Hammerspace Michigan Cohort
The Michigan Cohort is a nine-month hybrid artist development and mentorship program for mother artists Michigan and the surrounding region.
Cohort Showcase Exhibition “Still, I Try” 2026
The Michigan Cohort is a nine-month hybrid artist development and mentorship program for mother artists in Michigan and the surrounding region. Monthly three-hour sessions combine structured critique, professional development for artists, visiting artist conversations, and peer accountability. The program includes both virtual and in-person gatherings in the Grand Rapids area, making it one of the few artist mentorship programs in Michigan designed specifically for parent artists and artist caregivers at the emerging and mid-career level.
Over nine months, participants work toward a new body of work while building peer relationships, strengthening professional skills, and preparing for a culminating public group exhibition. Artists are paired with an accountability partner, receive individualized feedback and mentorship, and connect with a network of artists, curators, and arts administrators through visiting artist and professional development sessions throughout the year. Program curriculum covers artist statements, grant writing for artists, exhibition proposals, portfolio development, and documentation strategy.
Hammerspace Approach
The Hammerspace Artist Cohort is a small, intentionally structured artist mentorship program for mother artists and artist-parents seeking sustained engagement with their creative practice, professional development, and artistic community.
Artistic development is messy, cyclical, and often interrupted. Emerging and mid-career artists move through periods of fragmentation, stalled studio time, creative isolation, and reinvention. For parent artists and artist caregivers, caregiving responsibilities, domestic labor, financial pressure, and cultural expectations around productivity and success add real weight to that already uneven terrain. Hammerspace exists to see those artists clearly and build programming around what they actually need: sustained critique, real peer community, professional development, and the kind of accountability that makes ambitious work possible even in a full life.
A NEW VISION
The cohort creates a framework built around the actual conditions of artists' lives. Complexity, care, repetition, slowness, and experimentation are treated as generative forces in the work, not obstacles to it. Rigor and accountability matter here. So does sustainability. This is a program for artists who want to be challenged and supported in equal measure.
Lasting impact
Nine months of structured critique, mentorship, and peer accountability leaves artists with more than a body of work. They leave with professional tools, lasting relationships, and a community that continues well beyond the program year. The cohort is designed from the start as a dedicated space for artistic inquiry, creative renewal, and long-term professional advancement.
PROGRAM AT A GLANCE
The Michigan Cohort meets on the second Sunday of each month from 1:00 to 4:00 PM EST, September through June. Six artists, nine months, with quarterly in-person gatherings in Grand Rapids and remaining sessions on Zoom.
Each session opens with a shared reading or prompt and moves into two full blocks of critique or focused programming, closing with accountability and next steps. Across the year, sessions cover critique and studio practice, grants and proposals, outreach, documentation, exhibition development, and long-term career planning. Three to five visiting artists, curators, grant reviewers, fabricators, collectors, and public art professionals join at key points.
Artists are paired with an accountability partner from day one and receive individualized mentorship, one-on-one feedback, and project support across the full nine months. Participants also have access to a shared resource library of grant listings, opportunity announcements, templates, and readings.
The year closes with a public group exhibition in June.
Applications Due: August 11, 2026 at 11:59 PM
All Applicants Notified: August 25, 2026
First Meeting: September 13, 2026 | Virtual | 1:00–4:00 PM
Culminating Exhibition: June 2027
STRUCTURE
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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 Sunday of each month
1:00–4:00 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
Monthly payments: $167 × 9
Potential scholarship support pending sponsorship / fundraising capacity. Scholarships are based on need so that this program is accessible to everyone. To be eligible please fill out the scholarship portion of the application.
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.
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.
Before You Apply
Have these materials ready before starting the application:
Recent artwork (images, website, portfolio, or social media)
A brief artist statement or description of your practice
Short written responses about your work, interests, and goals for the cohort
A current CV or resume
Applications take about 30 minutes to complete.
What We Look For
We are looking for artists who are ready to work — on their practice, with their peers, and within a structure that asks something of them. This program is designed for artists seeking sustained engagement, not occasional participation. A BFA, MFA, or extensive exhibition history are not requirements. Artists arrive with different experiences, opportunities, and definitions of success, and that range is part of what makes the cohort valuable.
Applications are evaluated on:
Commitment to artistic practice
Openness to feedback, reflection, and experimentation
Alignment with the goals and structure of the program
Investment in peer community and critical dialogue
Each cohort is built intentionally across diverse perspectives, disciplines, and approaches to making. The strongest cohorts are ones where the work in the room pushes everyone forward.
Why Hammerspace
The art world has well-established pathways for artists without children, without caregiving responsibilities, without interrupted studio time. Hammerspace was built for mother artists whose pathways were not designed to serve.
Caregiving produces forms of attention, perception, endurance, and knowledge the broader field has not yet reckoned with. These are forms that deserve serious artistic consideration and institutional investment. Mother artists are doing some of the most significant cultural and artistic experimentation of this moment, largely without support or recognition. Hammerspace exists to change that.
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 ”