Mentee Application | 2026 NYFA Immigrant Artist Mentoring Program: Visual and Multidisciplinary Arts

Apply Now: Immigrant Artist Mentoring Program for Visual and Multidisciplinary Artists 2026

The deadline to apply to this competitive NYC-based program is Monday, October 13, 2025, 11:59 PM ET.

Are you an immigrant artist working in the Visual or Multidisciplinary Arts? Do you live in New York City or within commuting distance of the New York City Metropolitan area?

Join the free program to gain access to other artists, arts professionals, and organizations and learn from each other. Many of the mentors are immigrant artists themselves and understand the challenges of sustaining one’s art practice while navigating different cultural perspectives in the art world.

Program Goals 

• Provide one-on-one support. The program pairs immigrant artists with artist mentors who guide them to achieve specific goals and provide them with broader access to the U.S. cultural world through an exchange of ideas, resources, and experiences.
• Build a community. The program fosters a local community of artists, offering opportunities for participants to connect and share resources with other immigrant artists, arts professionals, organizations, and program alumni from 2007 to the present, through group meetings and peer learning. 

Through building a community of artists with a goal to foster an inclusive safe space, the program offers immigrant artists the opportunity to focus on their career goals while navigating the shared experiences and challenges of being an immigrant artist.

Program Benefits

• 1-on-1 Mentorship: Pair with 1 artist mentor for career support and advice
• Professional Development: Workshops that provide artists with the fundamental principles of sustainability in the arts (previous topics: cultivating relationships with arts professionals, strategic planning, fundraising, community building, and marketing, etc.)
• Exhibition Opportunity: Opportunity to be selected to exhibit your work in In/Between (link to 2025 exhibition), an annual immigrant artist group exhibition scheduled to take place in spring 2026. In partnership with New York Live Arts. 
• Networking Opportunities: With the program cohort, IAP Mentoring Program alumni, arts professionals, and staff members from various arts organizations, including our Cultural Partners in the NYC area and beyond.
• Arts-in-Education Training: Opportunity to participate in professional development training designed for ProjectArt’s Teaching Artist Residency, observe classes, and receive 1:1 consultation from a Resident Teaching Artist. In partnership with ProjectArt. 
• Featured in Immigrant Artist Newsletter: Opportunity to be highlighted in NYFA’s Immigrant Artist Program Monthly Newsletter.

Cultural Partners

New York Live Arts, Asian American Arts Alliance, Bronx Council on the Arts, Flushing Town Hall, Haiti Cultural Exchange, Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance, Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art at Snug Harbor, ProjectArt, and Staten Island Arts.

Eligibility

• Visual and multidisciplinary artists working in Drawing, Painting, Printmaking, Sculpture, Video, Film, Photography, New Media, Multidisciplinary, Socially-Engaged Practices, Folk, and Traditional Art
• Able to attend mandatory meetings in person in New York City Metropolitan area
• Artists born outside of the U.S. or in the U.S. territories (Puerto Rico or Guam, The U.S. Virgin Islands) may apply. *
• Have been pursuing a career as an artist within the range of 1-10 years in the United States**
• Are NOT currently enrolled in an arts graduate or undergraduate degree program***

*If you have a unique immigrant experience that doesn’t meet the stated eligibility and feel you would benefit from this program, please reach out to i.outreach@nyfa.org with some information on your immigrant story.

**This program often benefits those who are at more emerging stages in their U.S. careers and who are looking to build an arts community. If you’ve been pursuing a career as an artist in the U.S. for more than 10 years and feel you would benefit from this program,  please reach out to i.outreach@nyfa.org with some information on your immigrant experience.

***Students who will graduate before the program starts are welcome to apply.

Application Requirements

For the application, we ask you to provide:

• Your short and long term goals and why you are interested in applying to this program
• Any challenges you are facing in your artistic practice, including your immigrant experience, and how you would like to work with a mentor to seek solutions
• A narrative bio of your professional career
• A link to your online presence (e.g. website or social media etc.)
• Work samples with work statement and description

NYFA welcomes all applicants and does not require the disclosure of immigration status.

