Madison Circus Space

Madison Circus Space Artist Residency

About Madison Circus Space

Madison Circus Space celebrates modern circus and movement arts, emphasizing dance, creativity, fitness, and recreation for all ages, abilities, and aspirations. We are the largest community of circus artists in Wisconsin, with (pre-pandemic) 70 members (independent training and teaching artists), 50+ hours of weekly programming serving 250+ unique visitors, and an average of 12+ public activities per month. As a 24/7 circus arts incubator, MCS builds capacity for arts education, performance, collaboration, and launching professional artists.

  • MCS is a volunteer-run nonprofit, operated by a board of directors
  • MCS opened our custom facility in Fall 2019
  • MCS has three studios with beautiful hardwood floors, pulley-rigged aerial points, a large collection of German wheels, etc. See more details about our studios here: https://madisoncircusspace.com/rental/ 
  • Some shared equipment is available
  • Active Facebook communities for members (139) and students (274 members)

The Residency

This project is to establish a Circus Arts Residency at Madison Circus Space. Eligible art forms include any discipline of circus or movement arts. This residency, the only of its kind in Wisconsin, offers circus professionals and pre-professionals self-directed training time to develop skills in a supportive, safe, community-oriented environment, and to further the creative development of performance projects. Residents have use of studio space, access to equipment, and use of the space for performances, subject to scheduling availability. Residents are expected to offer workshops/classes to engage community members in their art-making, and the residency will culminate in a public sharing. We also hope that artists will leave the residency having earned income rather than breaking even.

Residency Goals

  1. Expand programming by establishing a circus arts residency in Wisconsin.
  2. Increase guest circus artists through visits and training.
  3. Increase annual engagement through additional programming hours, unique visitors, performances, and audience members.
  4. Provide resident artists with a time for creative revitalization and also financial viability. 

Pilot Program

  • Residents design the program to work for them in a way that is reciprocal with the MCS community. 
  • The residents’ time will include personal training/development (self-guided) as well as teaching/contributing to our community, ideally in a way that fills a gap between what is already offered at MCS.
    • Hibernation training station: Hunker down to work on your own thing in a dedicated training facility
    • Community contribution: Teaching/instruction that is open to MCS members and the broader student community 
  • Host will work with you to arrange workshops/classes
    • MCS rental rates are conducive to ensuring that classes and workshops are profitable for instructors
    • There is no guarantee of a set number of students in any workshop or class but MCS and host will work with the visiting artist(s) to provide as many safe opportunities as possible.
  • A culminating sharing/public showcase of work accomplished during the residency
    • This may be a test-run of a new act or show, a student showcase, may be part of a member-run event, can be virtual, etc. We are open to ideas that serve the artist and MCS community. Residents are encouraged to share some aspect of the work they accomplished while in residency. 
    • There is no guarantee of a public, in-person show due to COVID. Host and MCS will work with the artist on alternate methods of sharing.
  • Residents are required to have teaching insurance or be sponsored by an existing MCS instructor. Residents are strongly encouraged to carry personal liability insurance as well. MCS does not provide insurance coverage for any training, teaching, performance, or other activities that residents may engage in at MCS.

Project Timeline

  • Artists submit applications (on a rolling basis)
  • Review applications and select artist(s), ongoing
  • Host residency, ongoing
  • Artist activities, including classes and public sharing*, ongoing

*public events will not be held if it’s determined that it’s not safe to do so

Key Personnel

Stephanie Richards – Development Director and Program Director. Stephanie began exploring different movement classes in 2010. She joined an intro to aerial arts class with Wild Rumpus Circus at the Goodman Center as part of this exploration, and fell in love. Stephanie expanded from trapeze into silks, lyra, rope, and pole. Beyond a love of flying, Stephanie found that circus offers a warm, supportive community that lifts up all its members. Stephanie began producing acts as a part of the Chiaroscuro Student Showcase with Cycropia Aerial Dance. Later that year, Madison Circus Space opened its doors and allowed a venue for creative circus arts to really dream big. Stephanie was a founding director of the first Skeleton Circus as well as Circus After Dark, The MishMash show, and Guerilla Gallery Night open houses. Stephanie has a special talent for PR and collaborative work, and her work with the community has produced incredible results both in individual acts (Stephanie’s silks trio “Crush” has been lauded as the best silks act yet produced in Madison) and in shows with ever-increasing popularity. With a day job in arts administration, Stephanie is also very concerned with building community relationships, so that no one with a love of death-defying feats ever has to be turned away. She has a regular youth class and loves bringing the joy of aerial to kids in the Madison area! https://www.swingstateaerial.com/about 

Carly Schuna – Board Secretary and Scheduling Coordinator. Carly Schuna is a five-time national champion in wheel gymnastics and a certified coach through the USA Wheel Gymnastics Federation. She has performed at events and venues such as the Wheel Gymnastics World Championships, the Barrymore Theatre, Overture Center’s Capitol Theater, Madison’s Orpheum Theater, and Chicago’s Daley Plaza. Carly is a founder and executive board member of the Madison Circus Space, where she teaches a variety of classes. http://www.headoverwheelscircus.com/ 

Homestay Accommodations

  • Private, furnished 1-bedroom apartment in a 2-unit house
    • Room for up to 4 guests
    • 1 queen bed, 1 full-size futon
  • Front balcony, backyard with hammock
  • Full bathroom
  • Laundry (NOT coin-operated!)
  • Fully stocked kitchen 
  • Cute and medium-friendly cat named Pants lives downstairs and her not-so-favorite dog siblings, Odin and Freya, live there part-time
  • Accommodations are in the personal residence of Stephanie Richards, not MCS. MCS is not liable for anything regarding housing, and does not own the housing provided.

