2025 QAM MENTORS
Queer|Art is pleased to announce the new Mentors for the 2025 Queer|Art|Mentorship (QAM) program cycle. The Mentorship program is the cornerstone of Queer|Art’s work, providing a platform of support for LGBTQ+ artists focused on creative issues and long-term sustainability of artistic practice. Now in its 14th year, the organization’s celebrated year-long creative and professional development program supports both remote and in-person participation between early-career and established LGBTQ+ artists from across the country.
Queer|Art proudly welcomes six new Mentors to the program: interdisciplinary and conceptual artist Ken Gonzales-Day, writer and transformative justice worker Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha (The Future is Disabled), actor and writer Erin Markey, sculptor and performance artist Young Joon Kwak, director and screenwriter Andrew Ahn (Fire Island), and director Tabitha Jackson (The Imposter). Joining them are five returning Mentors: fiber artist Liz Collins, author Stacy Szymaszek (Journal of Ugly Sites and Other Journals), interdisciplinary visual artist Chitra Ganesh, bestselling author Alexander Chee (The Queen of the Night), director and screenwriter Frédéric Tcheng (Invisible Beauty); as well as a previous Fellow turned Mentor: interdisciplinary choreographer Raja Feather Kelly.
Click through the Mentor profiles below to learn more about them, their creative practice, and their diverse approaches to mentorship. Applications are open through July 30th.
MEET THE MENTORS
“Meet the Mentors” was a QAM info session for artists who are interested to apply to the program and an opportunity to introduce our new cohort of Mentors. During the event, Mentors of the upcoming 2025 program cycle shared about their work, their interests in mentorship, and some of the ways they feel they are best suited to mentor another artist. It was also an opportunity for applicants to meet some of the other Mentors and Fellows in our community and hear from them about their experiences in the program.
The online event took place on Tuesday, June 18th. Watch the full recording here.
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 a year 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. 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.
The program culminates with a public showcase in the format of an exhibition, live events, and accompanying publication—known as the QAM Annual—in which a manifestation of each Fellow’s practice and Mentorship project will be presented. While projects may be in-progress and do not need to be “finished” by the end of the program, participation in the QAM Annual provides structure for marking tangible progress as an outcome of the program.
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 the 2022 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 open: June 1st, 2024
Application deadline: July 31st, 2024
Program duration: January 2025 - October 2025 (10 months)
APPLY
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 July 31st, 2024
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 for Visual Art, Performance, Film, and Literature. All applicants will be notified as to the status of their application by mid October.
4) Duration
The program cycle is 10 months, beginning in January 2025.
Questions?
Please carefully review our Frequently Asked Questions before contacting us with questions about the program or application process. Thank you!