A unique point of access for community-driven expression, healing, & togetherness!
2023-2024 Resident Artists
“I am the happiest when I’m recording and performing my original music, because it allows me to connect with people from different backgrounds. Happiness is contagious; leaving a lasting impact on the audience and community at large.”
Amira B
Amira B is an “NYC-based soulful, R&B singer-songwriter, and head turner” (Jukely). Her sound blends soul, R&B, jazz, and funk, topped off by her sultry vocals. ‘Songwriting Magazine’ has compared her to artists like Joss Stone, Amy Winehouse, and Ms. Lauryn Hill.
She has released numerous singles and EPs, including her single ‘Do You,’ which received favorable reviews from critics. Her music has been featured on Spotify Editorial Playlists, charted on Hype Machine, and earned airplay on WFUV FM Radio. Amira has performed at prestigious venues across the country and internationally, including the Outreach Music Festival in Austria.
Whether she’s on stage, in the studio, or teaching young children, Amira’s powerful songs send a clear message of empowerment infused with love and positivity, aiming to spread joy and inspire others.
“Amira B’s ‘Do You’ is an uplifting soulful record we all need. The record brims [with] lush, soulful textures…accentuated by B’s honeyed vocals and uplifting lyrics which lean towards self-love and acceptance on all levels.” — Hip Hop Magz
The grand prize winner of last season’s Upper West Side Talent Show hosted by Goddard Riverside returns to the Bernie Wohl Center, where she will be in residence to compose and produce her first full studio album. The residency’s support will allow Amira to access a full range of instrumentation (trumpet, trombone, saxophone etc.) bringing her music to life like never before, culminating in a special night of sharing new music with the Goddard Riverside Community.
“Stories hold the essence of human life. We yearn for them to help us understand our own story. I recognize the importance of two things for the health of the body; non-judgmental mind towards self and others, and expressing that which is repressed; finding it and naming it and sharing it.”
Fay Simpson
Fay Van Alstyne Simpson is the Artistic Director of Impact Theatre, co-founded in 1990 as a collective of physical theater artists devising theatre for social change. Fay founded The Veterans Project working with a company of veterans and actors to devise works that speak to the needs of the returning soldier, inspired by her husband’s military service. Jenny Pacanowski joins as the Associate Director. Trained as a combat medic, Jenny Pacanowski was part of providing medical support to convoys in Iraq. She is the Founder and Director of Women Veterans Empowered & Thriving; a reintegration program that utilizes writing and performance to empower the veteran’s experiences and facilitate skills to thrive in daily life. “With insight and compassion”, the residency at Goddard Riverside is a “holistic project of healing and empathy to help bridge the gap between veterans and civilians on the Upper West Side” in the form of a workshop and performances.
“For most of my life I have felt as if I had one foot nailed to the floor and all I could do was go in circles. I am learning to work with my PTSD. I have prayed for my whole life for this simple insight. I have been dead. I am coming to life. I am deeply grateful [to Impact Theatre’s Veterans Project].” -Everett Cox, Veteran
“Thank you! What amazing, thoughtful, and thought-provoking work. It’s the best interactive, really challenging social justice theater work that I’ve seen…” -Professor Cecilia Rubino, Audience Member
Informed by her 20-year career in dance and theater, Fay created The Lucid Body, a process of introspection, exertion, and mental challenge that empowers actors and dancers to express their fullest potential and has since gone on to be taught around the world and from which Fay has become a published author. The Lucid Body; A Guide for the Physical Actor (Allworth, 2008) was released in August 2020 as a 2nd edition. Head of Movement and Associate Arts Professor in the Graduate Acting Program at the Tisch School of the Arts, NYU, she also coaches actors for TV, stage, and screen. She is a Qualified Intimacy Choreographer with credits at the Classical Theater of Harlem, Ars Nova, and Shubert Theater, among many others.
“I aim to inspire audiences to physically sense emotional and psychological aspects of the human condition onstage, and connect to their own expansive potential. My most recent choreographic works center around a mission of accessibility with a focus on trauma and embodied healing through trust and community. I seek to broaden the perspectives of my audience members and allow them to lean into emotions that are often neglected.”
Teresa Fellion
Teresa Fellion Dance is a contemporary dance company of womxn and non-binary individuals that captures and communicates universal human encounters through dynamic, purposeful movement. BodyStories’ mission is to examine depths of society in their darkest and brightest moments, inspiring audiences to physically sense emotional and psychological aspects of the human condition through dance. They are committed to creating accessible and inclusive art that can be enjoyed by all bodies, and the belief that everyone is deserving of happiness, health, love, support, and privacy. The company will develop and perform ongoing work tailored for the Goddard Riverside Community, opening up a dialogue about accessibility to somatic healing methodologies within the field of public health.
Teresa has worked in social justice and activism since the 1990’s, involved with community groups, homeless shelters, soup kitchens, and protests. Since 2005, Fellion has employed dance, live music, and theater with social justice at scores of NYC schools and organizations. Teresa was named Artistic Liaison between Cameroon & U.S. by president Paul Biya, while performing with National Ballet du Cameroun and at the National Soccer Cup Finals. She has performed for Lucinda Childs and performed works by Twyla Tharp and Liz Lerman, among others. She has received the Choreographic Fellowship from SummerStages Dance Festival and ICA Boston and the American Dance Guild Fellowship for Jacob’s Pillow’s Choreographers’ Lab. Support for BodyStories includes The National Endowment for the Arts Window Award, LMCC, Brooklyn Arts Council, New York Community Trust, and Mark Morris Dance Center through the Mellon Foundation.
Artist Residency
The GRCAP Artist Residency is designed to support community-based event organizers and ensembles showing exceptional artistic and social merit exemplifying our mission-based criteria. Successful applications are able to make direct links between proposed engagement opportunities and one or more of Goddard Riverside’s six focus areas, listed on the homepage.
Each residency represents a unique collaboration and exchange of community space for community programming content.
Selected individuals and groups will receive up to 40 hours of free creative time across our multiple performance, office, and rehearsal spaces, with the understanding that this time is used to develop content that will inspire, heal, immerse, and encourage our community members. The Community Arts Staff will co-produce the resulting events and works under the banner of Goddard Riverside and provide additional services and support.
INSPIRE – boundary-push, play, innovate, explore, excel
HEAL – restore, regenerate, support, center, protect
IMMERSE – expose, contextualize, teach, share, enlighten
ENCOURAGE – ground, build, belong, strengthen, empower
Open Eligibility
We welcome artists from any walk of life and style of art practice. We ask you to clarify your intentions and how your vision can benefit the community.
We’re looking to expand our networks. While all are welcome to apply, our selection process will especially consider those who have not yet had a chance to partner with the Community Arts Program in the past. We love and appreciate all our past partners and want more folks to have the same great experience with us.
Deadline
APPLICATION DEADLINE: Applications for the 2024-2025 Season are now closed. Stay tuned for more information about our upcoming project selections. Applications for Season 2025-2026 will be accepted from April 1, 2025 – July 15, 2025.
Application
To apply, please submit a:
- Artist Statement (1 page) Tell us about you, your past works, interests, and philosophy.
- Work Samples (5 files and/or links)
- A written response (up to 2 pages) that addresses the following:
-Includes a proposed bullet point breakdown of how 40 hours would be used (the sky’s the limit when brainstorming!)
-List potential partners and collaborators who you envision being included.
-Which of Goddard’s focus areas and/or program values (see above) relate the most to your proposal and why?
-How the residency will benefit you as an artist and community leader?
Email the above to communityarts@goddard.org with GRCAP Residency Application_Your Name as the subject line.