Programs
Four pillars, one test: does an artist get paid?
Programs run across Orange, Osceola, Seminole and Lake counties, at partner theatres, public libraries, community sites and online. Open to LGBTQ+ and other historically underrepresented artists working in the region.
40% · Pillar one
Artist commissions and public presentations
We commission, produce and present new work across the forms queer Central Florida actually makes: drag and cabaret, DJ and electronic music, Latin social dance, ballroom, spoken word, theatre, dance, visual art and film. Ticketed events, free public showcases and commissioned premieres.
We are not precious about which of these counts as art. A drag number built over six weeks and a gallery piece are the same kind of work, and both get a commission fee, rehearsal time and a written agreement.
Artists are selected through open calls, documented curatorial review, partner recommendations or juried panels. Selection weighs artistic quality, public benefit, representation, feasibility and fit with the mission. A panel reviewing an open call includes at least one person who is not a CFQAI director.
Artists and production workers are paid under written agreements. We collect a W-9, classify the worker correctly and issue the required tax reporting. There is no such thing as exposure as payment here.
25% · Pillar two
Education and creative-career labs
Workshops, master classes, mentorship and residencies for emerging artists and adult learners. Craft first: drag performance and character work, DJ technique and music production, social dance instruction, ballroom categories, hosting and live MC work, costume and makeup, plus the technical trades that make a show run – lighting, sound, stage management and show calling.
Where a fee is charged it stays modest, and fee waivers or subsidized places are available. Every artist and performer we commission, pay or put in front of an audience is an adult, and our workshops and labs are 18+.
20% · Pillar three
Community access and cross-sector partnerships
Free or low-cost cultural programs co-designed with LGBTQ+ and Latino community organizations, health and human-service providers, libraries, schools, neighborhood groups and independent venues across the four counties.
A real partnership means the partner helps design, deliver, recruit for and evaluate the program. A logo on a flyer is not a partnership. Written agreements set out each side’s responsibilities, resources, participant safeguards, intellectual-property terms and reporting duties.
Partnerships are chosen for measurable community benefit. They never provide advertising, customer acquisition or operating subsidy to a for-profit business.
15% · Pillar four
Artist professional development
The business side, taught by people who have been on both sides of the booking. Setting and holding a rate. Reading a performance agreement before you sign it. Deposits, cancellation terms and what happens when a night gets pulled. Getting paid on time, and what a 1099 means for you. Riders, tech specs and advancing a show. Grant writing, self-production and documenting your own work.
Most working queer performers in this region learned all of this the expensive way. That is the gap this pillar exists to close.
Enrollment is public or runs on published eligibility criteria. We track participation, completion, skills gained and next-step opportunities, because that is what tells us whether it worked.
Open calls
The first open call, for the four First Light commissions, opens ahead of the March 2027 showcase. Get on the list and we will send it to you the day it opens.