ART READY: Smack Mellon’s Professional Artist Mentorship Program for High School Students

 ELIGIBILITY: Open to students in grades 10-12, attending NYC public high schools   PROGRAM DATES: October 21, 2026 to June 2, 2027   PROGRAM TIMES: Wednesday afternoons, 4:00-6:30pm   LOCATION: Students will meet regularly in person. From October through January, the group will visit each of our artist mentors in their studios as well as meet for trips to museums and galleries. We will hold a culminating exhibition to showcase work participants created with their mentors at our gallery space, located at 92 Plymouth Street Brooklyn, NY. 

QUESTIONS? Please contact 718-834-8761 or info@smackmellon.org

 PROGRAM DESCRIPTION – The Program is FREE for Participants Overview

Smack Mellon’s Art Ready program brings high school aged artists in 10th to 12th grades into the studios of NYC’s most innovative and inspiring cultural makers. 

 Art Ready operates during the school year and includes a series of studio visits with emerging and established artists; a series of field trips to museums and galleries; a portfolio prep workshop; and a four-month arts mentorship. Art Ready connects up to twenty-one high school students with six diverse artists, to gain practical experience working with professionals in a variety of artistic disciplines. There is no fee to participate, and all expenses are paid.

 Art Ready engages young people in a way no other arts education program does. It pairs students directly with working artists; the students learn firsthand over the course of a school year what it is to be an artist. Working as mentors, the artists provide professional and creative guidance as the students make decisions about their futures in the arts. Mentor/teaching artists tutor the students in their creative process, introduce them to new ways of working, and engage them in continuous critical reflection.

 Group Visits

From October 21st until January 13th, the group of high school students meets with each Artist Mentor who introduces their studio practice showing them the different ways artists navigate life and approach their work. Art Ready visits artists in the fields of graphic design, architecture, sculpture, video, photography, drawing, and textile art. Visits take place Wednesday afternoons from 4:00-6:30pm.

 Artist Mentorships

After the group has visited all the Mentors, each student works with one Artist Mentor from January 27th through May 26th in the Mentor’s studio. Students attend their mentorships in groups of up to 4 students, from 4:00-6:30pm on Wednesdays. Our Artist Mentors are a varied group of professionals that represent the cultural and artistic diversity of NYC. In keeping with Smack Mellon’s mission, a majority of the Mentors are woman-identifying. Our Mentors are also selected based on their interest in sharing their knowledge, experience and skills with students, and all have prior teaching or mentoring experience. All are successful in their field.

 Field Trips

We periodically take field trips to galleries and museums. Past field trips have included a tours of The Whitney, Brooklyn Museum, and Poster House, as well as tours and art-making workshop at Urban Glass, Robert Blackburn Printmaking, and Dieu Donné Papermill. 

 Final Exhibition

Art Ready culminates in a final exhibition of work created during the program and gallery reception open to students, mentors, families, and friends, located in Smack Mellon’s 6,000 square foot gallery space. 

 About the Organization

Smack Mellon's mission is to nurture and support emerging, under-recognized mid-career, and women artists in the creation and exhibition of new work by providing exhibition opportunities, studio workspace, and access to equipment and technical assistance for the realization of ambitious projects. We see ourselves as a vehicle whereby under-represented artists can create, explore, and exhibit their creative ideas outside the concerns of the commercial art world, offering many artists the exposure and recognition they deserve. In 2007, Smack Mellon initiated Art Ready to extend its artistic services to creative high school students.   

 APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS: Please answer the questions on all sections of the application honestly and to the best of your ability. The information in your application is strictly confidential and will only be used by Smack Mellon staff and mentors for the purpose of best meeting the needs of our program participants. You must also provide the name and contact info for a teacher or counselor at your school or another youth program who can be contacted as a reference. Finalists will be interviewed and up to 20 students will be selected with these criteria in mind: their interest in pursuing a career in the arts, their ability to attend every session and complete a 15-week mentorship, and the quality of their application.

 APPLICATION CHECKLIST: Part 1: Completed Application Form Part 2: Completed Short-Response Questions Part 3: Release Form signed by a Parent/Guardian (will be emailed to applicants upon completion of this form) Part 4: Permission to Use Photographs Release Form signed by a Parent/Guardian at the start of the program.

