Hammerspace Artist Cohort
The Hammerspace Artist Cohort is a nine-month artist development program designed to support mother artists pursuing ambitious creative work within the realities of contemporary life.
Hammerspace views motherhood not as a niche concern but as a lens through which broader questions about artistic labor, creative sustainability, and cultural value become visible. Many artists navigate periods of interruption, shifting identity, fragmented time, financial pressure, and competing responsibilities while maintaining a commitment to their work. Rather than treating these realities as barriers to artistic growth, the cohort creates space to investigate how artistic practices can evolve through complexity, care, transformation, and change.
“Dots for you” Samantha Conrad 2025/26 Cohort Alumni
Hammerspace Approach
The Hammerspace Artist Cohort is a small, intentionally structured program for mother artists seeking sustained engagement with their creative practice, professional development, and artistic community.
Over nine months, cohort members engage in structured critique, mentorship, visiting artist conversations, reflective exercises, professional practice workshops, and collaborative peer accountability. Participants receive individualized feedback, opportunities to engage with curators and arts professionals, and support in developing work toward a culminating public exhibition.
The program recognizes that artistic development rarely unfolds in a linear way. Many artists move through periods of fragmentation, interruption, reinvention, isolation, or disconnection from their work. These experiences are often intensified by caregiving responsibilities, domestic labor, financial realities, and cultural expectations surrounding productivity and success.
A NEW VISION
Rather than asking artists to work against the realities of their lives, the cohort creates a framework through which artistic practice can emerge through complexity, care, repetition, slowness, experimentation, and change. The program values rigor without extraction, accountability without shame, and growth that is sustainable rather than performative.
Lasting impact
Designed for artists seeking sustained engagement rather than one-time workshops or informal critique, the cohort provides a dedicated container for artistic inquiry, creative renewal, professional advancement, and long-term community.
PROGRAM AT A GLANCE
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Program Length: September–May
Culminating Exhibition: May
Total Duration: 9 months including exhibitionCohort Size: 6-8 artists
Intentional small size allows:
meaningful peer relationships
individualized feedback
strong accountability
deeper discussion
manageable mentorship
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Designed for:
Mothers
emerging artists ready to deepen practice
mid-career artists seeking renewed accountability
interdisciplinary artists
artists preparing for exhibitions, grants, residencies, or career transition
artists seeking sustained peer and professional engagement
The cohort may be especially valuable for artists experiencing:
interrupted or inconsistent studio time
creative isolation
burnout or overstimulation
difficulty maintaining momentum
tension between caregiving and artistic identity
uncertainty around professional direction
Not ideal for:
hobbyist/casual makers seeking drop-in workshops
artists unable to commit to regular participation
artists seeking only exhibition access
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Monthly Cohort Meetings
Second or Third Sunday of each month
12:30–3:00 PMStructured gatherings focused on:
critique
project development
discussion
accountability
strategy
professional practice
Combination of:
Zoom sessions
quarterly in-person gatherings
Visiting Artists / Guest Professionals
3–5 guest sessions throughout the year
Potential guests:
working artists
curators
arts administrators
grant reviewers
fabricators
public art professionals
collectors / consultants
Topics may include:
studio practice
exhibition development
documentation
grant writing
institutional navigation
public art
commissions
pricing / sales
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Participants receive individualized support through:
mentor check-ins
one-on-one feedback
project troubleshooting
Peer Accountability + Community
Artists gain:
long-term peer relationships
sustained accountability
critical dialogue
collaborative support
creative community
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Sessions may include:
artist statements
CV / resume review
bios
portfolio refinement
documentation strategy
grant opportunities
exhibition proposals
residency applications
pricing / contracts
institutional literacy
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Participants receive access to:
grant resources
opportunity listings
templates
readings
recordings where appropriate
program tools
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Public exhibition in June featuring cohort participants.
Includes:
exhibition planning support
artist statement development
curatorial feedback
exhibition preparation
installation coordination
public presentation opportunity
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Tuition: $1,500
Payment options:
Pay in full: $1,500
Two payments: $750 / $750
Quarterly payments: $375 x 4
Please contact us if price is a barrier! Potential scholarship support pending sponsorship / fundraising capacity.
Tuition supports the time, labor, and resources required to sustain a thoughtful cohort experience. This includes program development and administration, facilitation and mentorship, guest artists and speakers, individualized feedback, shared resources, and planning and production support for the culminating exhibition.
The cohort is intentionally small to allow for meaningful dialogue, sustained relationships, and responsive support throughout the year.
Application Fee: $25
The application fee helps cover the administrative time involved in reviewing applications, coordinating selections, and preparing for onboarding and cohort planning. Application fees also support scholarship access and future program development.
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While every artist's path is different, cohort alumni have reported meaningful professional and creative growth, including exhibitions, residencies, grant opportunities, studio visits with curators and collectors, artwork sales, and expanded professional networks.
Participants have also described developing more sustainable studio practices, clearer artistic direction, and a stronger commitment to their work.
Why Hammerspace
Hammerspace exists to create ambitious, artist-centered opportunities outside traditional institutional models.
What if your old practice isn't the destination?
What if caregiving produces forms of attention, perception, endurance, and knowledge that deserve artistic consideration rather than accommodation?
Mother artists are engaged in a form of artistic and cultural experimentation that remains largely unsupported and under-examined. This group is positioned to generate knowledge, practices, and models that the broader field needs.
In the PRESS
Fox 17 Morning Mix
“It has completely changed the way I think about being both an artist and a mother”
The Rapidian
““To look at artists as people who are trying to build future systems that are better, and then removing the people who are actively caring, is really backwards. We’re trying to give them a better community foundation to work with. It’s been really heartwarming to see how much that support has mattered to give them the momentum to keep making their work and to feel like their voices are not just important, but really essential right now.””
Canvas Rebel
“in the process of unlearning, I have found infinite inspiration, wells of energy I had not thought possible, an artistic voice that is clear and true and to top it off - professional opportunities ”