NYFA 1-on-1 Consultations for Immigrant Artists | Build Your Arts Career in the U.S.

Looking for advice or feedback on how to start your career in the U.S.? Book a free consultation session with NYFA!

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Back by popular demand and for a limited time only, immigrant artists will have access to this FREE, online 1-on-1 Consultations for Immigrant Artists program, presented by the Immigrant Artist Resource Center and supported by the Tremaine Foundation.

What is the consultation program?

NYFA 1-on-1 Consultations for Immigrant Artists offers individualized career-centered conversations for creatives of all disciplines. 

During these FREE 40-minute online consultation sessions with arts industry experts, you can seek advice on specific topics or general resources and opportunities to help you navigate building your arts career in the U.S. 

What topics can be covered in the consultation? 

Consultation session topics can include:

• Arts career planning, such as creating and locating opportunities
• Feedback on application materials, making connections, and building community
• Advice on working with curators, presenters, producers, and/or publishers
• Marketing strategies

What do I need to know before booking a session?

• The consultation will take place online in a Zoom meeting room
• The consultation will last for 40 minutes
• All consultation sessions are scheduled according to Eastern Time (ET)
• The consultation is FREE thanks to the generosity of the Tremaine Foundation. The consultation can be done in English, French, Mandarin, and Spanish. To book for FREE, use the discount code IAP2024 at checkout. 
• We ask each person to book only 1 consultation session so that more immigrant artists like you can benefit from the resource. 
• We ask that you respect the commitment made by you and your consultant, showing up on time and being prepared at the session you scheduled. This will help NYFA make a stronger case to secure future resources to provide more career services to artists like you. 
• The consultation sessions have a 72-hour cancellation policy. You won’t be able to reschedule less than 72 hours in advance. To cancel an appointment less than 72 hours in advance, please contact [email protected]. 
• If you did not attend the scheduled appointment without providing a reason and informing NYFA staff members in advance, you will not be able to book any future 1-on-1 Consultations for Immigrant Artists sessions.
• If you arrive late to the session, the consultant will provide access to the time available and does not have to extend their session to accommodate.
• NYFA Consultants are not able to review materials relating to NYFA-administered grant programs to avoid a conflict of interest. If you’re applying to a NYFA-administered grant, you are still welcome to participate in coaching to discuss general materials.

What should I prepare when registering for a consultation session? 

You will be asked to share your goal and the subject matter of participating in the consultation session. If applicable, you can provide web link(s) or upload file(s) that you wish your consultant to review. Note that you should upload the file(s) version that you wish your consultant to review, as the consultant will only review what you upload at this time.

In order to provide the program free of charge and help NYFA secure future funding, we ask demographic information in the registration form.

When can I book a session?

New sessions will be released on June 17, July 1, August 1, September 2, and October 1 at 12:00 PM ET.

Book a session and view all eligible sessions here. 

What are the sessions available? 

To book an appointment, select a session and click on the link below: 

• Martita Abril Career Advice for Immigrant Artist (English)
• Consultas para Artistas Inmigrantes con Martita Abril
• Cecile Chong Career Advice for Immigrant Artist (English)
• Consultas para Artistas Inmigrantes con Cecile Chong
• Chemin Hsiao Career Advice for Immigrant Artist (English)
• 蕭喆旻的移民藝術家諮詢 (普通話)
• LuLu Meng Career Advice for Immigrant Artist (English)
• 孟祥璐的移民藝術家諮詢 (普通話)
• Ghislaine Sabiti Career Advice for Immigrant Artist
• Conseils de carrière pour les artistes immigrés avec Ghislaine Sabiti

Find all sessions eligible for the 1-on-1 Consultations for Immigrant Artist here.

For questions, please contact [email protected].

Who are the Consultants?

Our consultants are arts industry experts from different disciplines who are affiliated with NYFA’s Immigrant Artist Mentoring Program.

• Martita Abril (Languages: English & Spanish) – Performing Artist, Curator, Organizer, and Teaching Artist

Martita Abril is from the border city of Tijuana, México. She has benefitted from both sides of the NYFA Immigrant Artist Mentorship Program—participating as both a mentee and a mentor—and teaches workshops for Spanish speaking families for the iLAND (Interdisciplinary Laboratory for Art Nature and Dance) in Bushwick Gardens, Brooklyn. She is a co-curator of In/Between, an annual immigrant artist group exhibition developed in partnership with New York Live Arts and NYFA’s Immigrant Artist Mentoring Program. Abril is currently the Coordinator of the Movement Research at the Judson Memorial Church series, and an artist in residence at The Kitchen in the Dance and Process Program. She resides at the border of Bushwick/Greenpoint in Brooklyn with her partner and 31 plants, most of which are alive. 

• Cecile Chong (Languages: English & Spanish)– Visual Artist, Curator, and Educator

Cecile Chong was born in Ecuador to Chinese parents and grew up in Quito and Macao. Her public art installation EL DORADO – The New Forty Niners was installed in the five boroughs of NYC (2017-2022). Solo exhibitions include Kates-Ferri Projects, Sugar Hill Children’s Museum, Selenas Mountain, ICFAC at Pinta Miami, Smack Mellon, Kenise Barnes Fine Art, and BRIC, among others. Chong’s work is in the collections of El Museo del Barrio, Museum of Chinese in America, The Rockefeller Foundation, Bryn Mawr Hospital, Citibank Art Advisory, and private collections internationally. Chong received an MFA degree from Parsons, an MA degree in education from Hunter College, and a BA degree in Studio Art from Queens College. Chong is currently part of the EFA Studio Program and an artist member of Tiger Strikes Asteroid NY. She is also part of the CAA Services to Artists Committee and is a board member at Artyard BK and Smack Mellon.

