Apply Now | NYFA Immigrant Artist Mentoring Program: Oakland

December 14, 2017byAmy Aronoff

Through the support of the Ford Foundation, the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) is pleased to announce the Immigrant Artist Mentoring Program: Oakland, presented in collaboration with Oakland local partners: World Arts West; Bisemi Foundation, Inc; Oakland Asian Cultural Center; Oakland Public Library; Emerging Arts Professionals; and CultureStrike.

The program’s goal is to foster a local community of artists sharing the immigrant experience and provide resources through entrepreneurial training, access to other artists, arts professionals, and organizations. Conducted in an inclusive, safe space, the Immigrant Artist Mentoring Program offers immigrant artists the opportunity to focus on their creative practice, gain support and exposure for their work, while upholding their distinct cultural identities.

This initiative will combine two of NYFA’s professional development programs: the Immigrant Artist Mentoring Program, in which NYFA provides access to artist mentors and art professionals via panels and workshops, and the Artist As Entrepreneur program, which provides artists with the fundamental principles of sustainability in the arts. Featured topics will include strategic planning, finance, law, marketing, and fundraising.

In collaboration with Oakland-based partners, the program will include two-weekend entrepreneurial boot camps, one-on-one mentoring, an informal gathering between weekends, and individual follow-up consultations.

This is a competitive program open to artists from all disciplines (performing, literary, visual, multi-disciplinary, folk and traditional arts) based in Oakland, CA and provided free of charge to accepted participants. The program will run from March 2018 to June 2018, and will bring together Oakland artists to nurture a productive environment for collaboration.

Testimonial:

Well, it’s safe to say that my NYFA Bootcamp experience changed my life. With two grants and my very first gallery shows this year, my priority as an artist has shifted toward using the arts to develop conscious community. I’m currently working for Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, in Bethel, NY, in a truly visionary program for high schoolers, called Project Identity: Sessions in Liberty, and this weekend is the second of the gallery shows, this time exhibiting my “Consciousness” Art. Thank you, all of NYFA, for presenting a life-changing program!!!! – Meg Montgomery, Interdisciplinary artist (Boot Camp ‘16)

Eligibility:

Live within the Oakland area (within commuting distance of Oakland)*
Either you or your parents were born outside of the United States. (This includes the United States territories, i.e. Puerto Rico, Guam, and the US Virgin Islands)
Are NOT currently enrolled in a graduate or undergraduate degree program
Refugees are also welcome to apply

*Priority will be given to artists living and working in Oakland; however, the program is open to artists in California within commuting distance of Oakland.

Mandatory** Sessions:

First Weekend Workshop:
Saturday, March 10, 2018, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Sunday, March 11, 2018, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM

Mid-program Check in:
April 4, 2018, 6:00 – 8:00PM

Second Weekend Workshop:
Saturday, June 9, 2018, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Sunday, June 10, 2018, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM

Topics to be featured include strategic planning, finance, law, marketing, and fundraising. Additional material will be drawn from NYFA’s popular textbook The Profitable Artist (Allworth Press, 2011).

**Attendance is mandatory to all sessions, so please check your calendar before applying.

Location: Oakland-based partners will host meetings.

Application Deadline: Monday, February 5, 2018, 11:59 PM PST***

***Extended from Monday, January 29, 2018, 11:59 PM PST

Application Guidelines: For the application, we ask you to provide: