QUEER|ART|MENTORSHIP supports a year-long exchange between emerging and established artists in four different creative fields: Film, Literature, Performance, and Visual Art.

• The Queer|Art|Mentorship program nurtures exchange between LGBTQ+ artists at all levels of their careers and works against a natural division between generations and disciplines.

• Fellows apply with a specific project they would like to work on during the program and meet with their Mentors monthly to discuss their progress.

• Fellows also meet each month as a group to work through important issues shaping their creative and professional development in a collaborative and interdisciplinary environment.

• The program begins in January and ends in October.

• “QAM Intros” are virtual artist talks scheduled throughout the program year in which current Fellows introduce their work to the broader QAM community and receive vital feedback. “The QAM Works-in-Progress (WIP)” series provides additional opportunities for Fellows to advance their Mentorship projects through public in-person presentations.

2026 QUEER|ART|MENTORSHIP PROGRAM CYCLE

Queer|Art is pleased to announce the twelve Fellows accepted for the 2026 Queer|Art|Mentorship program cycle, and the Mentors with whom they will be working:

Now in its 15th year, the organization’s celebrated year-long creative and professional development program expands nationally, supporting both remote and in-person participation between early-career and established LGBTQ+ artists from across the country. In expanding nationally, Queer|Art|Mentorship bridges professional and social thresholds that often isolate artists by generation, discipline, and region. The 2026 cohort is made up of Mentors and Fellows participating across five states: New York, California, Rhode Island, Ohio, and Washington, D.C.

The program supports a year-long exchange between emerging and established LGBTQ+ artists across four distinct fields—Film, Literature, Performance, and Visual Art. Fellows apply with a specific project they would like to work on during the program and meet each month with their Mentors to discuss their progress in the lead-up to this event. Fellows also meet each month as a group to learn from and provide support for one another throughout the year.

Details about the projects each Fellow will be working on are provided below.

2026 FELLOWS & MENTORS

Oscar K. (he/him) is an award-winning, internationally produced playwright, poet, and filmmaker based in NYC and LA. He will work with Mentor Carmelita Tropicana on a doll/twink love story & speculative fiction fantasia that breathes new transsexual life into Renaissance Florence, re-imagining the inspiration for Michelangelo’s most famous statue, The David, as a trans woman.

Odalys Burgoa or O (they/she/he)  is a Mexican multidisciplinary artist with a focus in painting and photography, creating art that reflects the stories told in The Bronx. They will work with mentor Shellyne Rodriguez to create pieces using photography and painting that identify the historical moments that marked change in city infrastructure and the ways they affected The Bronx.

Mae Howard (they/them)’s interdisciplinary approach extends across research-based, participatory, and collaborative projects, calling upon lineages of disabled labor economies. With Mentor Cassils, they will explore the tensions between endurance, debilitation, and masochism through a long form kink performance with collaborator M. Celeste and the production of pierced leather archival prints.

Josalynn Smith (they/them) authors films about deferred dreams and unspoken desires while employing the iconography of Americana to drive those themes home. They will work with Mentor Desiree Akhavan on a feature-length satire and corporate thriller that explores the “manosphere” through a distinctly transmasc lens, illustrating how scary easy it is to become complicit in our own demise.

Hao Zhou (they/he) is a filmmaker creating between China and the US. Their films explore queer and feminist themes across narrative, documentary, and experimental modes. With the help of Mentor Ela Troyano, Hao will make a documentary feature challenging their family to attempt what they’ve always begged for: to remake Hao and embark on a face-saving charade.

Gia Yarn (she/her) is a theatre director and administrator based in Providence, Rhode Island. She will work with Mentor Kate Bornstein on a present-day take on the beloved holiday classic, A Christmas Carol, examining the hardships of being an early career theater administrator whose mental health, grief and identity intersect pivotally through comedy and self-exploration. 

