engaging artists fellowship 2024-2025

More Art’s year-long (August 2024 to July 2025) Engaging Artists Fellowship is designed to help emerging NYC artists and community organizers develop and sustain a socially engaged and public art practice.

The Fellowship program curriculum includes mentorship, peer feedback, community building, workshops and artist talks tailored to the interests/needs of the cohort, and access to programming opportunities in New York City.

The infrastructure and laboratory provided by More Art allow selected emerging and underrepresented artists to gain a deeper understanding of the history and vitality of public and socially engaged art. This fellowship encourages artists to not only expand and to develop their social practice but also to promote use of socially engaged art as a tool for change.

EA Fellows will finish with a culminating presentation at the end of the fellowship year. Many fellowship projects become multi-year initiatives, and, as such, the culminating presentation is not a conclusion of the fellows’ work but rather an opportunity to highlight their budding creative practice and project journey.

What to expect:

The program is a hybrid model, including some in-person events and some virtual.

Each Fellow will receive monthly 1-to-1 individualized mentorship sessions with More Art staff. Additionally, the Fellowship Leader will facilitate monthly generative workshops, discussions, and collaborative feedback sessions, tailored to the practices and needs of the cohort. The program will culminate in culminating presentations by each Fellow, public or otherwise, of or about work developed over the course of the program. At the end of the year, Fellows can expect to receive a small stipend of at least $250 each (each member of a collective will receive a stipend) to be used for expenses related to their practice. Fellows can also expect to spend 15 hours per month on average on More Art-related work.

Some topics covered in previous workshops include:

• History of Public Art
• Education for and history of Socially Engaged Art (SEA)
• Step-by-step Guide to Creating Socially Engaged Public Art
• Equitable practices and ethics to consider for SEA
• Grants & Funding for SEA

Qualifications:

• Interest in More Art’s work and eagerness to learn (no prior experience in public art or socially engaged art necessary!)
• Willingness to present, support, and attend work produced in community and public settings, as opposed to galleries and museums
• Strong commitment to More Art’s values, including but not limited to social justice and public engagement, inclusion, diversity, equity, accessibility, and collaboration
• Commitment to intersectional thinking and artmaking
• Willingness to act with care and respect toward all collaborators, including More Art staff, other Fellows, and community members
• Eagerness to contribute to a nurturing environment with and for Fellows
• Interest in establishing and/or sustaining partnerships with community-based organizations, advocacy groups, agencies, neighborhoods, places, individuals and/or groups of New Yorkers
• Belief that art and artists are integral to empowering social justice movements by creatively illuminating social issues, engaging new audiences in activism, and catalyzing public discourse

Fellowship output + expectations:

Over the course of the Fellowship year, Fellows are expected to:

• Develop a Theory (or theories!) of Change, with help from the Fellowship Leader
• Develop a set of individualized goals for the Fellowship year
• Develop a culminating presentation (public, or otherwise), with assistance from More Art staff, of or about the work you’ve developed during the More Art Fellowship
• Attend monthly 1-to-1 individualized mentorship meetings with More Art staff
• Attend monthly in-person and virtual workshops/artist talks