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS

• You can submit a maximum of 10 still images OR a maximum of 2 videos and 5 still images. Please choose the one that best suits your practice. 
• PLEASE NOTE: due to the high volume of applications we receive, your submission may not exceed the amount of works allowed: 10 images OR 2 videos + 5 images. If you try to submit MORE than 5 images AS WELL AS videos, the panelists will prioritize the videos and not consider the final 5 images as part of the application. 
• Videos in your submission should show your original time-based work (media or performance) or installation of it in a physical space. Videos should NOT be used to show documentation of still work or a single channel installation. 
• Videos in your submission should NOT be a reel, but one continuous excerpt. Title credits should be listed in the "video information" section.
• You can submit only one application per residency cycle  

Program Eligibility 

All applicants for the Studio Program should be emerging or early career artists. We define an emerging artist as one who is at the beginning of their public artistic career and would greatly benefit from the opportunities we provide, such as regular studio visits with New York City curators, public open studio events, and free studio space. Artists may have some experience participating in group shows, solo shows at lesser-known art spaces, some press recognition, and/or are recent graduates of BFA or MFA programs. We do not consider artists emerging if they have had solo exhibitions at widely recognized galleries or institutions; already received consistent production opportunities, awards, and press; and/or if they have 10 years or more of consistent public experience as an artist. Age is not a determining factor. 

Applicants must also be legal residents of NYC and file their taxes in NYC for minimum one year prior to the application deadline. Applicants must be residing in NYC at the time of the application process and for the term of the residency. If you become a finalist and are invited for an interview, you must be able to provide a tax return for proof of residency. All applicants must be United States citizens or legal Permanent Residents of the United States, 18 years or older, may not be enrolled in any degree program, and must be able to demonstrate need for a studio. Applicants may not be a resident artist in another studio program at the same time as the Smack Mellon residency. 

The 2027-2028 program begins September 5, 2027 and ends August 5, 2028.        

All six of the artists selected for the studio program will receive a fellowship, three will receive a New York Community Trust Van Lier Fellowship. The New York Community Trust’s Edward and Sally Van Lier Fund provides support for talented, culturally diverse, economically disadvantaged young people who are seriously dedicated to a career in the arts.       

*Applicant Requirements for The New York Community Trust Van Lier Fellowship are to support artists who are seriously dedicated to a career in the arts, reside in New York City, identify racially and or culturally with a historically underrepresented community, age 30 or younger, and have a demonstrated need for financial assistance to advance their artistic career. If you feel you are qualified and would like to be considered for one of Smack Mellon’s (3) Van Lier funded studios you will have a place to indicate your interest in the application form. Please note that if you have received a Van Lier Fellowship from another organization, you are not eligible for this.*       

For those who are not eligible for the Van Lier Fellowship, the other three slots available in Smack Mellon’s Studio Program are for emerging artists of any age who are New York City residents.  

Selection Process

A panel of arts professionals and artists will review applications and select artists for the 2027-2028 season. Artists will be selected based on the quality of their work and their potential for making the most of their time in the program. The 2027-2028 program begins September 5, 2027 and ends August 5, 2028. Notifications go out in late May 2027. Please do not call or email the office for selection results. 

Before applying, we encourage you to read about the Artist Studio Program, by clicking here. 

FORMATTING IMAGES

• Each image file must be titled: LastName_FirstName_image number. Example: Smith_John_01.
• File type: JPEG, 1000px maximum in any direction
• Image information: title, medium, date, and dimensions for each entry
• Image script: Enter up to 50 words of description about the content or context of each image or series of images. This information will be reviewed by the panel when your work is viewed.

FORMATTING VIDEOS

• Each video file must be titled: LastName_FirstName_video number.  Example: Smith_John_01.
• File types: Mp4, AVI, MOV, MPG.
• Video information: title, medium, production date, and total run time. 
• Video script: Enter up to 50 words about the content of your video. This information will be reviewed by the panel when your work is viewed. 

For any inquiries about the program please email: info@smackmellon.org        

For technical questions go to: http://help.submittable.com/