• Chemin Hsiao (Languages: English & Mandarin) – Visual Artist and Educator

Chemin Hsiao (Taiwan) is a visual artist based in Queens and Brooklyn at the Chashama Studio Space. His 2021 artist banner proposal “Dandelions Know” was selected as the winner of the Artist Banners Open Call at the Noguchi Museum to raise awareness of racism against those in the AAPI community. He is a recipient of the New Work Grant & ArtSite Public Art Commissioning program from Queens Arts Fund, and has taken part in artist residencies including the Kingsbrae International Residence for the Arts in Canada. Since 2019, he has completed several commissioned murals for the Queens community. He participated in NYFA’s Immigrant Artist Mentoring Program as a mentee in 2016, and as a mentor in 2022/2023.

Besides his studio practice, Hsiao has taught visual arts workshops to students of all ages for organizations such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Noguchi Museum, New York Botanical Garden, New York School of Interior Design, Queens Botanical Garden, ProjectArt, and at senior centers in Queens and Brooklyn.

• LuLu Meng (Languages: English & Mandarin) – Multidisciplinary Artist and Cultural Worker

LuLu Meng is a multidisciplinary artist. Born in Taiwan and based in Brooklyn, their conceptual and interactive work embodies interconnected humanity. 

Meng appreciates the experiences while working with Abrazo Interno Gallery, ChaShaMa, Cuchifritos Gallery & Project Space, FiveMyles, Flux Factory, Longwood Art Gallery, New York Hall of Science, Open Source Gallery, QCC Art Gallery, Queens Botanical Garden, SFA Projects, Spring/Break Art Show, The Bronx Museum, Think!Chinatown, and 47 Canal in New York; Cloud Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan; Gallery MoMo, Tokyo, Japan; Museo El Castillo, Medellín, Colombia; and Verkstad konsthall, Norrköping, Sweden. Meng is grateful for the support received during their residency and fellowship at Anaba Project, MD, Artist in the Marketplace program at The Bronx Museum; Curatorial Program for Research (CPR); Experimental Film Virginia; Immigrant Artist Mentoring Program at the New York Foundation for the Arts; mhPROJECT NYC; Residency Unlimited, Brooklyn; Sculpture Space in Utica, NY; TAAC on Governors Island, Vermont Studio Center; DordtYart, Netherlands, and WARP International Artist Village, Belgium.

• Ghislaine Sabiti (Languages: English & French) – Multidisciplinary Artist, Educator, and Cultural Worker

Ghislaine Sabiti is a French/American Congolese-born multidisciplinary artist, painter, glass artist, ceramist sculptor, costume designer, educator, and Bead Project Director at Urban Glass. She grew up on the outskirts of Paris, France, and is now based in New York, NY.

Sabiti studied fine arts at Atelier Chantier du Coq and L’académie de la Grande Chaumière and graduated with honors in fashion design from Atelier Chardon Savard in Paris, France. She further developed her skills by studying glass lamp-work, glass blowing, and photo decals at Urban Glass and ceramics at the ceramic Artshack. She has taught and created a curriculum at several premier institutions, including the Harlem School of Arts, the Peter Valley, Urban Glass, Zimmerli Art Museum, French Institute, Brooklyn College, and Glass Rots.

Sabiti’s work highlights the technical form used in both African and European arts, focusing on form and color. She specializes in creating unique sculptural pieces that blend various techniques such as weaving, braiding, oil painting, ceramic sculpture, and glass sculpture.

She has completed several prestigious fellowships including the The NYFA Incubator for Executive Leaders of Color, Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute’s Innovative Cultural Advocacy Fellowship, DEAR (Digital Evolution/Artist Retention) Fellowship, and New York Foundation of the Arts’ Immigrant Artist Program. She has also been a resident artist at Columbia Clay, Peter Valley School of Craft, ArtYard with CoLabart, Pilchuck Better Together, Urban Glass, Glass Roots, Calabar Gallery and coLABArts, Jamaica Center, and Jamaica Center for Art and Learning. Chashama has nominated Sabiti for an artist residency at the Marcel Breuer House at the Rockefeller Brothers Fund’s The Pocantico Center and Commission for the Lexington Hotel, New York, Salon du Prêt-à-Porter. Additionally, Sabiti was an award winner for the Dupont De Nemours hosiery design competition for DIM Company.

Her work has been exhibited and commissioned nationally and internationally in France and the U.S. at numerous group exhibitions and solo shows including Calabar Gallery, Hamptons Art Fair, Zimmerli Art Museum, El Teatro del Museo Del Barrio with Boys and Girls Harbor, Galabar Gallery, Artshack, Occupy Museum Debt Fair at the Whitney Biennial, MNN El Barrio Firehouse Community Media Center, Atelier Rosal, Westfield State University Arno Maris Gallery, Rio Gallery, Harlem School of the Arts, Brooklyn Film and Art Festival, Small Space Fest, and Poe Park Visitor Center.

Click here for more information on the Immigrant Artist Mentoring Program. And don’t forget to sign up for the monthly Con Edison Immigrant Artist Program Newsletter to receive opportunities and events as well as artist features directly to your inbox.