Founded by artists for artists, The Field has been dedicated to providing impactful services to thousands of performing artists in New York City and beyond since 1986. From fostering creative exploration to stewarding innovative fundraising strategies, we are delighted to help artists reach their fullest potential.
2009 Annual Report
Spring 2010 Update
OUR GRASS ROOTS
In 1985, when New York was less slick and a loft was affordable, Wendy Lasica founded The Field as a performance space in SoHo. The Field was incorporated in 1986 as Performance Zone, Inc., with a dedicated mission to serve performing artists. Wendy continued to direct The Field until 1987, when she left for her native Australia, where she has had a prolific career as a maverick producer of dance and theater.
After Wendy's departure, and at a pivotal transition point, The Field was put in the savvy hands of Steve Gross and other emerging performing artists. This ambitious group of D.I.Y. artists got together to show their work, give each other supportive and concrete aesthetic feedback (Fieldwork), and discuss strategies to get their work seen and financed. From this informal and rigorous peer-to-peer paradigm, Steve built programs for the larger community so that they too could successfully navigate the performing arts landscape - and thus, an arts service organization was born. (From this modest and intimate origin, The Field organically grew into the nationally recognized arts service organization that we are today.)
Now in our 24th year, more than 1,900 performing artists come to The Field each year to build their businesses. Each year 2,000+ new art works are developed under our stewardship, and our services are replicated in 11 cities across the U.S. and Europe (Field Network). In tandem with this significant growth, we remain true to our grassroots origin and artist-centered mission to: strategically serve the myriad artistic and administrative needs of independent performing artists and companies who work in the fields of dance, theater, music, text, and performance art. Our core values of affordability, accessibility, and rigorous delivery infuse all of our interactions.
Our core value of accessibility is particularly essential to us - so much so that we do not aesthetically curate admission to any of our programs or services. What does that mean? We do not judge any artists' work by the ever-changing and highly subjective aesthetic standards that may predominate. We do not look at artistic work samples or resumes to determine whether you are 'good enough.' Rather, we hold lotteries, or we select by first-come-first-serve, or by a simple production history that demonstrates a commitment to work. We look at what each individual artist wants to do, and how we can help him or her effectively achieve their goals. For us this is social justice: the justice of the arts as a right, an obligation, and a wonderful privilege.
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 Artist: RedWall Dance Theatre
Photo: Daniel Perez
Website: www.rwdt.org
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Touring