Else Went (she/her) is a playwright and chameleon artist from Coastal Podunk, CA, now based in Brooklyn. Working with Mentor Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, she will iterate on the Oedipus myth, retelling everything from King Laius’ repressed homosexuality and Jocasta's struggle to abandon her child to Tiresius' gender transformation and the return of Oedipus to a place that feels uncannily like home.

Joshua Escobar (he/they) is a queer poet and novelist from southern California’s Inland Empire. With Mentor Tommy Pico, he will develop a TV show about queer friends (a raver nurse, fearless chemist, goth chola, and aged-out sex worker) whose torment and ambitions cause them to question the future and beliefs about their beloved cities of Los Angeles and Mexico City.

Diego Torres-Casso (they/he/she) is a queer interdisciplinary artist and educator combining photography, video, performance, and mixed media to explore Chicanx identity, history, and resilience. Working with Mentor Paul Mpagi Sepuya they will create a portrait of young masculinity to bring the unseen boy to life, exploring the quiet resistance of tenderness in a culture that reflects boys only as tough, stoic, or broken.

Danyela June Brown (she/her) is a set-maker and witness from South Arlington, VA engaging autonomy, access, and Black/trans use-value. She will work with Mentor Julie Tolentino on a research project about High John the Conqueror / Jalapa in dialogue with farmers in Xalapa, Mexico and the Amerikan South that will inform large-scale growing in the DMV region and a site-specific durational performance on eminent domained district land in Virginia.

Ash Cook [Hoyle] (he/him) is a burgeoning creative contributor and an experienced film curator. He will work with mentor Sam Feder on a film inspired by Dennis Cooper's book I Wished, exploring death as an all encompassing & consuming force of love.

Andrew Suggs (they/them) is an arts worker whose research, writing, and curatorial practice centers on art and AIDS. Under the guidance of Mentor Hugh Ryan, they will reconnect with their mother’s HIV story, weaving autobiography with stories of HIV-positive women artists and writers lost during the first decade of AIDS.

ABOUT

Mission

QUEER|ART|MENTORSHIP was founded to develop an intergenerational and interdisciplinary network of support and shared knowledge for LGBTQ+ artists. The program nurtures exchange between artists at all levels of their careers, working against a social separation between generations and disciplines.

Structure

The program is 10 months in length. Fellows in Film, Performance, Literature, and Visual Art apply with a specific project they would like to work on during the program. Proposing a project is a way for Fellows to introduce themselves to Mentors, and working on that project in dialogue with a Mentor is a way to focus the development of the relationship. Keeping Queer|Art|Mentorship project-based also provides a manner by which to assess, and modify if necessary, the program’s long-term effectiveness in facilitating and supporting the actual creation of new work.

The program is largely driven by the unique character of each Mentor/Fellow pairing, organized through individual monthly meetings. Fellows also meet each month as a group in an environment that provides an opportunity for sharing ideas across disciplines and gathering further support among peers. The entire group of Mentor/Fellow pairs also convenes for two dinners throughout the cycle, hosted by Queer|Art. Throughout the year, Queer|Art staff engage in an ongoing dialogue with the Mentors and Fellows in an effort to ensure that the program best serves its participants. Further opportunities for ongoing career education and development will be sought out as the unique needs of each group of Fellows are assessed.

History & Context

Queer|Art|Mentorship was born of a need to address the lack of support for queer content in a variety of cultural sectors and the scarcity of examples of sustainable careers for LGBTQ+ artists. A sensitivity to the absence of mentors who would have emerged from the generation most strongly affected by AIDS is also a palpable and driving force behind the program. The program launched in 2011.

Queer|Art|Mentorship aims to expand the perceived value of queer work and cultivate a collection of voices that amplify queer artistic experience. The program does not expect any kind of specific content in terms of artists’ work or how queerness manifests within and around it.

Who should apply?

Artists must be working at a generative level within at least one of the following fields:

• Film
• Literature
• Performance
• Visual Art

Queer|Art|Mentorship is for artists who are:

• Self-identified as queer, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, non-binary, and/or intersex
• Based in the United States, including US territories
• Early-career and professionally focused, with a body of work already behind them
• Not currently enrolled in school or university
• And have a specific project they’d like to work on with a Mentor during their Mentorship cycle.

Most importantly, we are looking for artists who have an extraordinary potential for engagement in queer and artistic communities and would gain from, and add to, interaction with others.

Each Mentor chooses the Fellow they will be working with during the program. We encourage Mentors to look for artists who stand to receive maximum benefit from the resources of the program and bring diverse experiences and perspectives to the Queer|Art community.

What is the timeframe?

Applications will reopen in 2026!

APPLY

*APPLICATIONS FOR QUEER|ART|MENTORSHIP WILL REOPEN IN 2026*

1) Submit Intent to Apply

Before you can receive the application you must submit a simple Intention to Apply. All that is required for this form is your name, email address, and the field(s) you are applying in. Once submitted you will receive an email automatically with a link to complete the application process. 

2) Complete Application Due 2026, date to be announced

After completing the Intent to Apply you will be emailed a link to submit required application materials through an online application form on Slideroom.

3) Acceptance

Mentors convene in September with Queer|Art staff to review applications and make selections as a group for inviting applicants to participate in the program. This year, the program will accept 12 Fellows, with 3 Fellows in each field. All applicants will be notified as to the status of their application by October 2026.

4) Duration

The program cycle is 10 months, beginning in January 2026.

Questions?

Please carefully review our Frequently Asked Questions before contacting us with questions about the program or application process. Thank you!

PAST FELLOWS & MENTORS

2025 Fellows & Mentors

• Yash Zhang — Frédéric Tcheng (Film)

• Saudade Toxosi — Tabitha Jackson (Film)

• Jovan James — Andrew Ahn (Film)

• Lee Painter-Kim — Alexander Chee (Literature)

• ray levy uyeda — Stacy Szymaszek (Literature)

• MK Thekkumkattil — Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha (Literature)

• AZ Espinoza — Raja Feather Kelly (Performance)

• Sungjae Lee — Young Joon Kwak (Performance)

• Reed Rushes — Erin Markey (Performance)

• Nathan Storey — Ken Gonzales-Day (Visual Art)

• Francheska Alcantara — Liz Collins (Visual Art)

• RIDIKKULUZ — Chitra Ganesh (Visual Art)

2024 Fellows & Mentors

• Shuli Huang — Ira Sachs (Film)

• Hazel Katz — Stephen Winter (Film)

• Kelindah bee Schuster — Kate Bornstein (Literature⁣⁣)

• Grace Byron — Jackie Ess (Literature⁣⁣)

• Katherine Bahena-Benitez — Eva Yaa Asantewaa (Performance)

• X. Lee — M. Lamar (Performance)

• Oscar Diaz — Demian DinéYazhi ́ (Visual Art)

• Christopher Paul Jordan — Avram Finkelstein (Visual Art)

2023 Fellows & Mentors

• Catching On Thieves — Lilly Wachowski (Film)

• Miranda Haymon — Zackary Drucker (Film)

• Zefyr Lisowski — T. Fleischmann (Literature⁣⁣)

• Nora Sharp — Will Davis (Performance)

• Lu Yim — Julie Tolentino (Performance)

• Miller Robinson — Jeffrey Gibson (Visual Art⁣⁣)

• Kearra Amaya Gopee — Constantina Zavitsanos (Visual Art)

• Demetri Burke — Camilo Godoy (Visual Art)

2022 Fellows & Mentors

• Frances Arpaia — Angelo Madsen Minax (Film)

• Joie Lou Shakur — Silas Howard & Ira Sachs (Film)

• Xoai Pham — Tourmaline (Film)

• JL Akagi — Torrey Peters (Literature)

• Clarissa Brooks — Saeed Jones (Literature)

• Kei Kaimana — Alexis De Veaux (Literature)

• jose esteban abad — Will Rawls (Performance)

• Mariam Bazeed — Morgan Bassichis (Performance)

• Anh Vo — Julie Tolentino (Performance)

• Antonius-Tin Bui — Lola Flash (Visual Art)

• Utē Petit — Jeffrey Gibson (Visual Art)

• agustine zegers — Constantina Zavitsanos (Visual Art)

2020-2021 Fellows & Mentors

• Brian Alarcon — Jaime Manrique (Literature)

• Erica Cardwell — Pamela Sneed (Literature)

• April Freely — Saeed Jones (Literature)

• Mev Luna — Angelo Madsen Minax (Film)

• Jeffrey Meris — Carlos Motta (Visual Art)

• Nyala Moon — Rodrigo Bellott (Film)

• jess pretty — Morgan Bassichis (Performance)

• Nandita Raman —Maia Cruz Palileo (Visual Art)

• Eva Reign — Tourmaline (Film)

• SJ Swilley — Maria Bauman Morales (Performance)

2019-2020 Fellows & Mentors

• Maia Chao — Yve Laris Cohen (Visual Art)

• Brian Gonzalez — Rodrigo Bellott (Film)

• Raja Feather Kelly — Kate Bornstein (Literature)

• Patrick G. Lee — Hao Wu (Film)

• María José Maldonado — Charles Rice-Gonzalez (Literature)

• Felicita “Felli” Maynard — Lola Flash (Visual Art)

• Olaiya Olayemi — Maria Bauman-Morales (Performance)

• Anthony Rosado — Thomas Lax (Curatorial Practice)

• Sarah Sanders — Mashuq Mushtaq Deen (Performance)

• Sarah Zapata — Gayatri Gopinath (Literature) 

2018-2019 Fellows & Mentors

• J. Bouey — David Thomson (Performance)

• Daniel Chew — Frédéric Tcheng (Film)

• Xandra Clark — Mashuq Mushtaq Deen (Performance)

• Sarah Mihara Creagen — Neil Goldberg (Visual Art)

• Cristóbal Guerra — Charles Rice-González (Literature)

• Candystore — C. Finley (Visual Art)

• Russell Perkins — Nancy Brooks Brody (Visual Art)

• Ripley Soprano — Che Gossett (Literature)

• Trace Tsui — Elisabeth Subrin (Film)

• Jeanne Vaccaro — Nelson Santos (Curatorial Practice)

2017-2018 Fellows & Mentors

• Justin Allen -- Che Gossett (Literature)

• Eames Armstrong -- Margaret Ewing (Curatorial Practice)

• David Antonio Cruz -- Neil Goldberg (Visual Art)

• Marco DaSilva -- Liz Collins (Visual Art)

• Federica Gianni -- Rose Troche (Film)

• Lucas Habte -- Frédéric Tcheng (Film)

• Ryan Haddad -- Moe Angelos (Performance)

• Lamya Haq -- Naomi Jackson (Literature)

• Jarrett Key -- David Thomson (Performance)

• Angelo Madsen Minax -- Kimberly Reed (Film)

• Zander Schlacter -- C. Finley (Visual Art)

2016-2017 Fellows & Mentors

• Chris Blue -- Kimberly Mayhorn (Film)

• Anna Campbell -- Liz Collins (Visual Art)

• Ashton Cooper -- Margaret Ewing (Curatorial Practice)

• Emily U. Hashimoto -- Sarah Schulman (Literature)

• Heather Lynn Johnson -- Pamela Sneed (Literature)

• Fatima Jamal -- Stephen Winter (Film)

• Jordan A. Martin -- Arthur Aviles (Performance)

• Rodrigo Moreira -- Avram Finkelstein (Visual Art)

• Christina Quintana (CQ) -- Moe Angelos (Performance)

• Virgil B/G Taylor -- Carrie Yamaoka (Visual Art)

