Mission
Grounded in the lived experiences of Black Trans and Queer folk, HomeGrown Visions Arts Collaborative nurtures community creative partnerships. Through offerings like: workshops and other performance opportunities, artist development, reading groups, and performance HomeGrown Visions provides space for Black Trans and Queer creatives to connect and share their stories with the world.
Work
Da Black Queers Be Writing (Writing Group)
Black Trans Play Development Lab
HomeGrown Visions Actor and Directors Database
Da Black Queers Be Writing
Da Black Queers Be Writing is a virtual writing group that was started in January 2023.If you are a Black Queer and/or Trans Writer in search of a writing community, this group is for you. The group includes poets, novelists, playwrights, scholars, essayists, screenwriters, lyricists, etc.
Co-working Sessions
We host free weekly co-working sessions. Each session is two hours. This is a tool to strengthen your writing practice with community. Folks are encouraged to come when they can for however long they can. There is no commitment to joining every session.Spring Sessions will be held January 11th -May 10th
FeedBack Sessions
Feedback sessions are held bimonthly and are open to all Black Queer writers. Each session will feature the work of three writers who are looking for feedback for their work. This is an opportunity to support the work of fellow writers or receive feedback on your own work. You do not have to attend the co-working sessions to participate in the feedback sessions.Feedback Sessions for 2026
February 7th
April 4th
June 6th
August 1st
October 3rd
December 5th
Black Trans Play Development Lab
HomeGrown Visions Arts Collaborative’s Black Trans Play Development Lab is an opportunity for (3) three Black and Trans Playwrights to develop their work in an environment dedicated to fostering Black and Trans stories, experiences, and joy.For the lab’s first season we are looking for unpublished full-length plays. We are able to accommodate casts of up to four actors. Double-casting for plays with more characters is permissible. Playwrights should have a clear vision for their work and the ability to articulate areas they want to strengthen in their plays.Each playwright will receive:
Dramaturgical support from Dr. T. Chester
Peer support through a cohort of other Black Trans Playwrights
A virtual workshop with a director and actors (valued at $450)
1 year membership to the New Play Exchange
$100 stipend
and more!Applications for Season One are open from January 1-23, 2026!More information can be found here!
About
T. Chester, PhD is the Director and Founder of Homegrown Visions Arts Collaborative. As a scholar, organizer, and artist they center storytelling as a way to understand difference, promote empathy, and create change. T. specializes in new play development and dramaturgy, and their research and pedagogical interests are Black Studies, Women and Gender Studies, Performance Studies and Theatre Studies. For over 13 years they have taught at the university level, developing courses like Staging Black Queer Lives for both graduate and undergraduate students. Currently, they are teaching in the School of Social Transformation at Arizona State University. T. works with A.W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts to train students and faculty in anti-racist theatre practices. Together with Dreyfoos theatre students, T. directed and devised their Spring 2021 play “We Make the Future.” They have been a reader and judge for several national and local playwriting competitions including The National New Play Network, The Athena Project, Palm Beach Dramaworks, and The New Harmony Project. In addition, they were a 2022 Hillman Grad Acting Fellow. They are currently a 2024 Forge Fellow. T. writings has been published in edited anthologies and academic journals. For the last two years T. has facilitated a Black Queer and Trans Virtual Writing Group that offers both co-working and development opportunities.They are passionate about artist development and nurturing talent in others.