Chicago Puppet Lab 2027 Cohort

About this call

The Chicago Puppet Lab is a puppet theater incubator and residency programme run by the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival that supports artists in bringing new works of puppet theater to life. The programme accepts eight artists or artist groups for an eight-month in-person laboratory process led by co-directors Tom Lee, Grace Needlman and Vanessa Valliere. Lab artists attend weekly meetings where they share and discuss work, meet deadlines and learn from one another and from expert guest artists. The Lab's stated goals are to incubate more boundary-breaking puppetry in Chicago, to expand equity in the field, and to encourage interdisciplinary experimentation. The programme ends with a mini-festival of live works in progress of roughly fifteen to twenty minutes, staged in Chicago at the Raven Theatre from 12 to 15 August 2027, and each project receives a stipend of 1,000 dollars along with documentation, technical support, stage management and marketing support. Chicago-based artists or artist groups who are not enrolled as full-time students may apply. Artists do not need experience in puppetry, but the application has to show how puppet, puppet-manipulation or object-manipulation is an essential component of the proposed project. Applications close on 22 October 2026 and the cohort is confirmed by 1 December.

Who can apply

• Regional applicants
• Medium: Performance / Sculpture / Installation
• Entry fee: See official site
• Open to Chicago-based artists or artist groups who are not enrolled as full-time students. Projects must be works of live puppetry designed for a theater, at any stage of development; pre-recorded elements are allowed but the work should be primarily live performance, and work designed for community, promenade, spectacle or classroom settings is out of scope. Experience in puppetry is not required, but the application must show how puppet, puppet-manipulation or object-manipulation is an essential component. Accepted artists commit to weekly in-person Monday evening sessions at the Fine Arts Building in downtown Chicago from February to July 2027 and to the works-in-progress showings at the Raven Theatre from 12 to 15 August 2027. The application asks for contact details, links to work samples, and one PDF containing a resume, a 500 word project proposal and images of the proposed project. No application fee is stated on the call page or the application form.