This group of six artists will be in residence at Smack Mellon from September 5, 2025 through August 5, 2026. As part of the Artist Studio Program, the artists will be granted a private studio, a fellowship, and access to equipment with which to create new and develop existing work, establish relationships with arts professionals, and grow in community with their peers—all with the financial, technical, and administrative support of Smack Mellon.
The public is invited into the studios to meet the artists during Open Studio events twice per year. The studios are located on the lower level of our building at 92 Plymouth Street in the DUMBO neighborhood of Brooklyn. Visit our Public Programs page or subscribe to our mailing list for updates on these events.
The Artist Studio Program was launched in 2000 in response to the crisis of available affordable space for artists living and working in New York City. The program provides six eligible artists working in all visual arts media with 24/7 access to a free private studio space, a state-of-the-art digital production lab, and a fabrication shop for an eleven-month period.
Each year, Smack Mellon convenes a panel of arts professionals to select the artists from over 400 applicants. The 2025-2026 Studio Artist Panelists were: Salome Asega, Director of NEW INC; Roxana Fabius, Independent Writer and Curator; and Jovanna Venegas, Curator at Sculpture Center.
Preliminary panelists were former Smack Mellon Studio or Exhibition artists: Megan Mi-Ai Lee, fields harrington, Kevin Quiles Bonilla, Miatta Kawinzi, Madjeen Isaac, Yuchen Chang, Mo Kong, and Luba Drozd.
The Smack Mellon Artist Studio Program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, New York City Council Member Lincoln Restler, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, the National Endowment for the Arts, and with generous support from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, The Edward and Sally Van Lier Fund of The New York Community Trust, Jerome Foundation, Milton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation Inc., Select Equity Group Foundation, and Smack Mellon’s Members.
Smack Mellon programs are also made possible with generous support from the Ruth Foundation for the Arts, Lily Auchincloss Foundation, Wolf Kahn Foundation, Cornelia T. Bailey Foundation, Robert Lehman Foundation, The Roy and Niuta Titus Foundation, and an Anonymous Donor.
In-kind donations are provided by Materials for the Arts, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs/NYC Department of Sanitation/NYC Department of Education and Sage and Coombe Architects.
Space for Smack Mellon’s programs is generously provided by the Walentas family and Two Trees Management.
