A.I.R. National Membership

A.I.R. Gallery’s National Artists Program was founded in 1981 to expand A.I.R.’s feminist mission to communities outside of New York City. The National Artists form a network of care, support, and opportunity through collaboration and the forging of alliances.

During the program, artists exhibit annually in a curated group show and can apply without fees to open call exhibitions hosted at A.I.R. All National Artists are represented on the gallery’s website and have the opportunity to be involved in artist-led events, including group virtual studio visits.

Applicants must live in the United States but outside of New York City, must not have previously participated in the A.I.R. National Artists Program, and must be willing to commit for three years.

Applications will be reviewed in late July and selections will be announced in late August. The first year of A.I.R. National Membership is September 2026–August 2027.

Requirements

Eligibility

• Be a woman or non-binary artist.
• Reside outside of New York City but within the United States.
• Not be a previous participant in the A.I.R. National Artists Program.

Benefits

• Annual Exhibition: Every member in the program exhibits together annually in a curated summer group show at A.I.R. Gallery.
• Artists may apply without fee to open call exhibitions at A.I.R., including the A.I.R. Biennial and Currents.
• Representation on the A.I.R. website.
• Opportunities to participate in artist-led programming (such as virtual studio visits).
• Artists may submit professional activities outside of A.I.R. for promotion on A.I.R.’s social media.
• Community with the A.I.R. network of current and past members.
• Access to fiscal sponsorship for artist grants requiring 501©(3) status (on a case-by-case basis with approval from the Executive Director).

Responsibilities

• The membership is a three year commitment to the program (September 2026–August 2029).
• Membership dues of $1,440 per year, payable in two $720 installments (due on September 1 and January 1 of each year).
• Exhibition expenses for annual curated National Artists Exhibition (to cover curator fee, art handlers, photography, and opening reception costs) shared between all participating artists.

Application Instructions

Image Submission Guidelines

• 72ppi, JPG, RGB files only.
• Images must not exceed five megabytes in size.
• Images must be oriented properly (ex: top of the image is up).
• All file names must be labeled with Title, Year, Medium, Dimensions (H x W x D), i.e. Untitled 2, 2019, Acrylic on canvas, 14x14 inches.jpg.
• You must fill in all fields and upload all seven submissions in order for your application to be complete.

Video Submission Guidelines

• Video samples must not exceed one minute in length and 100 megabytes in size.
• Video submissions must be original, time-based artworks (i.e. a clip from a video or film, or performance documentation). Please no “behind the scenes” or “personal statement” videos.
• Video must be submitted as .MOV or MP4 format.
• All file names must be labeled with Title, Year, Medium, Duration, i.e. Untitled 2, 2019, digital video, 15 minutes.mp4.

Additional Submission Guidelines

• All questions should be answered to the best of your ability.
• Resume and artist statement in PDF format only.

Visit this page to apply. The deadline is July 21, 2026.