Lower East Side Young Artists of Color Fellowship 2026
Fourth Arts Block (FABnyc)
70 East 4th Street
New York, NY 10003
Deadline
Posted
FAB’s Lower East Side (LES) Young Artists of Color Fellowship supports early career artists in exploring creative practices centered on community engagement and cross-sector collaboration.
The fellowship aims to help these artists build a peer network of mutual support, meet with experienced artists & producers of color to help shape strategies for furthering their work in the field, and participate in a culminating public showcase of original projects.
We developed the Fellowship in recognition of the diversity of the Lower East Side community and its many cultures, and the need for FAB to play a role in the development of a generation of artists who reflect that diversity.
The Fellowship was developed particularly to support POC artists who live in the Lower East Side, although we accept applications for any young artist who is a NYC resident. We define the Lower East Side as including the area from 14th Street to Canal, Bowery to the East River, as well as Chinatown. This includes Loisaida, the East Village, and all of Community District 3.
Each Fellow will:
- receive a $500 stipend
- participate in weekly meetings with the full fellowship cohort
- meet and hear from established arts professionals of color
- share artistic works-in-progress and career challenges
- identify topics of interest for workshops such as community engagement practices, cross-sector collaboration, fundraising, communications, portfolio development, etc.
- present work-in-progress, ideation and research through a culminating public showcase.
Requirements
Eligibility
To be eligible, you must be an artist of color between the ages of 18 and 26 (as of 12.31.2026).
You must not be enrolled full-time as a student.
You must also be a New York City resident and have a year-round/permanent address in New York City. Priority considerations are given to NYCHA tenants and Lower East Side residents.
Who are we looking for?
We are accepting 8 fellows for our 2025 cohort. The program supports artists creating original work. Artists from all disciplines may apply.
We focus on artists who are interested in community engagement and cross-sector collaborative work. The program has been most useful to creative artists interested in working with nonprofit arts organizations and in pursuing residencies, commissions, exhibits, public space activations, and non-traditional venues.
The program is not well suited for those artists interested in connecting to the commercial music and media industries or securing agents.