TOWN, the female-driven arts institution led by Executive Director Robin Sokoloff, has announced the inaugural slate of artists selected for its 2018 Fellowship Program.

The program is a partnership between the Tribeca arts hub Town Stages and the non-profit cultural institution Sokoloff Arts. Among the inaugural recipients are Puffs playwright Matt Cox, actor and diversity advocates Joanna Carpenter and Christine Toy Johnson, and Steven Kopp from the Broadway producing team behind Hedwig.

The application-based program is characterized as part residency, part incubator, and part home base that offers free access to shared spaces, rehearsal/performance/event space subsidies, and more.

The complete list of 2018 Sokoloff Arts Fellows follows: Jessica Anderson (with Stefanie Izzo, Alex Kocheva, Amy Stewart, and the Astoria Music Project); Caps Lock Theatre (Mariah MacCarthy, Melissa Lusk, Leta Tremblay); Joanna Carpenter; Matt Cox (with Kristin McCarthy Parker, Stephen Stout, and Colin Waitt); Ephrat Asherie Dance; Esperance Theater Company (Katie Hartke, Charlie Murphy, Ryan Quinn); Jono Freedrix; Jason Jacobs; Matthew Jellison; Christine Toy Johnson; Hyeyoung Kim and Shoshana Greenberg; Steven Kopp; Yan Li; Made with Sass (Samantha Slater); Jessie Mahon; MAWU, MelimelL Digital Art Design; Rebecca Odorisio; Pocket Universe (Alyssa May Gold); Charlotte Purser; Richard Pictures Presents (David Hilder and Dan McCoy); Ripening (Vanessa Walters, and Brian Gonzalez aka Taxiplasm); Andy Scott; Shallow Graves (Jenny Lester and Juliana Jurenas); Crystal Skillman; The Long Table (David Loewy, Noah Reece, Greg Taubman, Jocelyn Vammer); The Rigano Songbook (David and Paul Rigano); and Jamila Youngstedt.

Chie Morita, Town Stages’ Deputy Director, serves as coordinator of the fellowship program. “I am so proud to be developing this necessary program at Town,” Morita said in a statement. “Seemingly simple needs like a quiet space to write, a spot for a designer brainstorm that isn’t a coffee shop, and a central meeting point for open and honest conversations are the building blocks for community and collaboration. We often see Fellowships as grants of space or time towards a singular vision, but I want us to build an atmosphere in which we share in a greater creative resource, our fellow artists.”