mad artist fellowship 2025

Located on the sixth floor of the Museum and open to the public, the Artist Studios at MAD is a community engagement and professional development program for contemporary artists and designers. The first program of its kind, the Artist Studios opportunity is designed to encourage visitors to meet artists-in-residence as they expand their creative practice while working on-site at MAD. One Artist Fellow is selected per six-month session, for which they receive access to studio space in the Museum and a stipend. Visitors are welcome to visit MAD’s Artist Studios to view works in progress and converse with the artists and designers.

The artists chosen for MAD’s Artist Studios program represent a wide range of creative practices within the fields of art, craft, and design. Established in 2008, the program has served as an important platform for more than 200+ artists and designers to advance their careers and is widely recognized as an innovative model for Museum education. The MAD Artist Fellowship was introduced in 2016 to support the practice of emerging NYC-based artists from historically underrepresented communities. Alumni of the program have gone on to highly regarded careers, and after their time at MAD have proceeded to exhibit work at MAD and other major institutions, including the Queens Museum, Whitney Museum, Brooklyn Museum, and Studio Museum, among others.

PROGRAM STRUCTURE

The Artist Studios program offers one full-time MAD Artist Fellowship per six-month session.

The MAD Artist Fellow receives a $15,000 stipend and dedicated studio space in the Museum. Fellows must commit to a weekly schedule of 21 public open studio hours each week on 3 set days which the museum public can visit. The Fellow’s weekly schedule will remain set throughout the six-month residency and must occur for two full weekdays and one full weekend day from 10:30 am to 5:30 pm. In addition to their 21 public open studio hours, Fellows are encouraged to util the space for private studio hours throughout the week. The Artist Fellow also receives a one-time unrestricted $1000 materials and mentorship stipend at the start of their residency.

MAD Artist Fellows receive access to their studio space in the Museum from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm daily; additional paid public programming opportunities; continued engagement through the community of over 200 Artist Studios alumni; and access to MAD’s galleries, public programs, and exhibition openings.

During their weekly open studio hours, MAD Artist Fellowsnwelcome visits from K-12 school groups (facilitated in-person and virtually by paid artist-educators) and public tour groups (facilitated in-person by volunteer docents).