Dark Matter Residency
The Dark Matter Residency supports emerging artists whose work challenges the hegemonic hierarchies of race through performance and visual representation. The Residency provides artists with a flexible, functional space for the development and presentation of new work, a robust professional network, professional development, mentorship, and financial support.
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The Residency serves Chicago-based, performing artists from a diverse range of performing arts disciplines including (but not limited to) music, performance art, dance, drama, poetry, film, multimedia, and puppetry.
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Residents perform in Dark Matter Series events, in Community Outreach events, in AfroFuturist Weekend, as well as other Elastic programs throughout the year.
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The Dark Matter Residency is supported by a generous grant from the Joyce Foundation, with additional support from the Reva and David Logan Foundation and the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation
apply for Dark Matter REsidency 2026 !
Though our applications are closed for 2025, we are super excited to introduce the year’s Dark Matter Residence cohort for this Year!
Feel free to review DMR 2025 guideline and a sample application to better inform your submission for 2026!
MEET THE 2025 DARK MATTER RESIDENTS
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Avin HannahSmith makes work that deals with color theory and the examination of spatial relativity. An analytical and organic approach brings about compositions of plateaus, edges, and forms.
He is a multidisciplinary artist searching for truth within this world. My current work is about how BIPOC creates grids of societal understanding to sort through systems of oppression that have been forced upon them. The grids symbolize language, histories, and lineage of people that aim to create a space for themselves within the capital impositions. Everyday routines, happenstance and ripples of societal and historical events are categorized deep within pockets of autonomous spiritual locations.Spiritual geo-locational mapping is what interests me about locations and Afro-Identity.
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Eva Supreme is a dynamic vocal artist whose soulful voice spans theater, opera, jazz, and beyond. A Chicago Southside native, she draws from gospel and blues traditions to craft a sound that embodies sonic generational soul. With over a decade of experience, Eva captivates audiences with her emotional depth and genre-blending artistry.
Passionate about music’s healing power, she continues to push creative boundaries as a vocalist, composer, arranger, thespian, producer, dancer, and educator. Eva lives by the mantra, “The only way to do your thing is to do your thing!” Her artistry redefines musical expression, inspiring listeners to experience sound in profound ways.
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Anthony-Michael Stokes a Chicago based multidisciplinary teaching artist and award-winning educator. Originally from El Paso TX, he holds B.F.A’s in music theatre and dance and a Master’s in Education. He has a trained puppeteer with the Jim Henson Company and the Sesame Street Puppeteer workshop. He was awarded a 2023 Production Grant, a 2022 Workshop Grant, and the 2023 O’Neill Residency from The Jim Henson Foundation for his work The Scarecrow. He is currently a 2024-25 Chicago Puppet Lab, where he is developing his next work Anansi, continuing his exploration with hybrid bunraku/hand/marionette puppetry with his scrap, craft artist esthetic. What fuels him as a creative is finding a clear perspective and cause to tell a story that will inspire, educate, and allow for self-reflection.
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Mayda del Valle was born and raised on the Southside of Chicago. She is the author of The University of Hip Hop and a winner of the 2016 Drinking Gourd Chapbook Poetry Prize from Northwestern University Press. Her full-length collection, A South Side Girl’s Guide to Love and Sex, was published by Tia Chucha press. She has appeared on six episodes of the HBO series Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry, and was a contributing writer and original cast member of the Tony Award winning Def Poetry Jam on Broadway.
She has performed at venues around the world, including the White House in May of 2009, by invitation of President Obama and the First Lady. Most recently, Mayda was the recipient of the 2025 Letras Boricuas Fellowship, sponsored by Flamboyan Arts Fund and the Mellon Foundation.
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EYEisha, known to many as @theearthyygirly, is a passionate food artist and the founder and CEO of Earthy Essence, a plant-based education company committed to empowering underserved communities with the tools to embrace healthy, affordable, and accessible living. With a talent for creating vibrant culinary experiences, they have hosted numerous pop-up events, curated innovative food and culinary journeys, and led engaging workshops that inspire connection and wellness through food.
Through their artistic approach to food and dedication to community empowerment, they continue to make a meaningful impact in the realms of culinary arts, health, and education.
Do you have QuestioNS about the Residency?
For questions or more information on this year’s residency or application process, view our latest 2025 info session with potential applicants, the Dark Matter Residency Committee, and Dark Matter Resident Alumni!
Please email dmresidency@elasticarts.org with questions.
Hear it from them
Click on the videos to hear the perspectives of our Dark Matter Alumni Residents.
2020-21 Dark Matter Residency Cohorts:
Sojourner Zenobia,
Elijah Jamal Asani,
Katrina Brook-Flores,
Shannon Harris, Mojdeh Stoakley,
Kwabena Foli,
Margaret M. Morris
Spotlight:
2022 Dark Matter Resident
Naydja Bruton
2024 Dark Matter Residency Cohort:
Zahra Baker, Leah Lara,
Amyna Love, Nikki Patin
& sun Lynn Hunter
Follow the Dark Matter Residency on social media
The Dark Matter Residency is funded in part by generous support from the Joyce Foundation and the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation