Professional Development FAQ

NYFA Coaching offers 20-minute, 30-minute, or 45-minute remote sessions with NYFA staff or industry professionals via Skype.

Reserve your session using our simple online platform. Select your coach and type of session, and then select the time slot that works best for your schedule. After you press the continue button, you will be sent to the registration form. Make sure you provide all requested information so that our coaches can give you their best feedback and recommendations.

Consider your specific goal and your question(s), then read their bios carefully, to learn about the area of expertise they can offer feedback. Select the coach that is the best fit for you and your professional needs. If you need a different coach for different reasons, then book separate sessions.

20-minute sessions are recommended for review of materials such as cover letters or bios. Longer, 30 or 45-minute sessions are recommended for portfolio presentations, artist statements, grant proposals, applications for exhibitions and residencies, and curatorial project proposals.

When you complete your registration, you will receive a confirmation email that contains detailed contact information for Skype sessions. Please read the email carefully. Our coaches only communicate through NYFA channels.

If you are late for your appointment, you will receive the remaining time available.

All other technical instructions are provided at the time of registration. Any other questions, contact [email protected].

Doctor’s Hours are 25-minute, remote one-on-one consultation sessions with up to three arts professionals.

Zoom allows you to share your screen with the consultant, and you can also send them links to documents/images or to your websites using the platform’s chat function.

We announce upcoming Doctor’s Hours sessions on our blog. The blog post will highlight participating consultants and their bios, and will have information on when and how you can register for Doctor’s Hours session(s); the registration link is typically made live one week after the new sessions are announced. If you visit the post at the date and time that registration opens and don’t see a live link, refresh your browser window.

Since you have some time to read about and research consultants’ expertise before you have access to the registration form, we recommend identifying more potential consultants you would like to see rather than having one to three names on your list. This way, if you cannot book a session with your top choices, you can easily move to other consultants without missing the opportunity to attend the Doctor’s Hours event.

Yes, we have a waiting list. Please provide your name, phone number, and email address, and we will contact you if a spot becomes available.

We encourage you to think about what specific questions or goals you have in mind in order to take best advantage of your time with our consultants. The appointments are most useful to people when they have an idea of the type of feedback or advice they are hoping to get. This enables your consultant to provide you with a more focused session.

Please have your portfolio or a way to show your artworks. A pen and paper/notepad is useful to jot down notes during and after your session.

NYFA carefully chooses consultants that are established in their field and invested in the Doctor’s Hours program and the artists that it serves. All of our consultants are individuals that are dedicated to helping artists succeed. We provide bios on each consultant, which gives you the opportunity to research them in advance and decide who would be appropriate for the advice and feedback you are seeking.

We do not give out the consultant’s personal information. If you would like to follow up with the consultant, please reach out to us and we will contact the consultant for permission.

We offer organizations and academic institutions the opportunity to conduct work sample reviews with their constituents with the guidance and expertise of outside arts professionals and NYFA staff. This provides participants with a behind-the-scenes experience of an artistic review panel.

No. NYFA works with organizations and academic institutions to provide this service to their constituents and students.

Please contact [email protected] for pricing and availability with the subject line “Professional Development Services Inquiry.”

These trainings—which cover topics including finance, law, marketing, and fundraising—serve artists, creatives, students, and arts administrators and are customized to fit the needs of participants and partners over one to several days.

NYFA offers full day Entrepreneurial Intensives that are open to the public two-three times a year. We offer additional entrepreneurial programs through our educational partners that may also be open to the public. We recommend signing up on our mailing list for more information.

Yes, our Entrepreneurial Intensives are open to the public and you can find information on upcoming sessions on our Trainings page. There is a program fee which can vary depending on access to funding support and our partners.

While we won’t ask for any materials such as work samples, we will ask you to answer questions on the registration form that will help us to better understand the event audience, the disciplines represented, and what your goals are for participating in the program. This information is taken into consideration when designing the intensive.

Yes, you will receive both at least one week prior to the date of the intensive.

Yes, all NYFA worksheets, information, and presentation materials will be shared with attendees. We may not always be able to share presentations developed by outside professionals.

Our online learning program offers professional development workshops on a variety of topics through a webinar platform. Visit our online learning page for more information. If you have additional questions, please contact [email protected] with “Online Learning” in the subject line.

We highly recommend visiting our Immigrant Artist Program page for access to information and resources. We also recommend attending professional development events, workshops, and programs that are open to the public. Currently all programs are being held online due to the coronavirus.

You are eligible to apply if you:

• Live within the New York City metropolitan area, within commuting distance of New York City.
• Were born outside of the United States; those born in U.S. Territories i.e. Puerto Rico and The U.S. Virgin Islands, may apply.
• Have been pursuing a career as an artist within the rage of 1-10 years in the United States.
• Are NOT currently enrolled in a graduate or undergraduate degree program.

To learn more about upcoming programs and open calls, we recommend signing up to receive the Con Edison Immigrant Artist Newsletter.

We recommend IAP: Visual and Multidisciplinary Arts to all artists working in drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture, video, film, photography, new media, multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and socially-engaged practices. 

We recommend IAP: Performing and Literary Arts to all creatives working in music and composition, dance and choreography, performance art, theater arts (acting, producing, directing), and writers (fiction, non-fiction, playwrights, poets, and storytellers), as well as interdisciplinary. Folk and traditional artists are eligible for either program depending on your practice. 

No, NYFA does not inquire about your immigration status. Eligibility for this program is based on you being born outside of the United States or in United States territories, ie. Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. 

From our experience, we’ve found the program is beneficial to more recent immigrants to the NYC area. Depending on the program, living in the U.S. for more than 10 years might affect your eligibility. However, NYFA also knows the stories of immigration can vary and will consider exceptions on a case-by-case basis.

Unfortunately not. The program is designed to serve immigrant artists who are living in New York City at the time of application and those who can commit to participating throughout the program’s duration. Even though meetings are now being conducted online due to the coronavirus, the resources shared are specific to local organizations and communities. We have other opportunities available, including online resources and trainings that you can access from abroad.

There are other free resources that you can use if you cannot apply to the Immigrant Artist Mentoring program that are geared towards helping immigrant artists no matter where they live. We recommend visiting the IAP Directory, our Business of Art page, and our NYFA Source database. You can also sign up for our bi-weekly NYFA News email and The Immigrant Artist Program (IAP) Newsletter or purchase The Profitable Artist, our comprehensive “how-to” guide to being a professional artist. NYFA also offers online workshops that you can attend from the comfort of your home, studio, or anywhere with Internet access.

The Immigrant Artist Mentoring program is currently being offered to New York City-area artists. We have previously offered this program in Newark, San Antonio, Detroit, and Oakland through funding we received from Ford Foundation. We are actively seeking resources to be able to offer this program again in other cities nationwide.

Yes, you can purchase on our website. The book costs $20, and you will receive an email within 2-4 days of purchase to confirm and for NYFA to collect $15 for international shipping.

You should generally receive your book within three weeks of purchase, but may experience delays due to the coronavirus. Contact [email protected] if you experience severe delays, and we will investigate.

Creating a PayPal account is easy and free. If you would still like to buy the book without using PayPal, email [email protected].

No. NYFA’s office is not open to the public due to the coronavirus.