A Festival of Experiences
Bridges is Garage Arts Project’s flagship multidisciplinary festival. For the year of 2026 we build on the themes explored through our previous edition on 'Fragments of Us', carrying forward conversations around memory, rupture, connection, and healing. While Fragments of Us reflected on the pieces we carry from our relationships and experiences, Becoming looks at what those fragments eventually shape within us. This edition explores the ways people are continually transformed by the stories they live through. It asks how moments of loss, intimacy, change, conflict, joy, and belonging quietly influence who we become over time.
A multidisciplinary festival of movement, stories, and immersive art experiences,
Bridges 2026 brings together artists and communities to explore transformation in its many forms.
Venue
Courtyard Theatre, Plano, TX
Date
Sunday
October 17, 2026
GAP
Ensemble
Featured
Artists
Immersive Installations
Community
Gathering
Student
Collaborations
Bridges 2026
Fragments of Us: The Becoming is now accepting submissions!
We welcome proposals that respond to this theme through movement, performance, storytelling, visual art, sound, film, installation, participatory work, and immersive experiences. We are particularly interested in work that creates meaningful encounters between artists, audiences, and communities.
The festival seeks to create space for reflection, dialogue, experimentation, and connection through artistic practice. Whether your work is intimate, large scale, process driven, community based, or interdisciplinary, we invite you to share ideas that speak to transformation in all its complexity and nuance.
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Program Details
Program Structure:
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Up to 4 artists will be selected (across all performing and visual arts)
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Artists will collaboratively develop work leading up to the festival presentation
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Please note that participation is limited to performers based within the DFW Metroplex area, as the project requires in-person collaboration, rehearsals, and meetings on the scheduled dates mentioned below.
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Tentative Rehearsal Dates (All rehearsals approximately 3 hours, in the DFW Area tentatively)
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Sunday, August 23, 2026
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Sunday, September 6, 2026
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Sunday, September 20, 2026
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Sunday, October 4, 2026
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*Additional meetings and tech rehearsals will be scheduled based on the creative process
What Selected Artists Receive
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A $500 artist stipend
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Opportunity to collaborate with artists from different disciplines
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A final collaborative performance at the Bridges 2026 festival
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Professional photo and video documentation of the work
Final Performance Details:
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Date: Saturday, October 17, 2026
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Time: 7 PM
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Venue: Courtyard Theater, Plano, Texas
Application Process
Eligibility:
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Applicants are invited to submit proposals that engage with the festival’s themes of transformation, identity, memory, connection, and becoming.
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We welcome interdisciplinary practices, experimental and immersive artistic formats and artists working across performing arts, music, dance, theatre, and visual arts.
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Applicants should:
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Be open to collaboration across genres and disciplines
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Be committed to the creative process and collective exchange
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Be available for rehearsals, meetings, and the final presentation
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Be able to travel for all required rehearsals and festival commitments
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Participation is limited to performers based within the DFW Metroplex area.
Application Form Requirements:
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Information about your artistic practice
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Your proposed idea or area of interest
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Supporting materials where relevant
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Technical or logistical requirements
Timelines:
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Deadline to Apply: July 15, 2026.
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Notification Timeline: Selected artists will be informed during the first week of August 2026.
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