Rough Draft champions innovative, boundary-pushing artists by offering time, resources, and room to experiment. Through work-in-progress presentations, artists have the opportunity to explore and refine their ideas, while audiences gain insight into the creative process. Many of these works go on to evolve into fully realized productions, underscoring the festival’s role in fostering new work.

Over two summer sessions, the main stage theater at LaGuardia Performing Arts Center (LPAC) became a space for reflection, listening, and shared experience. Nursing students from LaGuardia Community College gathered not to practice clinical skills, but to tell stories — about who they are, how they care for others, and what it means to step into the nursing profession. 

LPAC has played a pivotal role in making Latin Lover possible. From the earliest workshops to this staged reading, the center has been both a funder and an incubator, providing financial support, mentorship, and a platform for experimentation. Through its guidance, the team secured vital grants such as funding from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and was connected to The Bechdel Project, which offered new perspectives and opportunities to refine the work.