their Strata interview, Rosie Gordon-Wallace, Founder and Curator, and Tanya Desdunes, Executive Director, explain what it means to be of the diaspora, and how artists can "make the noise" that elevates social issues.

Strata, a cultural political conversation from NPN, explores the role of cultural work on our journey to collective liberation through conversations with cultural workers, artists, and movement thinkers.

This interview was recorded in 2024. To learn more about Strata and NPN National Partner DVCAI: https://npnweb.org/strata/episode-dvcai/

08/25/2026

Diaspora Vibe Cultural Arts Incubator (DVCAI) is a local and global incubator based in Miami, Florida, that nurtures and exhibits emerging artists from Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Caribbean diaspora. In Part 1 of their Strata interview, Rosie Gordon-Wallace, Founder and Curator, and Tanya Desdunes, Executive Director, discuss the lack of adequate support for today’s emerging diaspora artists, and DVCAI’s work with Black curators to answer the question, "Who is nurturing whom?"

Strata, a cultural political conversation from NPN, explores the role of cultural work on our journey to collective liberation through conversations with cultural workers, artists, and movement thinkers.

This interview was recorded in 2024. To learn more about Strata and NPN National Partner DVCAI: https://npnweb.org/strata/episode-dvcai/

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Credits:

Artists works by Aisha Tandiwe Bell, Amanda Bradley, Yacine T. Fall, Rosa Naday Garmendia, Miguel Keerveld, Kurt Nahar, Devora Perez, Asser Saint-Val, and LA Samuelson.

Video footage by Amadeus McCaskill.

Courtesy of the artists and Diaspora Vibe Cultural Arts Incubator.

Design and production by Big Tada.

Full credits and resources available at: https://npnweb.org/strata/

15 years ago, with the support of the NPN Performance Residency program, Lebanese American artist Andrea Assaf premiered...
08/24/2026

15 years ago, with the support of the NPN Performance Residency program, Lebanese American artist Andrea Assaf premiered "Eleven Reflections on September," a spoken word and multimedia performance with live music that explored the Middle Eastern American experience, the "Wars on/of Terror," and the cycle of life and death in a post-9/11 world.

This September, to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the tragedy of September 11th and the wars that followed, Andrea will be joined by other artists and special guests for two performances of "11Reflections: NYC," a production that builds on her earlier work and centers voices too often absent from the national conversation on the impact of 9/11—particularly MENA/SWANA and artists of color.

"11Reflections: NYC"
September 11 & 12 at HERE Main Stage, NYC.

Learn more and buy tickets: https://here.org/shows/11reflections-nyc/

"11Reflections: NYC" is a production of NPN National Partner Art2Action in collaboration with HERE Arts Center and the MENA Theater Makers Alliance.

08/24/2026

Save the Date! NPN's 2027 Conference will take place October 18-21, 2027 in Philadelphia, PA. We welcome people across the arts and social justice sectors in building a collective future rooted in justice and joy. We hope you’ll join us!

Here's a recap of last year's conference: https://npnweb.org/ac2025/

Congratulations to Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre, one of this year’s NPN Creation Fund collectives. “Gathering Initiative” co...
08/23/2026

Congratulations to Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre, one of this year’s NPN Creation Fund collectives. “Gathering Initiative” combines storytelling, movement, and audience participation to tell the joyful and heartbreaking story of a Palestinian wedding that takes a tragic turn after an attack on the village. The work centers gathering itself as an act of celebration, mourning, resilience, and resistance against erasure. Through research, relationship-building, and creative exchange with community partners, Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre seeks to develop a framework for creating participatory performances rooted in local collaboration, collective storytelling, and embodied creative practice.

The NPN Creation Fund supports the development of new artistic works that advance racial and cultural justice. To learn more: https://npnweb.org/announcing-the-2026-creation-fund-artists/

Photo by Emilie Charransol.

Congratulations to Vershawn Sanders-Ward, one of this year’s NPN Creation Fund artists. “WE THE PEOPLE,” a multi-year ch...
08/22/2026

Congratulations to Vershawn Sanders-Ward, one of this year’s NPN Creation Fund artists. “WE THE PEOPLE,” a multi-year choreographic and community engagement initiative grounded in the artist’s Embodied Community Engagement Praxis, centers movement as a site where law, history, memory, and lived experience intersect, allowing participants to engage with concepts of access, exclusion, agency, and collective responsibility. “WE THE PEOPLE” examines the 14th Amendment’s evolving role in defining citizenship and equal protection, and how belonging is embodied, contested, and reimagined, particularly within Black communities navigating ongoing systems of racial and civic exclusion.

The NPN Creation Fund supports the development of new artistic works that advance racial and cultural justice. To learn more: https://npnweb.org/announcing-the-2026-creation-fund-artists/

Photo by Raymond Jerome Photography.

Congratulations to Monique Franklin aka Verbal Oasis, one of this year’s NPN Creation Fund artists. “Mama’z Muezzeum” is...
08/21/2026

Congratulations to Monique Franklin aka Verbal Oasis, one of this year’s NPN Creation Fund artists. “Mama’z Muezzeum” is a multi-sensory performance, spoken word, and immersive altar installation project exploring African ancestral healing, Black motherhood, ritual, and communal storytelling. Through performance, ancestral altar installations, healing affirmations, audience participation, and community-centered engagement, “Mama’z Muezzeum” creates sacred space for Black mothers and communities to gather, reflect, and engage in collective healing practices for our ancestors and their families rooted in African diasporic traditions.

The NPN Creation Fund supports the development of new artistic works that advance racial and cultural justice. To learn more: https://npnweb.org/announcing-the-2026-creation-fund-artists/

Photo by Sean Cokes.

Congratulations to Team Sunshine Performance, one of this year’s NPN Creation Fund collectives. Team Sunshine’s “Mister ...
08/20/2026

Congratulations to Team Sunshine Performance, one of this year’s NPN Creation Fund collectives. Team Sunshine’s “Mister Saigon” examines the experiences of Asian American male theater artists through interviews with performers of the musical “Miss Saigon.” The piece explores identity, representation, cultural expectations, and the pressures Asian American men navigate both within the performing arts industry and beyond.

The NPN Creation Fund supports the development of new artistic works that advance racial and cultural justice. To learn more: https://npnweb.org/announcing-the-2026-creation-fund-artists/

Photo by Lindsay Browning.

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