Flynn Breakthrough

The Flynn invites artists and organizations to apply for Flynn Breakthrough, a new initiative commissioning, producing, and incubating original performance for public spaces and non-conventional venues. At a time when funding and producing opportunities are shrinking, we’re making a bold investment in artists — helping transform daring ideas into artistic work that sparks imagination, inspires communities, and resonates far beyond Vermont.

Incubator Program ($5,000 + resources)
For artists developing a new project, we provide time, space, mentorship, and connections to explore audience-centered ideas that carry artistic risk — whether that means experimenting with new forms, working across disciplines or in unconventional spaces, or tackling urgent themes whose impact is uncertain but potentially transformative. Each project culminates in a public sharing (showing, workshop, or other creative engagement), turning that risk into dialogue with communities and testing how new work can take root in the lives of audiences.

Producing Platform ($25,000 + producing partnership)
For artists and organizations that have or will create a premiere-ready new work. We provide commissioning, producing, and marketing support to bring fully realized projects to their world premiere in public spaces and non-conventional venues across Vermont. The Producing Platform is designed for work that feels urgent and of this moment, performances that take imaginative risks while inviting audiences to witness, participate, or co-create. These premieres will unfold in public — from streets and town greens, to fields and mountainsides — sparking discovery where people live, work, and play.

Guided by a panel of artists and industry experts, the Flynn will select at least five Incubator Projects and up to four premieres through the Producing Platform in the 2026–27 cycle — a total of $125,000 invested directly in artists.

Flynn Breakthrough is bold by design and rooted in partnership. We’re excited to stand with artists who are ready to write the next

chapter of live performance.

About the Flynn

The Flynn is Vermont’s premier performing arts center, based in Burlington on the shores of Lake Champlain. For nearly 50 years as a nonprofit (and nearly 100 years since our historic theater opened), we’ve brought world-class performances to our stages and to communities across the state, reaching more than 1 in 4 Vermonters annually through performances, festivals, education, and community programs. We aim always to create a welcoming space where everyone is invited to imagine, create, and connect through the power of live performance.

Our commitment to public space is central to our mission. The Governor of Vermont has formally recognized the Flynn’s leadership in bringing art into civic life, affirming our role as a statewide cultural convener. We are members of the IN SITU European Network for Artistic Creation in Public Space, connecting Vermont to an international movement reimagining where and how art is experienced. For example, each September, over the past four years, our Playing Fields project has produced awe-inspiring performances at schools and communities across the state.

Through these efforts, the Flynn transforms parks, streets, waterfronts, and civic landmarks into stages—ensuring that creativity reaches all people.