Artist Subsidy Program
subsidizing fabrication services for NYC-based artists facing financial barriers
We recognize that these barriers often stem from systems of oppression—including racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, and economic inequality—which create significant obstacles for artists in accessing and participating in the arts. To address these challenges, we aim to prioritize low-income artists with other marginalized identities, specifically Black, Indigenous, artists of color, LGBTQIA+, disabled, and refugee artists.
“Working with the PHA Printshop has been a transformative and wholehearted experience for me. My primary practice is poetry, so I work mostly with small scraps of paper and no studio—meaning that my largest original work is 17″ x 14″. From the start, Saki and Luther, understood and embraced the importance of my project, restoring and giving memorial and respect to Black women and girls born just 1-2 generations out of slavery and the Civil War, and whose only photograph was a criminal mugshot, and they worked to bring great beauty and honor to the women and my work.”
– S. Erin Batiste, 2025 recipient
Shown on left: Print fabricator Saki Sequeira and 2025 Artist Subsidy recipient S. Erin Batiste discussing a proof.
Meet the 2025 Recipients
Shay Salehi
Shay Salehi is an artist currently living and working in New York City. Anchored by a passion against animal exploitation, Shay’s interdisciplinary practice is a meditation on the complexities of the human to non-human relationship. Her research is an investigation of the framework that enforces human superiority and the ownership and capitalization of non-human bodies. By untangling the history of ownership, dominance and domestication her practice provides the opportunity toward alternative futures that incorporate interspecies solidarity.
Shay is a second generation Canadian, with a rich history between a Polish and Iranian upbringing. This has greatly informed her practice as non-human oppression is deeply rooted in colonial ideologies that uphold multiple forms of inequality. Her exposure to diverse cultural values has reinforced the importance of non-human ecologies as a source of knowledge.
Shay Salehi will be working with the PHA Digital Print Lab
S. Erin Batiste
S. Erin Batiste will be working with the PHA Printshop is an interdisciplinary poet and artist who runs Revival Archival Cards, Collage & Salvage, a mobile arts studio in Brooklyn. Her collages have appeared in Create! Magazine, Michigan Quarterly Review, Obsidian, Southern Cultures, The BOOOOOOOM Care Art & Photo Book, and at the Black Zine Fair NYC and LA Zine Fest. Batiste is a 2025-2028 Jerome Hill Artist Fellow in Literature among other honors and her poetry has been published in wildness, Interim, and New Letters; she is currently working on her debut poetry collection, Hoard.
S. Erin Batiste will be working with the PHA Printshop
Victor “Marka27” Quiñonez
Victor “Marka27” Quiñonez is an acclaimed street artist celebrated for his vibrant, multidisciplinary work that combines contemporary art, graffiti, vinyl toys, fashion and design with art activism. His large-scale murals reflect his cultural heritage and pay homage to the legacy of the Mexican Masters – Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco and David Siqueiros, collectively known as Los Tres Grandes (the three greats). Inspired by the empowerment of marginalized communities and the fight for representation, Quiñonez’s art serves as a powerful platform for social change.
Marka27’s work spans paintings, murals, mixed-media pieces and private commissions, all reflecting his signature ‘neo-indigenous’ style, which blends the energy of street and pop culture with Mexican and Indigenous aesthetics.
Victor “Marka27” Quiñonez will be working with PHA Public Art
Cathleen (Cat) Luo
Cathleen (Cat) Luo is an artist and art educator based in Brooklyn, New York City who works in ceramics to explore their experience and histories as a queer Asian American and disabled person. Their work reclaims the term “queer” by purposefully stretching and distorting their figures beyond anatomical accuracy, challenging preconceived notions of what a body should look like. They are currently working as a Museum Educator at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. They have exhibited in group shows including Of What Remains curated by Lex Jacques and FABnyc’s Young Artists of Color Fellowship show in 2024. Luo was awarded the Asian American Arts Alliance’s What Can We Do grant to carry out community art programming in Manhattan’s Chinatown during Asian American Heritage Month as a way to share their practice and serve the public. They have also received SICK Magazine’s Microgrant for Disabled Sculptors in 2023.
Cathleen Luo will be working with the PHA Ceramics Shop
About the Program
Learn from Powerhouse Arts staff and collaborating artists how the Artist Subsidy Program is making a difference.