How to Apply

Timeline

Applications Opened: Tuesday, August 26, 2025

Applications Deadline: Monday, October 13, 2025, 11:59 PM ET

Applicants Notified: By late November/early December 

To request an accommodation or assistance in applying, please email i.outreach@nyfa.org or contact 212-366-6900 Ext 265. We ask that requests for accommodation be made as soon as possible or by Monday, October 3, 2025, to allow adequate time for staff to support you in submitting an application before the deadline.

Questions? Contact the Immigrant Artist Program Team at i.outreach@nyfa.org and include “2026 NYC Immigrant Artist Mentoring Program” in the subject line.

Selection Process

The selection process has several phases:

1. With the support of local cultural partners, NYFA will identify established professional artists from a variety of disciplines—whose backgrounds reflect the applicant pool—to serve as mentors.

2. Mentors will review mentee applications focusing on the applicants’ artistic vision, resources they are looking for, and career goals. The mentors’ ability to offer the necessary resources and information that the applicant is seeking is taken into consideration.

3. NYFA will participate in the process of identifying the pool of mentees, considering the cohort makeup as a whole while aligning mutually beneficial pairings of mentors and mentees.

Mandatory Program Dates

Orientation & Meet the Partner (virtual)

Wednesday, January 7, 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM ET

Introduction (in-person; NYFA’s Office: 29 W. 38th street, New York, NY 10018)

Wednesday, January 21, 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM ET

Meet the Mentor I (in-person; Location TBD)

Wednesday, February 4, 6:00 PM – 8:30 PM ET

Meet the Mentor II (in-person; Location TBD)

Wednesday, February 25, 6:00 PM – 8:30 PM ET

Check-In 1 (virtual)

Wednesday, March 18, 6:00 PM – 8:30 PM ET

Check-In 2 (in-person; NYFA’s Office: 29 W. 38th street, New York, NY 10018) 

Wednesday, May 6, 6:00 PM – 8:30 PM ET

Alumni Mixer (in-person; Location TBD)

Wednesday, May 27, 6:00 PM – 8:30 PM ET

Final Celebration (in-person; Location TBD)

Wednesday, June 10, 6:00 PM – 8:30 PM ET

1-on-1 Mentoring Support

Dates arranged with individual mentors during the program. Meetings can be in-person and/or online. 

Attendance is mandatory for all above sessions, so please check your calendar before applying.

Optional Meeting: 

In/Between Exhibition Opening (in-person; New York Live Arts: 219 W 19th St, New York, NY 10011)

Tuesday, April 14, 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM ET

In-person programs will be implemented in accordance with local and state health guidelines. Meeting locations will all be based in the NYC Area. The program will be moved online, if necessary.

Questions? Contact the Immigrant Artist Program Team at i.outreach@nyfa.org. 

From Our Alumni

Being part of the NYFA Immigrant Artist Mentoring Program was transformative. It valued my identity, supported my artistic growth, and opened doors I never imagined. There was a strong sense of mutual respect and care within the group. Sharing our stories and artistic journeys created meaningful bonds. I’m proud to be a NYFA alum. – Talita Cabral (IAP: Visual and Multidisciplinary Artist ‘25)

I’m really grateful to NYFA for creating a program like IAP. Supporting immigrant artists in such a thoughtful and meaningful way means a lot—especially now, when it’s easy to feel unwelcome in the U.S. This program gave me not just resources, but also a sense of community—and for once, a space where difference didn’t feel like a barrier, but a bond. – Liza Domingues (IAP: Visual and Multidisciplinary Artist ‘25)

Being an immigrant artist in the US is extremely challenging. This program gives a space to nurture conversations, whether sustaining one's practice in the US context or networking. I find the discourse to be very transparent and honest. Despite generational, career stages and immigration status differences, I am constantly moved by the amount of love and trust went into the practices of each mentor and cohort, which encourages me to keep going. – Siyu Chen  (IAP: Visual and Multidisciplinary Artist ‘25)

Acknowledgements

NYFA’s Immigrant Artist Mentoring Program is made possible by the generous support of Deutsche Bank and others.