There is no application fee. DORF open calls are, and will always be FREE to apply. This is an online application process only. Applications will not be accepted by postal mail or email.
DORF FISHBOWL RESIDENCY:
KITCHEN TABLE / Sept 9–27, 2026
Mycelium-based collective Kitchen Table brings puppetry, printmaking, performance, and radical collaboration to DORF for the final Fishbowl Residency of 2026
Programming Schedule:
Photo by Sol Diaz-Peña @santotemplo
AUSTIN, TX — DORF is pleased to welcome Kitchen Table for the Fishbowl Residency this September, transforming DORF’s gallery into an active space for puppetry, printmaking, performance, experimentation, and community gathering.
Kitchen Table’s residency explores the ways creative practice can help us gather, organize, resist, and care for one another. Throughout the residency, Kitchen Table invites Austin audiences into a series of participatory programs ranging from a shadow puppet performance and hands-on printmaking workshops to an immersive performance ritual.
At the heart of Kitchen Table is deep collaboration and play that transcends city and state lines. Joining co-founder Kill Joy, based in Houston, Texas, are Kitchen Table core crew Andrea Garcia and Jessica Snow from Colorado, to come together in Austin. Throughout the residency, the group will collaborate across disciplines to build puppets and props, make prints, lead workshops, perform, and share creative practices—transforming DORF’s Fishbowl into a space for connection, experimentation, and collective making.
"We take solace that we don’t disrupt alone, we build networks of mutual aid and collective resistance. We nurture small flames into big flames. Historical radical conversations started at a kitchen table. Have that potluck, be the villager: bring a dish."
- Kitchen Table
Programming Schedule
Playing in the Shadows
Shadow Puppet Performance with Andrea Garcia
Friday, September 11, 2026 | Doors 7:00 PM | Performance 7:30 PM
Playing in the Shadows (2026) Photo by Andrea Garcia
Kitchen Table presents Playing in the Shadows, a 30-minute shadow puppet performance exploring the ways people gather, organize, resist, and find community.
Through a series of interconnected scenes performed with paper shadow puppets, audiences witness moments of shared meals, dancing, learning, and collective action that illustrate how communities care for one another while living under systems of oppression.
Kitchen Table co-founder Rebo’s mom will be bringing her famous tamales available for purchase before and during the performance. Bringing a beloved family tradition into the gathering, the tamales extend the evening’s themes of food, care, and community beyond the stage.
Weekend Workshop 1 of 2:
Spoon Culture
Block Printing Workshop with Kill Joy
Saturday, September 12, 2026 | 1:00–4:00 PM
$20 | $35 for both September 12 & 13 workshops
Spoon Culture poster (2026) by Kill Joy
Learn the fundamentals of block printing while exploring the symbolism and culture of the spoon as a tool of sustenance, receptivity, community care, and possibility.
Led by Kill Joy, this beginner-friendly workshop will guide participants through designing, transferring, carving, and printing their own custom blocks on paper and/or fabric. Participants will leave with their carved blocks and a small edition of prints, with print trading encouraged.
Participants are invited to bring a family spoon, photograph, or drawing as inspiration.
Open to all levels, ages 8–100+. Youth under 13 are requested to attend with a paid guardian. All materials are included.
Presented in partnership with Print Austin
Weekend Workshop 2 of 2:
Printing for Solidarity / Printing as Community Care Letterpress Printing Workshop with Jessica Snow
Sunday, September 13, 2026 | 1:00–4:00 PM
$20 | $35 for both September 12 & 13 workshops
Using traditional wood type and letterpress printing methods, participants will create posters centered on solidarity, support, and lived experience.
The workshop explores the power of printed words to amplify voices and create catharsis, connection, and community. A special collection of letters featuring Spanish-language diacritics will be available, expanding participants’ ability to create messages in the language of their choice.
Participants who attend Spoon Culture are encouraged to bring their carved blocks and incorporate them into their posters.
Open to all levels, ages 8–100+. Youth under 13 are requested to attend with a paid guardian. All materials are included.
Photo and Print by Jessica Snow
Presented in partnership with Print Austin
Carpenter Hotel X DORF:
Kitchen Table Artist Talk + Walk
Locations: Carpenter Hotel and DORF
Thursday, September 24, 2026 | 7–9 PM | FREE
Join Kill Joy for an evening conversation as she shares the work of Kitchen Table, beginning with an artist talk at Carpenter Hotel, followed by a short walk to DORF’s gallery space, where Kill Joy will share her progress on making “Abuelita Pozole”, a soup puppet commissioned for the Mexican American Cultural Center (MACC) in El Paso for their Dia de los Muertos Desfile & Festival, and to experience the evolving work in person.
