CitySpace announces latest cohort for Pay It Forward Program performance series

CitySpace’s 2026 Pay It Forward program cohort.
Photo credit: Darian Gonzalez

EASTHAMPTON — Now in its fifth year of expanding opportunities for local artists and performers, CitySpace’s Pay It Forward Program has announced its latest cohort for 2026.

The program is a residency and performance initiative supporting creative performers across Western Mass. with rehearsal space and performance space inside CitySpace’s Blue Room, stipends, professional development, and opportunities through peer learning, mentorship and coaching.

Artists from Hampden, Hampshire, and Franklin counties are supported as they develop new work and share it with audiences in an accessible, community-centered performance space.

The 2026 awardees include:

• Sable Island Pony, music, (Greenfield)
• The Maison of Saint Mort, dance, fashion and performance (Springfield)
• Devi Badea, theater (Chicopee)
• Leo Harrison, music (Easthampton)
• Scott Hsu, music (Amherst)
• Kate Ciolkowski-Winters, theater (Northampton)
• Ken Harris, theater (Springfield)
• Bella Levavi and Ang Buxton, theater (Greenfield/Springfield)

Performances will take place inside the Blue Room at Old Town Hall from August 2026 through February 2027, and many of the works will be presented as part of an ongoing creative process developed during each artist’s residency.

The program was founded five years ago by CitySpace Board President Burns Maxey, along with other board members, in response to the question of how to utilize the Blue Room to its full potential while giving artists from the region access to the performance space for free. The program was soon born as a way to share the city’s resources inside Old Town Hall and connect with performers in the community seeking a platform for their work.

“This is my third season now running the Pay It Forward program as the venue and program manager, and it has been so special to see where our cohorts go next,” said Venue and Program Manager Zoe Fieldman. “As part of the Pay It Forward program, we aim to create long-lasting connections with cohort members and the CitySpace community.”

Fieldman said that multiple past program members have gone on to work on CitySpace’s Artist Advisory Committee and its Review Committee. They have also worked with past cohort members after the completion of their projects to co-produce other shows at CitySpace through its Partners in Performance series, and many artists have gone on to join similar programs like the Community Foundation of Western Mass. ValleyCreates cohort.

“We have really seen that this program acts as a launchpad for artists to take their work to the next level,” Fieldman said, adding that it’s been impressive to see the diversity and uniqueness among the cohorts accepted.

“No one year looks the same, and each show is a standout experience. This year, I am excited to be welcoming so many musicians to the Blue Room, including our first show of the season on Aug. 22 featuring Sable Island Pony — who plays haunted, lo-fi folk and indie music,” Fieldman said. “In addition to concerts, audiences can expect puppets, theatre, drag and so much more. We also really have a spectrum of one-person shows to larger devised works.”

Musician Sable Island Pony will take the stage for the first performance in this year’s Pay It Forward series.

“Pay It Forward comes at exactly the right time for me,” she said. “As I prepare to release my first single and work toward my first album, this opportunity feels like a meaningful vote of confidence in the work. I’m especially excited to collaborate with other artists to transform the room into an immersive space where the songs, paintings, stories and community that have grown together over the years can all exist side by side.”

The performance series will once again feature the “Pay It Forward Punch Card” to encourage audience members to come to as many of the performances as they can to cultivate more of a series feeling to the cohort’s shows. This initiative will offer audience members the option to buy a punch card up front for four or eight shows that they can bring as their ticket to any of the performances.

For more information about the Pay It Forward program, this year’s cohort and performance schedule, visit www.cityspaceeasthampton.org/pif.

“This program is one of my favorite parts of my job. By working one-on-one with the performers who have been offered access and resources, we can focus on the artistry in a way that is so rare in this field. Removing the barriers of cost and access allows talented and deserving artists to realize their dreams, and that alone inspires me every day,” said Fieldman. “It is such a gift for us at CitySpace to partner with such dedicated and talented artists from across the region. I am especially grateful to all the Pay It Forward artists who have trusted us to help present their work and to bring their communities to CitySpace. And we wouldn’t be able to offer this program without our program sponsors’ support and the audiences who keep the program’s name alive.”