About the Program
Current findings reveal that the Powerhouse Arts community, which includes clients, community members, and event attendees, identifies as: 49% Black, Indigenous, or people of color (BIPOC), 14% LGBTQIA+, 41% low to moderate income backgrounds, and 17% who report having a chronic condition. While we strive to support as many artists as possible, our fee-based fabrication services have not been readily accessible to certain artists who would highly benefit from them. This program is a direct response to that.
Through our research, we have identified that a majority of our current artist clients can afford our fees, as our research shows that only 5% of our projects are declined due to high costs. Accordingly, a key focus of this program will be outreach to artists who mostly lack funding, institutional support, knowledge of available resources, and/or gallery representation.
We define low-income based on annual low-to-moderate income (LMI) individual earnings at or below $68,606, which represents 80% or less of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) area median income for New York. We acknowledge that low income is not solely determined by earnings from labor but also by access to resources, which can be influenced by factors such as family wealth, property ownership, debt, caregiving responsibilities, and other socioeconomic factors. By requesting applicants to share with us information about their access to funds and providing space for a narrative, we can make more informed decisions on the recipients of this offering.
By actively addressing these obstacles, Powerhouse Arts aims to amplify voices that are historically silenced or under-resourced. We believe this program will break down participation barriers in the arts for those who need it most. This support will enable artists to freely create, experiment, explore, grow, and evolve their practice in meaningful ways that will positively impact their communities.
Thank you to the Wolf Kahn Foundation and the Jockey Hollow Foundation for generously supporting the Artist Subsidy Program.
Featured Project
Victor "Marka27" Quiñoez, Elevar La Cultura NYC
An immersive sculptural installation featuring a 20-foot-tall Mayan pyramid built from the objects of everyday hustle—ice coolers reborn as icons and infused with ancestral textiles, sacred symbols, and mural work.
What Artists Will Receive
Subsidized labor costs for fabrication services, including materials, up to $10,000 in one of the six following shops:
Print: Silkscreen, large-scale, and experimental printing
MGC Community Print Studio: Interdisciplinary printmaking processes
Digital Print Lab: UV flatbed printing and wide-format latex printing
Ceramics Sculpture, 3D printing, mold making, slip casting, wheel throwing, and more
The Alpha Workshops: Decorative paper and textiles
Public Art: Design, model-making, or prototyping
Note that artists applying to work with Public Art are encouraged to apply with existing financial support. An additional matching amount of at least $10,000 is recommended to help ensure their project’s successful completion with the Public Art team.
Additionally, artists will receive guidance and support from our team of expert fabricators, as well as opportunities for professional development and participation in other program offerings. This package also includes promotional marketing through our Instagram and newsletter.
Who We Serve
We aim to prioritize low-income artists with other marginalized identities such as Black, Indigenous, artists of color, LGBTQIA+, disabled, and refugee artists. This also encompasses artists with little to no institutional support or gallery representation. We may expand this focus to include other underserved groups as we identify them.
Eligibility:
- We will prioritize low-income artists who self-identify with marginalized identities (see above).
- Must be a New York City–based artist.
- Cannot be enrolled in a degree-seeking program (e.g., MFA, BFA)
- Cannot be represented by a gallery nor will be between February to June of 2026. Similarly, cannot be enrolled in an artist residency program between February to June of 2026.
- Must be flexible to collaboratively modify the project based on fabricator feedback and budget limitations.
- Must finish the project by June 30th, 2026.
Applications include:
Narrative boxes to share any factors related to financial need
Optional narrative box to share existing financial support if applying for fabrication in the Public Art Shop
A project proposal description
Narrative for how the subsidy will support the project
An expected list of materials informed by Fabrication and Budget Guide here (our fabrication teams will work with the artist to allocate funds and identify materials once accepted) Please note we will require flexibility to collaboratively modify the project based on fabricator feedback and budget limitations.
Five past work samples
Five relevant images, sketches, or mockups for the proposed project
PDF with work sample information
The Artist Subsidy Program is subject to change. Each year, we anticipate that the structure of the program will be modified and improved based on feedback from the participants to better meet their needs. As a result, artists can expect continual enhancements and adjustments aimed at enriching their artistic growth.