PROOF OF LIFE ARTIST RESIDENCY

Three artists develop new work in residence at Painted Bride Project Space. Experience live, work-in-progress performances during Public Performance Week, May 8–17. Alongside the residency, Power to the Prompt invites audiences to reflect on the questions shaping each project.
When
Various Activation Times (Public Performance Week TBA on 4/15)
Where
4029 Cambridge Street

On the heels of Worldbuilding Duets, we’re proud to announce Proof of Life Artist Residency, a process-driven program supporting artists as they develop new work in real time.

This residency centers creation as a visible and evolving process. Rather than presenting finished works alone, Proof of Life invites audiences into the space between concept and completion, where experimentation, revision, and discovery take place.

IN-STUDIO RESIDENCY
Now through April 2026, artists are working on-site at Painted Bride Project Space, developing new material through research, rehearsal, and exploration.

This phase is dedicated to building each project from the ground up, allowing time for ideas to take shape through practice, iteration, and sustained focus.

PUBLIC PERFORMANCE WEEK (Save the dates!)
May 8 – May 17, 2026

The residency culminates in a series of live, work-in-progress presentations.

These performances offer audiences a chance to experience each project as it exists in motion, still forming, still responsive, and still open to possibility. Each presentation reflects where the work has arrived during its time in residence.

Individual artist presentation dates and times will be announced April 15.

POWER TO THE PROMPT 2026
PROOF OF LIFE

Ponder upon the following two-part Proof of Life thematic question…
What makes your neighborhood feel most alive? What 3 elements of your community would you preserve for future generations?
(traditions, foods, places, people, rituals). Engage in the conversation about our community!

Running alongside the residency, Power to the Prompt serves as a parallel community engagement initiative connected to the Proof of Life Artist Residency, as well as other events through our 2026 season, like The ThinkPeace (April 11).

As an annual citywide programming theme, it supports courageous conversations across identity differences, including race, belief, and neighborhood. Through the arts and creative thinking, it creates space for authentic connection across Philadelphia, cultivating trust, respect, and deeper understanding.

Rather than shaping the development of the work, Power to the Prompt invites audiences to reflect on the questions each artist is exploring. It offers a lens through which to consider personal perspective while engaging with the creative process as it unfolds.

WHY PROOF OF LIFE

Proof of Life is an acknowledgment of our personal and collective presence, becoming, belonging, and being.

Each work stands as a record of process, of time spent, of ideas pursued, and of the conditions that shaped them. Together, these projects reflect a shared moment of creative inquiry, grounded in the present and open to what comes next.

TAJ RAUCH
Immersive game designer and theater maker creating participatory worlds where audiences shape narrative and outcome.
YANNICK LOWERY
Interdisciplinary artist exploring memory, place, and cultural narrative through archival imagery and material-based practices.
ANDRÉS CISNEROS
Musician and composer creating dance-centered work rooted in Afro-Caribbean traditions and contemporary urban life.

Upcoming Events

PROOF OF LIFE ARTIST RESIDENCY

Various Activation Times (Public Performance Week TBA on 4/15)