The Next Gen Come Up's
Black, Brown, and Beige
Expressions
of
activism
TALENT SEARCH
COMING TO WEST ORANGE, NJ THIS NOVEMBER (2021)
CALLING ALL BLACK AND BROWN painters/illustrators, thespians, poets, photographers, fashion designers, models, dancers, rappers, singers, etc. from North Jersey and beyond!
In an effort to inspire and empower our community through art and creative expression, The Next Gen Come Up team is planning "The Next Gen Come Up's Black, Brown, and Beige Expressions of Activism" – a massive black and brown arts showcase – set to take place during Thanksgiving weekend, and is looking for talent to highlight! Whether you draw, paint, dance, act, sing, rap, sew, or strut, we have a place for you on The Next Gen Come Up stage and want to give you a platform to share your talents with the world! We are reaching out to dozens of creatives in the North Jersey area and are currently collecting submissions. The theme of this years showcase is “Culture and Identity”. Whilst choosing art, talent, and fashion to showcase we are prioritizing creations that reflect aspects of the artists culture, heritage, or experience as a person of color. We ask that you send us examples of your work, so that our team can deliberate, and communicate with you about the theme of the artwork you would choose to present (if chosen for the final showcase). If you are interested in performing or being a featured artist in the showcase, please feel free to DM us @thenextgencu your stage name, some examples of your work, and tell us about your passions and experience as an artist. Though not everyone we reach out to (nor everyone who submits work) will make it onto the final event line up, the creators chosen for the final line up will be notified immediately. Those who are not will be notified as well, and if interested, will be the first considered for our next showcase.
WHEN AND WHERE?
Being that we are currently in the planning stages, the VENUE, DATE, and TIME of the event are still pending, however our team is currently working towards hosting our event on Saturday November 27th. We ecourage you all to scroll down and subscribe to our mailing list below to make sure that you recieve information about any changes and updates.
FORMAT/ Theme
The art showcase will be comprised of a walk through art gallery, a fashion show, and then a showcase of live perfomances on the main stage. All visual artists (photographers, painters/ illustrators, photographers) will be able to sell pieces/ prints of their work during the showcase. For more info about venue, date, and time changes, subscribe to our mailing list below.
ELIGIBILITY
While we are primarily highligthing young creators (ages 10-30), creatives of ALL AGES are welcome to inquire about showcasing their work. We make it a point to encourage generational intersectionality in all of our spaces. The ONLY REQUIREMENT for creatives submitting is that you must identify a person of color: black, latinex, indigenous, asian/pacific islander, middle eastern, biracial etc.) The goal of this year's showcase in particular is to provide "Black, brown, and beige" creatives with a platform to showcase their talent and gain exposure :-) If you or someone you know is interested in performing or showcasing their work, DM us on instagram @thenextgencu or email us at thenextgencu@gmail.com and a member of our team will get back to you shortly. Submissions will be accepted until 11:59 pm ET on Thursday September 30th.
FAQs
Where do interested artists submit their work for consideration?
All interested artists need to send us examples of their work via instagram DM (@thenextgencu) or via email thenextgencu@gmail.com.
Do you have to showcase an original piece?
All rappers, fashion designers/ stylists, painters, illustrators, and photographers will ONLY be allowed to showcase their own original works and are not allowed to cover, plaigarize, or outsource work from other other creatives. Singers, actors, and dancers are of course allowed to perform covers of songs, monologues, or choreography created by someone other than themselves. While poets are allowed to perform pieces by other poets, we are prioritizing spoken word poets that want to showcase their own original work and strongly encourage poets to highlight their own creations.
Does the work I submit for review have to be the work I want to showcase at the event?
No! We only ask you to submit examples f your work so that we can assess your skillset and level of expertise. The speciic pieces you would like to showcase can be further coordinated and are very much up for negotiation with the members of our team :)
CaN Visual artists sell their artwork?
YES! Yes. Yes. All painters, illustrators, photographers, and fashion designers we feature in the art gallery portion of the art showcase will have the opportunity to sell their art to patrons during the art gallery portion of the event and after the performance portio of the event. Specifics of this will be discussed and coordinated directly with visual artists chosen for our final line up.
DO models have to style themselves?
If they so desire, models can opt to style themselves in their own unique cultural attire. However we are currently recruiting models AND fashion designers, so we hope to recruit enough designers to bring their pieces in and style our models. We will know if this number adds up many weeks prior to the event, however, in the event that we are unable to provide garments for all of our models, our team will coordinate with remaining models directly and delegate self-styling and moving forward. Regardless of what, the TNGCU team will make sure that all of our models have a fly fit to walk the runway in!
Will there be RUNWAY/ PERFORMANCE REHERSALS?
After the venue is confirmed, The Next Gen Come Up team will be meeting on site at the venue, on select days, to go over the showcase formatting, stage flow, and production specifics. If any artists would like to come in and rehearse on those days they can. They would simply have to get in touch with Anya DIllard (our founder) before hand, as requests for rehersal times are taken on a first come first serve basis. Anya encourages talent to reach out to her personally through instagram (@iamajdillard) or shoot her an email: thenextgencu@gmail.com.
REHERSALS ARE ONLY MANDATORY FOR RUNWAY MODELS
Models and dancers/ dance groups will be coordinated with directly regarding days available for rehersals. Rappers, singers, poets, and thespians, however, are NOT REQUIRED to come in and reherse before hand.
Once a date, venue, and line up is established for our program, all creators will be briefed on their position in our program and the logistics of their perormance, (etc.) way prior to the event. During this brief we will discuss the specifics of each individuals performance and ensure that we get everything they need for showcase performance the event.