2015-2016 Fellows & Mentors

• Rodrigo Bellott -- Silas Howard (Film)

• Monstah Black -- Arthur Aviles (Performance)

• Wells Chandler -- Angela Dufresne (Visual Art)

• Erin Greenwell -- Stacie Passon (Film)

• Doron Langberg -- Avram Finkelstein (Visual Art)

• Jacob Matkov -- Jaime Manrique (Literature)

• Mylo Mendez -- Thomas Allen Harris (Film)

• Eva Peskin & Justine Williams -- Talvin Wilks (Performance)

• Hugh Ryan -- Shannon Michael Cane (Curatorial Practice)

• Brendan Williams-Childs -- Sarah Schulman (Literature)

2014-2015 Fellows & Mentors

• Morgan Bassichis -- Jibz Cameron aka “Dynasty Handbag” (Performance)

• Arisleyda Dilone -- Yoruba Richen (Film)

• Zachary Frater -- Bradford Nordeen (Curatorial Practice)

• Shannon Keating -- Celeste Lecesne (Literature)

• Luce Capco Lincoln -- Thomas Allen Harris (Film)

• Samantha Nye -- Carrie Moyer (Visual Art)

• Maia Cruz Palileo -- Chitra Ganesh (Visual Art)

• Rebecca Patek -- Caden Manson (Performance)

• Grey Vild -- Stacy Szymaszek (Literature)

• Steven Wilsey -- Stacie Passon (Film)

2013-2014 Fellows & Mentors

• Seyi Adebanjo -- Yoruba Richen (Film)

• Ella Boureau -- Moe Angelos (Performance)

• Bridget de Gersigny -- Carlos Motta (Visual Art)

• Goodw.y.n -- Jaime Manrique (Literature)

• Rick Herron -- Pati Hertling (Curatorial Practice)

• Peter Knegt -- Celeste Lecesne (Literature)

• Natalia Leite -- Rose Troche (Film)

• Troy Michie -- Geoff Chadsey (Visual Art)

• Colin Self and Lain Kay -- Caden Manson (Performance)

• Xeňa Stanislavovna Semjonová -- Geo Wyeth (Performance)

2012-2013 Fellows & Mentors

• Kyle Coniglio -- Geoff Chadsey (Visual Art)

• Michael De Angelis -- Dan Hurlin (Performance)

• Kerry Downey -- Angela Dufresne (Visual Art)

• Thomas Dozol -- Billy Miller (Curatorial Practice)

• Camilo Godoy -- Carlos Motta (Visual Art)

• Tourmaline and Sasha Wortzel -- Kimberly Reed (Film)

• Ryan Henneberry -- Sarah Schulman (Literature)

• Melissa Li -- Moe Angelos (Performance)

• Ricky Maldonado -- Stacy Szymaszek (Literature)

• iele paloumpis -- Trajal Harrell (Performance)

• Lauren Wolkstein -- Rose Troche (Film)

2011-2012 Fellows & Mentors

• Hima B -- Matt Wolf (Film)

• Jess Barbagallo -- Stacy Szymaszek (Literature)

• Yve Laris Cohen -- Justin Vivian Bond (Performance)

• Pilar Gallego -- Nicole Eisenman (Visual Art)

• Pati Hertling -- Hilton Als (Literature)

• Darren Jones -- Jonathan David Katz (Curatorial Practice)

• Saeed Jones -- Sarah Schulman (Literature)

• Xavi Marrades -- Barbara Hammer (Film)

• Edward McDonald -- Jennie Livingston (Film)

• Tommy Pico -- Pamela Sneed (Literature)

• Harrison Rivers -- John Kelly (Performance)

• Guadalupe Rosales -- Louise Fishman (Visual Art)

• Jacolby Satterwhite -- Angela Dufresne (Visual Art)

• Justin Sayre -- Everett Quinton (Performance)

• Aldrin Valdez -- Deborah Kass (Visual Art)

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