What is the Voxel?

The Voxel is a privately owned black box theater in the heart of Baltimore city. It is the teaching center and research lab for Figure 53, as well as a theater, incubator, and resource for performing artists.

Can I rent the space?

No; we do not offer rentals at this time. We are focused on artist residencies, classes, and R&D for QLab.

What is the difference between the Summer Artist Residencies versus the Invited Artist Program?

Summer Artist Residencies last 1 to 2 weeks, and are open for anyone to apply. Summer Artist Residencies are completely free to artists.

The Invited Artist program does not have an application process. Instead, we reach out directly to artists that we are interested to work with on specific larger projects. The Voxel is more directly involved with the production process for Invited Artists. We also structure these residencies around a modest ticket split (typically 20%) to help maintain equipment and cover other costs associated with presenting artist work.

If you are interested in developing projects here that require more than two weeks of time, we encourage you to apply for the Summer Artist Residencies with a smaller project. The Summer Residencies are a good way for us to get to know you and your work, and help us determine if you're ready to take on larger and more ambitious projects here.

Do you have dedicated parking?

No; the Voxel does not have a dedicated parking lot, but there is free street parking near the the theater.

Please check out our Visit page to learn more about parking and accessibility.

Where does the name "Voxel" come from?

In computing, a "voxel" is like a three-dimensional pixel. Just as "pixel" came from the words "picture element", a "voxel" is a "volume element". Voxels are a way to divide space into a grid of cubes. You can represent physical objects as a collection of voxels, much like you might draw a picture as a collection of pixels.

While The Voxel theater does not dogmatically prioritize the use of technology in the arts — we believe that technology is not artistically interesting in and of itself — the space was born from many years of building software for theaters.

The name "Voxel" reflects how this theater both originated from the two-dimensional world of a computer screen and how our creative efforts now extend into the three-dimensional world of physical & embodied space. Plus, a black box theater is a bit like one big voxel, which is neat.

What’s the history of the building?

The theater was built in 1946 and was a popular destination for moviegoers through the late 1980s. It fell into disrepair and went through numerous owners until we purchased it in 2015. We performed a ground-up renovation with architects Ziger|Snead and reopened the theater in 2020 as a black box theater designed for live performance.

Who is doing this?

The Voxel is a project of Chris Ashworth and Figure 53, a small but mighty Baltimore-based company that makes software for the performing arts. Chris founded Figure 53 in 2006, and created their flagship product QLab. Figure 53 software runs live events in over 100 countries around the world, from basement venues to the world's largest arenas. Chris built the Voxel as a legally separate but spiritually related company in 2020. His Voxel teammates call him the "boss-slash-intern", which is a pretty good description. He also takes most of the photographs for Voxel productions.

Alec Sparks is The Voxel's Technical Director. He make sure the theater is reconfigured appropriately for every event, teaches new designers and technicians how to use our equipment, maintains our technical manual, and occasionally authors lab notes. Outside of The Voxel, he makes tools for behind-the-scenes folks at Stage Hacks, OSC.fyi, Deck Rack, and Stage Blocks Co.

Tessara Morgan-Farley is our Director of Production. She helps artists ensure their shows (and all the required pre-production) actually happen and that patrons have a comfortable experience at The Voxel. She co-founded Truepenny Projects, a Baltimore-focused team of artists making new works for the gallery and the stage. She also is a freelance director for productions across Baltimore.