Following an incredibly successful, in-person conference in August of 2021, The New Harmony Project is seeking a diverse cohort of applicants for a two-week residency in May of 2022.
The New Harmony Project announced today that it is accepting applications for the 2022 Spring Conference, to be held May 23 - June 5, 2022. Since 1986, the secluded town of New Harmony, Indiana has hosted artists from around the world for two weeks of dedicated script development. Over the course of the conference, The New Harmony Project offers a retreat from the outside world and space for writers to fully immerse themselves in their work. The peaceful serenity of New Harmony, the site of two former utopian societies, is a world away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.
The 2022 conference will provide resident writers with an opportunity to invite a collaborator of their choosing to join the company of artists along the banks of the Wabash River. During the course of the retreat, writers and artists are provided full room, board, transportation, and a modest stipend for their time, and no artist has any out of pocket expense. Writers are provided time and space to reflect and rejuvenate, informal salons to share works in process, and support and care from The New Harmony Project’s staff and team. 2021 participant Erika Dickerson-Despenza describes The New Harmony Project as, “A place and community of love and care where one can simply be, write and be some more!”
Applications are being accepted online through December 3rd at newharmonyproject.org/apply, and interested applicants are encouraged to visit the website for full details and information. There is no application fee. The New Harmony Project recognizes that it is a historically white organization, and is committed to becoming more equitable, just, and antiracist. The 2022 conference will reflect our commitment to create a meaningful community of belonging. To ensure that “no person is an island,” The New Harmony Project will ask writers to provide information about their identity in addition to the full application.
The New Harmony Project boasts an impressive roster of past participants including Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning writer Robert Schenkkan (All the Way, The Great Society), Meredith Stiehm (Emmy Winner, Homeland, Cold Case), Rajiv Joseph (King James, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo), Erika Dickerson-Despenza (cullud wattah), Steven Dietz (Lonely Planet), Danny Strong (Emmy winner, Empire, Lee Daniels’ The Butler), Donnetta Lavinia Grays (Where We Stand, Manhunt), Ngozi Anyanwu (The Homecoming Queen, Good Grief), Isaac Gómez (I am not your Perfect Mexican Daughter), Vichet Chum (Bald Sisters), Dan O’Brien (The Body of an American), George Brant (Grounded, Marie and Rosetta), Idris Goodwin (How We Got On, The Way the Mountain Moved), Regina Taylor (Drowning Crow, Crowns), James Still (four-time Pulitzer Prize nominee, The Velocity of Gary), Anna Ziegler (Photograph 51, Actually), Jim Leonard (Major Crimes, Dexter), Mark St. Germain (Freud’s Last Session), Theresa Rebeck (NBC’s Smash, Seminar, Bernhardt/Hamlet), Lee Blessing (Tony and Pulitzer Prize nominee, A Walk in the Woods), Angelo Pizzo (Rudy, Hoosiers), Matt Williams (five-time Emmy nominee, Home Improvement, Roseanne), David McFadzean (three-time Emmy nominee, Home Improvement, Roseanne), and numerous others.
In April of 1986, a group of theater, film, and television professionals gathered in Indianapolis to explore the trend in the entertainment arts toward exploitative and sensational material. They concluded there was a need to engage and support writers whose work sought a goal beyond mere entertainment, work that sought to empower and uplift. It was out of this meeting that The New Harmony Project was created. For 36 years, The Project has inspired a community of artists dedicated to this mission, motivated by a desire to support stories of hope, optimism, and the resiliency of the human spirit. The New Harmony Project is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. For information on how to support this unique and worthwhile organization, please visit newharmonyproject.org, or follow us on social media.