The New York Arts Program is open to students from all academic majors and all accredited institutions of higher learning. This program is designed to provide students seriously interested in the performing, visual and media arts with an opportunity to experience the world of the established professional artist or organization in New York City.

A qualified student spends a semester or term living in New York as an apprentice to a producing artist or with an organization in the arts. At the same time, students participate in a specially designed program of area studies conducted by professionals, including New York Arts academic faculty, in various areas of the arts.

Applicants must have a mature, responsible attitude toward their art. Some students are not arts majors, but have sufficient knowledge to work in situations in New York; some of these students combine other interests and majors in their apprenticeship. Areas woven into such opportunities in all the arts have included (but are not limited to) gender and ethnic/minority issues as well as a broad range of disciplines ranging from the sciences and education to the social sciences and law.

Applicants should plan to visit New York City for an interview where resident New York Arts Program academic faculty assist students in finding apprenticeships.



The apprenticeships form the core of the program by offering the participant an intimate and realistic view of professional standards, procedures, materials, and personnel associated with the student's most focused interest. Participants are engaged in full-time apprenticeships with professional artists or organizations in wide variety of fields.

The program has extensive placement opportunity files and a network of contact persons to place students in all areas of the arts as apprentices. The placement does not pay for a student's time, but must provide a professional who works closely with the student and his/her faculty advisor to assure a learning experience. A portfolio is required for all placements with artists as well as some designers.

It would take pages to list the specifics of the numerous placement opportunities. In their applications we prefer that students be as specific as possible about kinds of work and goals in mind - even giving examples of artists and organizations. This will help the student's New York Academic Advisor to narrow the field to sponsors to interview with when the student comes to New York.

Based on a student's academic background, life-skills, and interests, we can arrange an internship with a sponsor in an appropriate field, whether it is to explore new areas of work or to advance studies begun on campus.

We do not publish a list of sponsors, but rather respond to a student's interests and background. Based on materials submitted and conversations with New York Arts advisors, students will be offered interview opportunities tailored to their needs and interests. In some areas of apprenticeship it is possible to apprentice in more than one situation, while other apprenticeships are only productive if they are pursued full-time.

Program Area Studies present topics from the diverse areas in which students are apprenticing. The Area Studies have three goals: to provide students with background for experiencing the works and events currently available in New York; to reveal common concerns among the arts; and to encourage significant discussion among participants and with guest artists and among New York Arts faculty.

Typical area studies subjects have included Urban Planning, Art Criticism, Drawing, Musical Theatre, Contemporary Music, Printmaking, Performance Art, New York Poetry, Public Art, The Dance Scene, Comedy, and a changing spectrum of subjects. Area Studies do not usually meet in a classroom, but are designed to go out into the studios, theaters, galleries, offices and actual sites in the city to discuss work and ideas with those who are creating in these areas.

The Area Studies are designed to meet as small groups in the evenings and other times that do not conflict with full-time apprenticeships.

The semester residency in a large urban center saturated with arts events is an educational benefit of the program. All participants are expected to keep journals of their residency. The journal is not to be kept as a diary, but rather a composite of individual experiences, observations, and discoveries which have personal significance for the participant. The form and content of the journal may be as varied as the interest represented within the group.

The journal is a reflective document shared with a New York Arts Advisor. Its contents should expand on events and projects at apprenticeships as well as life in the city and insights or questions concerning cultural events experienced.