The Create Change 2026 application will open on Monday, November 10th. 

Register here for one of our upcoming information sessions

• Bronx: Thursday, November 6, 6:00-7:00p 
• Brooklyn: Thursday, November 13, 6:00-7:00p
• Staten Island: Thursday, November 20, 6:00-7:00p
• Queens: Tuesday, December 2, 6:00-7:00p
• Manhattan: Wednesday, December 10, 6:00-7:00p

ABOUT THE LAUNDROMAT PROJECT

The Laundromat Project is an arts organization that advances artists and neighbors as change agents in their own communities. We make art and culture in community while fostering leadership among our neighbors through our celebrated Create Change artist development programs, and our creative community-building initiatives across New York City.

CREATE CHANGE 2026

The Laundromat Project invites all NYC-based artists, activists, neighbors, designers, organizers, healers, storytellers, and cultural producers to apply for the 2026 Create Change program as we explore social practices through a community engagement lens. 

The 2026 Open Call marks a milestone: 20 years of community-rooted visioning and the launch of a new two-year residency. This moment invites us to reconsider how we understand time—not as linear, but as symmetrical, layered, and reciprocal.

Drawing from African diasporic temporalities, quantum physics, and oral tradition, this Open Call explores time as a relational field—where memory, ritual, cosmology, and imagination converge. What happens when the past loops into the future, or when the act of remembering becomes a portal?

Artists are invited to respond to the rhythms of time: through ritual, rupture, reverberation, and regeneration. As we celebrate 20 years, we honor not just what has come before—but the alternate timelines we’ve seeded, the ancestral echoes that guide us, and the speculative worlds still forming.

                   Citation: Black Quantum Futurism: Theory & Practice, Rasheeda Philips

We invite artists who explore time not only as duration but as rhythm, echo, cycle, and loop. How does your practice engage with deep time, speculative time, or community memory?

OPEN CALL TIMELINE 

• Application Opens | November 10, 2025
• Application Closes | December 15, 2025
• Award Notification | February 2026

PROGRAM TRACKS

The Create Change 2026 Program has 3 opportunities:

• The Create Change Fellowship
• The Create Change Residency
• The Bed-Stuy Residency

The Create Change Fellowship | March – September 2026

The Create Change Fellowship is a six-month incubator for multiracial artists and cultural producers committed to art for social transformation. The program is grounded in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, though Fellows are not required to live there. Fellows receive training on working in community as a practice, cultural organizing, policy advocacy, and project planning. They work in small interdisciplinary groups, each paired with a community partner aligned with priority neighborhood concerns.

Throughout the program, Fellows will:

• Engage in hands-on workshops;
• Co-develop responsive and reciprocal creative projects alongside community partners;
• Participate in public sharing moments, including Field Day 2026, where prototypes, activations, and research-in-progress will be shared with neighbors and broader publics. 

This is a process-forward program focused on providing transformative and supportive experiences, workshops, and mentorships that foster intentional community creation. Fellows are supported with a stipend of $1,500, production budget, and access to The Laundromat Project’s intergenerational alumni network of artists, organizers, and cultural workers. Fellows commit an average of 6–8 hours per month (approx. 50 hours total). 

Up to 12 Fellows will be selected to participate in the 2026 program.

The Create Change Residency | March 2026 - December 2027

The Create Change Artist-in-Residence (AiR) program supports the development of participatory and community-attuned creative projects by artists of color working within their communities. Projects may take place anywhere in the five boroughs, either in person or virtually, across various community sites, from laundromats and urban gardens to playgrounds and community centers. 

AiRs develop and execute detailed art projects that address relevant issues and engage the community. They participate in community events, lead workshops or public discussions, and collaborate with other artists and community members. The program includes workshop sessions alongside the Create Change Fellows, monthly cohort coaching sessions, and professional development mentorship. AiRs receive an honorarium of $20,000, a $10,000 production budget, and access to in-depth resources, including specialized materials and advanced professional networks, per year in the program.

Starting in 2026, the AiR program operates on a 2-year cycle to deepen artistic practice, strengthen community relationships, and increase long-term neighborhood impact.

• Year 1: Focus on deepening practice in place, early-stage project development, and collaborative exploration through Open Studios. Includes individualized coaching, peer learning, and early planning for public work.
• Year 2: Focus on project implementation, leadership, and partnership engagement aligned with community priority areas (Climate Justice, Economic Justice, Health Equity, Displacement Prevention). Culminates in GATHER, an annual celebration featuring a conversation with and reflections from our 2026 Create Change Artists-in-Residence. 

Up to 4 Create Change Artists-in-Residence will be selected to participate in the 2026-2027 program.

The Create Change Bed-Stuy Residency | March 2026 - December 2027

The Create Change Bed-Stuy Residency program supports the development of participatory and community-attuned creative projects by artists of color who live, work, or are otherwise invested in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. Projects may take place anywhere in Bed-Stuy, either in person or virtually, across various community sites, from laundromats and urban gardens to playgrounds and community centers. 

Bed-Stuy AiRs develop and execute detailed art projects that address relevant issues and engage the community. They participate in community events, lead workshops or public discussions, and collaborate with other artists and community members. The program includes workshop sessions alongside the Create Change Fellows, monthly cohort coaching sessions, and professional development mentorship. Bed-Stuy AiRs receive an honorarium of $20,000, a $10,000 production budget, and access to in-depth resources, including specialized materials and advanced professional networks, per year in the program.

Starting in 2026, the Bed-Stuy AiR program operates on a 2-year cycle to deepen artistic practice, strengthen community relationships, and increase long-term neighborhood impact.

• Year 1: Focus on deepening practice in place, early-stage project development, and collaborative exploration through Open Studios. Includes individualized coaching, peer learning, and early planning for public work.
• Year 2: Focus on project implementation, leadership, and partnership engagement aligned with community priority areas (Climate Justice, Economic Justice, Health Equity, Displacement Prevention). Culminates in GATHER, an annual celebration featuring a conversation with and reflections from our 2026 Create Change Artists-in-Residence.

1 Bed-Stuy Artists-in-Residence will be selected to participate in the 2026-2027 program.