Transportation

  • Training facility is 1 mile away – easily walkable or bikeable.
  • The house is walking distance from a neighborhood grocery store, cafes, restaurants, and bars
  • There is a bus stop within feet of the front door with access to downtown, and another bus line within a short walk to a bigger grocery store.
  • Access to use of host’s bikes and/or occasional use of host’s car (it’s a manual)
  • Parking for a car is available depending on the size, in the driveway, on street, or possibly can negotiate for a designated spot in the MCS parking lot (last resort)

Sample Budget

See this spreadsheet for a sample 1-month budget.  

Selection Process

A review team made up of MCS instructors, board members, and students will review applications. Ultimate decision will be made by program director and host, Stephanie Richards.

Review Criteria (draft)

  1. Fills a gap in MCS offerings (0- no and conflicts with something one of our instructors offers – 10- definitely this isn’t offered at MCS)
  2. Financial feasibility (0- potentially no interest from our student base – 10- workshops and classes would be super popular)
  3. Diversity
    1. Diverse discipline/art form
    2. Black, Indigenous, Person of Color, alter-abled, (i.e., not white, heternormative, able-bodied, etc)
  4. Bonus points
    1. Can offer professional development/continuing education to instructors (i.e., high level instruction in their skill area, or anatomy, rigging training, curriculum development, etc). 
    2. Other?

Review Panel (proposed)

  1. Stephanie (program director, instructor)
  2. Carly (board member, instructor)
  3. Mackenzie (instructor)
  4. Josh (board member, building manager, show host)
  5. TBD (student) 

How to Apply

Please complete our application form which contains the following questions. Applications are accepted on an ongoing, rolling basis.

  1. What skills/teaching can you share with our community? How do you see them filling a gap in what is currently offered at MCS (reference our list of active classes here)?
  2. How will one month of dedicated time support your artistic endeavors?
  3. How would you like to share/present with the great Madison and/or circus community?
  4. Why you!? What makes you an awesome person, community member, housemate?
  5. What questions do you have for us? What information do you need to ensure this is a good fit for you? 

Liam Gundlach and Ripley Burns: Reflection

October 2022 MCS Artists-in-Residence

Our names are Liam and Ripley. We spent the month of October as the resident circus artists at Madison Circus Space. After having some time to reflect on the experience, we would like to share our thoughts.

We are both from New England and grew up performing with Circus Smirkus. We started working together while studying at the Quebec Circus School, where we both graduated in 2020. Since graduating, we’ve been based in Vermont.

We only just found out about MCS last June, while on tour with the Minneapolis-based company Fox and Beggar. MCS hosted a stop on our tour, and we were able to tour the space and meet a couple people in the community. About a month later, we applied for the residency program and were accepted to come during the month of October.

Coming in, our goal was to create a 35-minute duo circus show that we could perform at street theater festivals. In the past, we’ve mostly created 5- to 6-minute acts or created full-length shows as a part of a larger ensemble. We had a lot of loose material that we’d collected over the years, and we were looking for a time and place to put things together into a cohesive show. We also wanted to perform it for the community and document that performance so we could have a video with which to send to festivals as a part of the application process.

As partners, we’ve found that we work best together when we have a healthy balance of privacy and community. During our time at MCS, we were able to meet both of these needs. Because most of the programming happens in the evening, during the day we found ourselves with huge, empty rooms all to ourselves. Privacy allowed us to focus and create more efficiently than we’d been able to in the past, and having 24-hour access meant that we could structure our day according to our own energy levels and needs. About a week in, we found a rhythm that worked well for us, going in for technical training from around 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and creative work from around 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. We had access to all of the mats and training equipment we could possibly need, and the space itself was well lit, clean, and beautifully built. And the apartment we were staying in was only a 15- or 20-minute walk from the circus space. It had been recently renovated and had everything we needed to be cozy and comfortable.

When it came time to perform the show, we had everything we needed. Seats, lights, a technician, volunteers; MCS helped us advertise for the show, and through the MCS community, we were able to find a videographer and photographer to document the performance. Quite a few people showed up and made for a warm audience, which we appreciated, because it was scary to share something that was so new. Afterwards, we received a lot of feedback to help us continue developing the show.

It was great to be done, and the next day was blissful and lazy. We had brunch with some of the people we had connected with during our time at MCS. This gave us a chance to reflect on the residency before we had to pack up and hit the road.

We realize now that it was sometimes difficult to socialize while at MCS. Most people knew that we were resident artists and were excited to introduce themselves and welcome us to the space. But our experiences in circus school had climatized us to an environment where one’s value is directly connected to technical or artistic ability, and this has had a lasting effect on the way we interact with people in a circus setting. At times, we feel highly sensitive to the judgments of others and with a thirst to prove ourselves. That being said, the culture at MCS is quite different from what we experienced at circus school. People were supportive, and interested in who we were beyond what skills we possessed, and their curiosity about our circus work was not accompanied by an attempt to change it. We were invited to a couple of dinners and gatherings, and these experiences left us feeling socially nourished and more confident about ourselves as people. Going to clubs, we discovered a rich culture of skill-sharing and an atmosphere that was highly conducive to learning new things.

Our residency at MCS allowed us to make the show we wanted to make, but more importantly, we left Madison feeling heartened and inspired. MCS is home to a community that is dedicated to learning and growing together. They raised the money to build this beautiful space, and they take good care of it and of one another. It is a place of skill, artistry, and friendship, and we feel lucky to have been included. We will be sure to recommend the residency program to other artists, as we hope that more people can come and experience MCS and the people that make it more than just a space.