Bring your ideas to The Studios of Key West.

Have an idea you’re excited to share? The Studios of Key West welcomes proposals for exhibitions, performances, and classes that reflect creativity, curiosity, and artistic excellence.

Submit Your Proposal

Our Mission is to Support Artists, Inspire Creativity, and Build Community

Whether you’re an emerging voice or a seasoned professional, we invite you to propose a program for our upcoming season.

Proposals for the 2026/27 season are now closed. The portal will reopen in January 2027 for the 2027/28 season. Please review the categories below for details and deadlines. If you have questions, or a proposal that doesn’t fit into these categories, please email us at info@tskw.org.

Types of programs

Each season, The Studios welcomes proposals from artists, performers, educators, writers, curators, and creative thinkers from Key West and around the world. From exhibitions and performances to workshops, readings, conversations, and experimental projects, we’re interested in programs that spark curiosity, deepen community connection, and contribute to the creative life of the island.

Children work on drawings around classroom tables as one student raises her hand during an art class.

Visitors talk together while viewing contemporary artwork displayed in a gallery at The Studios of Key West.

Exhibits

Contemporary visual art exhibitions across multiple gallery spaces featuring local, national, and international artists.

We welcome cohesive exhibition proposals that demonstrate a strong visual voice, conceptual clarity, and thoughtful presentation.

Large sculptural pigeon house installation resembling a colorful, weathered Key West house, constructed from mismatched wooden shutters, doors, and salvaged materials inside a gallery.

Visitors looking at a sculpture in the Studios of Key West gallery.

Performances

Concerts, theater, cabaret, readings, film, conversations, and live experiences that bring audiences together in meaningful ways.

We’re especially interested in artist-driven work that feels adventurous, intimate, collaborative, or uniquely connected to place and community.

Guests gather on Hugh’s View rooftop during an evening performance, with the stage glowing under colorful lights against the sunset sky.

A pianist sings into a microphone while playing a grand piano onstage under dramatic blue lighting.

Workshops

Hands-on creative experiences led by artists, educators, and professionals working across disciplines.

From painting and printmaking to writing, performance, media arts, and interdisciplinary practices, we’re interested in programs that invite participation and creative exploration.

A student uses a brush and black ink to paint trees and botanical forms during a sumi-e painting class.

Instructor Andy Thurber gestures while teaching a group of adults painting and woodcarving together around a classroom table.

First Look Staged Readings

New plays in development presented through our annual First Look series.

The Studios welcomes scripts and creative teams interested in sharing bold new theatrical work with Key West audiences in an intimate staged reading environment.

Six actors stand at music stands facing the audience at the end of a staged reading.

Two actors sit closely together onstage, looking upward during a theatrical performance.

Peyton Evans Artist Residency Program

The PEAR Program invites artists from around the world to live and work in Key West while developing new projects and engaging with the local creative community.

Explore the Program

Front porch of a historic house with double height balcony and a wooden porch.

Three patrons of the PEAR program in the courtyard.

Proposal Requirements

View All FAQs

Most proposals are reviewed through seasonal open calls, though select partnership opportunities and special projects may be considered outside the regular cycle.
Proposals are reviewed by staff and guest panelists depending on the category and season.
Yes. Collaborative and interdisciplinary projects are encouraged, particularly those that bring together different creative practices or perspectives.
All proposals are submitted online through our application platform. Applications typically include a project description, work samples, resume or CV, and any supporting materials relevant to your proposal.
Absolutely. The Studios encourages innovative, cross-disciplinary, and unconventional projects that expand creative dialogue and invite new ways of engaging audiences.

Writer Maxim Loskutoff works on a manuscript at a table during his residency in Key West.

PEAR Program

Make Work in Key West