Works in Public Fellowship Opens New Route Into Public Sculpture
A rare combination of tuition, fabrication support, and exhibition opportunity is now available to artists interested in public sculpture. The Art Students League of New York is accepting applications through July 12, 2026 for Works in Public, a fully funded two-year fellowship that helps artists develop large-scale works for outdoor spaces.
Launched in 2010 in partnership with the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, the program selects four artists for each cycle. It is designed as a practical training ground, moving participants from early concept through installation. During the first year, fellows receive full-time tuition at the League, a modest stipend, and seminars focused on the history of public sculpture, contemporary approaches to the medium, proposal writing, site analysis, fabrication, and engineering.
At the end of that year, each artist presents a fully developed proposal to the Parks Department for approval. The second year is devoted to fabricating the approved sculpture, with the League covering production, installation, and transportation costs.
The fellowship is open to artists 18 and older who are not currently enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate program. Applicants must live within commuting distance of the League in Manhattan for the full two-year period and be available for required coursework. Artists working in any medium may apply, with selection based on the strength of the proposal and portfolio.
The 2026 jury includes artist Jean Shin and curator Matilde Guidelli-Guidi, co-head of the curatorial department at Dia Art Foundation.
Completed works are installed for a year at Riverside Park. Since 2017, some sculptures have gone on to permanent placement in the Florida Keys Sculpture Trail in Monroe County, while others have been installed at SUNY Rockland and in Rye, New York. Past fellows have described the program as a formative bridge into public art practice, one that combines technical training with direct civic visibility.
For artists seeking to work at the scale of the city, the fellowship offers something increasingly uncommon: time, resources, and a public setting in which the work can meet its audience on its own terms.
