ANDERSONVILLE — The Neo-Futurists plan to bring their art to a much wider audience this year by being more inclusive.
Along with the creation of their Neo-Lab program, an original works residency coupled with public presentations and audience interaction options, which was made possible by Art Works grant they received in December, the group will also being offering a scholarship for people of color.
"I think it's something people are sensitive about and I don't think our theater is an expert yet," said Lily Mooney, one of the ensemble members in charge of the program.
The $300 scholarship, which can be put toward one of their classes or split between different classes the group offers, is part of a multi-pronged approach, Neo-Access, developed by the group's former operations manager, Mooney said.
Neo-Access is "an ongoing initiative committed to make our work more physically, geographically, and culturally accessible," according to the Neo-Futurists website.
"It was an initiative close to his heart and part of a larger project of identifying groups of people that aren't represented on our stage. And we pinpointed a couple of groups that could make it possible to bring these people into the fold," Mooney said.
Despite a quarter of the 12-person ensemble team being of different minority groups, they still felt they could do a better job reflecting a "broader and more diverse audience" like the surrounding community of Uptown. The group performs at 5153 N. Ashland Ave.
"This larger conversation about who we are and who we can be is a newer conversation even though we've been around for 20 years," said Mooney. "We're really in the class of beginning that conversation as an organization."
After the group voted for the scholarship, they found out how sensitive the topic was from naming the scholarship to the language used to describe the scholarship, Mooney said, adding they embraced the challenge. It came down to "identifying if we're part of the diversity problems in Chicago, what can we do," she said.
"Sometimes, I think people avoid having the conversation about this because they're afraid of getting it wrong," she said. "We're not afraid to have the difficult conversation."
While they are hoping more diverse voices to their program, the Neo-Futurist aesthetic that "draws upon Dada, surrealism... and other artistic and performance disciplines to create something new and different," according to their website, can be a useful tool for aspiring artists, Mooney said.
"We're kind of learning what we have to offer," she said. "We speak about our own true life. I think as an artist or playwright it's a really good thing."
While most of the classes cater to those at the end of high school or college-age folks, there is no specific requirements for the artists they are looking for, she said.
"You can come to it from all kinds of artistic disciplines. We're just excited to meet artist who want to tell true stories. The only requirement is that you're willing to play and experiment," Mooney said.
For more information on the scholarship click here.
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