Cash bar with full food and drink offerings available at Carpenter’s Hall. Learn more about our partnership series with Carpenter Hotel here!
Presented in partnership with Carpenter Hotel
Sustenance
A Potluck and an Immersive Performance Ritual featuring Koomah and laura yohualtlahuiz alongside Kitchen Table artist Kill Joy
Sunday, September 27, 2026
Doors 6:30 PM | Performance 7:00 PM
Photo by Christian Toledo
The residency culminates with Sustenance, a potluck and an immersive, interactive ritual featuring large puppets, song, dance, and collaborative performance with Houston-based Kill Joy and Koomah, and San Antonio-based laura yohualtlahuiz.
Drawing on the spoon as a symbol of sustenance and collective care, the performance asks what it means to nourish one another—materially, emotionally, creatively, and politically. The audience is invited to bring a dish to share, to accompany Kitchen Table co-founder Rebo’s mama-made pozole, becoming participants in a communal gathering where food and performance become shared acts of nourishment and connection.
About Kitchen Table
Kitchen Table is a collaborative creative practice centered on community, experimentation, and collective action. Through puppetry, printmaking, performance, and participatory art-making, Kitchen Table creates spaces where audiences are invited not simply to observe, but to gather, contribute, and build together.
Photo by Christian Toledo
ABOUT FISHBOWL RESIDENCY
Named for DORF’s floor-to-ceiling glass walls, Fishbowl Residency invites audiences to witness artistic process unfolding in real time, transforming the gallery into a living studio where process becomes performance, and the boundaries between private creation and public encounter begin to dissolve.
Leaning into experimentation, collaboration, and improvisation, the residency will function as an evolving site for artistic play, process-sharing, and interdisciplinary exchange.
Throughout each residency, DORF will host weekly open studio hours on Saturdays from 12–5 PM, inviting audiences to witness works in progress and engage with the artists.
With Fishbowl Residency, DORF continues its commitment to building artist-centered cultural infrastructure in Austin—advancing experimental models that support creative risk-taking while critically examining the social, economic, and psychological conditions shaping artistic practice today.
Carpenter Hotel x DORF
The Fishbowl Residency is part of DORF’s broader programming partnership with Carpenter Hotel this year. Together, we’re bringing a year of curated, artist-led experiences to Carpenter Hotel and the Austin community—from workshops and artist talks to residencies, guided experiences, and custom art commissions.
Rooted in a shared commitment to supporting artists and celebrating Austin’s evolving cultural landscape, the partnership prioritizes meaningful engagement, accessibility, and fair artist compensation. Through this collaboration, visiting artists will receive complimentary accommodations, and all resident artists will receive a food and beverage stipend during their residencies. Learn more about Carpenter Hotel and the partnership here.
ABOUT DORF
DORF was founded in 2018 with a mission to build a village of artists, advocates, and innovators. DORF’s values of openness, intention, expression, and community have guided its programming, which includes exhibitions that tackle social justice, amplify marginalized voices, and foster meaningful dialogues.
We have received recognition in publications like Texas Monthly, Sightlines Magazine, The Austin Chronicle, Glasstire, Southwest Contemporary, and more, and received “Best New Experimental Art Gallery” in The Austin Chronicle.
For more information, contact us at dorf@dorfworld.org.
PARKING:
Paid parking is available in the Zilker Point garage (near DORF entrance on Toomey Road) at $5/hour (max $30). Additional public paid parking is available along Toomey Road west of the building.
ACCESSIBILITY
ADA accessible parking is available at Zilker Point garage, with elevator access to DORF. DORF is also accessible via S. Lamar Blvd’s sidewalks.
DORF’s gallery is wheelchair accessible and stroller friendly. Onsite restrooms are wheelchair accessible with baby changing stations.
Service animals and friendly animals of most kinds are welcome at DORF!
Please check in at the Reception Desk or email us with questions or for assistance.
DORF:
218 South Lamar Blvd.
Suite 140
Austin, Texas, 78704.
Acknowledgements
This project is supported in part by an Austin Elevate Grant of Austin Arts, Culture, Music and Entertainment, Carpenter Hotel, PrintAustin and DORF’s generous community of volunteers and donors.
