By SAM FERLAND
Staff Writer
Recipients of the 2025 Pay It Forward Program. From left to right, rear row: Ricky Nixon, Chestina Thrower, Ailey Verdelle and Mo Schweiger. From left to right, front row: Patric Madden, Mercedes Loving-Manley, Hazel Basil and Muriel “Monik” Johnson. Courtesy CitySpace
CitySpace’s Pay It Forward Program offers performers funding to produce a show. But it is also building something greater that cannot be staged: a tight-knit artistic community.
The Pay It Forward Program is in its fourth year, and will provide the eight artists selected for this year’s cohort complimentary venue access to the recently renovated Blue Room. In addition, the recipients are offered peer-learning opportunities and one-on-one coaching to deepen their practice, build relationships and develop their skills.
“We are creating a container for all of these people to build communities with each other, which is incredibly important for the resilience of the communities that they’re in and bringing to each other,” said CitySpace Program and Venue Manager Zoë Fieldman.
“Performers need other performers,” they said. “Even if you are doing a solo show, you need someone to sit in the audience and tell you how you sound and how it’s working.”
The program is open to all performance-focused artists passionate about their practice. Recipients receive a stipend of $1,000 through the multiple sponsors of the program, including the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts, Mass Cultural Council and more. Additionally, proceeds raised from ticket sales will go to the artists.
“We want to be finding those artists that are having a hard time finding space, affording space or feeling comfortable in spaces,” Fieldman said. “We are working with artists that have these marginalized identities. A lot of artists are queer, a lot of artists are non-white.”
Additionally, new to the program this year is a requirement that applicants must have an annual individual income less than $65,000.
Fieldman got involved with CitySpace two years ago when they were on the receiving end of the Pay It Forward Program.
The program focuses specifically on performance artists who live in Hampden, Hampshire, and Franklin counties. Shows will be be underway soon, with the first two taking place later this month.
Here are the artists and their performance dates for this year’s program:
- Hazel Basil, Amherst: “Breathe,” Aug. 24 and “Hazel & Friends,” Nov. 9
- Patric Madden, Northampton: “Acting Class with Judi Denchers,” Nov. 14-15
- Mo Schweiger, Greenfield: “The Feast,” Dec. 12-13
- Mercedes Loving-Manley, Springfield: “the night we rode,” Nov. 20-23
- Muriel “Monik” Johnson, Springfield: “Fredella Mae’s Daughter Is A Storyteller,” Nov. 6-8
- Chestina Thrower, Springfield: “Chestina Thrower Quartet,” Aug. 30
- Ricky Nixon, East Longmeadow: Untitled, Oct. 18
- Ailey Verdelle, Holyoke: Untitled, Oct. 26
“It’s an amazing program,” said program recipient Patric Madden, a Northampton-based actor, director, and experimental drag performance artist. “It’s a bout of confidence that says ‘we believe in what you have to offer and we’re giving you the resources, space and time to make something.’ That’s rare.”
Originally from Williamstown, Madden moved to New York City and performed with multiple theater companies there before returning to western Massachusetts.
“It’s something I gravitated towards at an early age,” Madden said about acting. “I really need acting and performance, I think it offers a container for people to explore facets of human nature.”
Madden’s show, “Acting Class with Judi Denchers,” will be performed at CitySpace on Nov. 14 and 15. The show will be part drag show, part theatrical monologue, and part group ritual. Madden will be playing the character of Jane Judi Denchers, a clown and 1,200-year-old grandma, sharing their perspectives on acting.
“Jane Judi Denchers has been brewing for a long time and it’s been really exciting to give her some life and whenever she comes out to play it’s a good time,” Madden said.
“I feel really strongly that art is work and that people should get paid for their art, so I’m going to use my stipend from the program to help fund materials for the productions,” program recipient Mo Schweiger said.
Schweiger is a multidisciplinary writer practicing short fiction and comedic hyper-local satire, living in Greenfield. Their show, “The Feast,”will be a collaborative effort taking place Dec. 12 and 13, pairing fiction writers with multimedia artists to make short clips with the topic of “the feast.”
“The creative communities that they are building through this program are so cool and special,” Schweiger said. “Sometimes I feel like I have met every artist in the Pioneer Valley and then I showed up to this workshop and it was all these people who I hadn’t met before. It’s a good reminder that there’s a super expansive creative community where we live.”
“Music has always been a fundamental part of my life,” said program recipient Hazel Basil. “What has really kept me playing music is how it has made me connect with myself and overcome struggles.”
Basil is a multi-genre musician from Amherst. Her show, “Breathe,” which takes place Aug. 24 at CitySpace, will feature her own songs in a multimedia exploration of identity, incorporating communal breath work and journaling. Her second show, “Hazel & Friends,” will take place Nov. 9.
“It’s about self connection, exploring your relationship with yourself and your inner self that gets disconnected in the constant chug of life,” Basil said about “Breathe.” “My hope is that having that self connection will open up space for community connection. A lot of my music reflects that.”
“Being an artist can feel really isolating sometimes in that you’re trying to be attuned with yourself and tune into wherever that art is coming from,” Basil said. “It feels so grounding to be amongst other artists who are all working on things to benefit their communities.”
For more information, visit cityspaceeasthampton.org.
Sam Ferland can be reached at sferland@gazettenet.com.
