Dates subject to change.

• Application Opens: Friday, December 19, 2025 at 12:00pm ET
• Program Info Session & CV Drafting Workshop with Caits Meissner: Tuesday, January 13, 2025 from 6-7:30pm ET (This session will be recorded. Register to attend here.)
• Application Closes: Friday, January 30, 2026 at 11:59pm ET
• Applicants Notified: by Thursday, March 5, 2026
• Professional Development Sessions:
  • May 20, 2026 from 5 – 6pm ET
  • June 17, 2026 from 5 – 6pm ET
  • July 15, 2026 from 5 – 6pm ET
• Mentorship Meetings: May – December 2026. Approximately once a month; to be scheduled based on individuals’ availability.
• Five “Coffee Date” Sessions: May – November 2026. Approximately once a month; to be scheduled based on participant availability. Mentees in the program are expected to attend at least 3 sessions.

The NYS Teaching Artist Mentorship Program will have four components:

• 1:1 Mentorship: Each Teaching Artist will be partnered with a mentor to meet virtually or in-person at least once a month (minimum of 7 times total). Teaching Artists will be paired with a mentor, including arts and cultural leaders and expert educators, based on their goals for participation in the program.

• Professional Development: Participating Teaching Artists will attend public workshops in Spring/Summer 2026 (May 20, June 17, and July 15 from 5 – 6pm ET). These 1 hour virtual workshops will be free and open to all New York State Teaching Artists, regardless of acceptance into the program. Participating Teaching Artists will also have the opportunity to attend the 2026 Face to Face Conference and Day of Learning for free.

• “Coffee Date” Sessions: Participating Teaching Artists will attend 1 hour virtual Q&As with leaders in arts education on topics selected by the mentee cohort. Attendance is expected at three out of five sessions. Coffee dates will be in May, June, July, September and October 2026. 

• Field Hours: Each mentee will be expected to complete 8 “field hours”. These field hours are meant to provide an opportunity for participants to explore multiple arts education settings and complement the mentorship sessions. Field hours may take place at a school (pending fingerprint clearance), community organization, cultural institution, museum, theater, or other settings related to the delivery of arts education programs.

The regrant award for this project was calculated based on the estimated number of hours each Teaching Artist will spend participating in these 4 aspects of the program.

To apply, you must submit an application through Submittable. The application will open on December 19, at 12:00pm ET. If you’d like to review the application via Google Doc in advance, you can do so here. If you require an accommodation to complete this application, please email us ASAP but no later than January 16, 2026 at mentorship@nycaieroundtable.org.

Eligible applicants must:

• Be an independent Teaching Artist or Teaching Artist Assistant, defined as working with students in NYS public, private, and charter schools; colleges/universities; and/or NYS community groups such as senior centers, libraries, religious institutions, prisons, veteran centers, or the like;
  • PLEASE NOTE: this grant is only available to individuals. Organizations are not eligible to apply.
  • This opportunity is intended for Teaching Artists who are NOT full-time permanent employees with a single organization.
• Have worked as a Teaching Artist for at least 5 years;
• NOT be currently employed as a certified teacher by a NYS school (PLEASE NOTE: teachers on permanent staff of New York State public schools are not eligible for this grant);
• NOT be a current staff member or board member of the NYC Arts in Education Roundtable;
• NOT be a member of a previous cohort of the NYS Teaching Artist Mentorship Program.

If awarded, you must be able to provide:

• W-9 with social security number (SSN), employer identification number (EIN), or an individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN)
• Bank Account Number and Routing Number

Applications received after the deadline will not be considered.

The application for the mentorship program now includes the option to submit up to 3 supplemental work samples. Providing a work sample is optional and applicants will not be penalized if they do not include them.

The benefits of providing a work sample include demonstrating to panelists the work that you do and your experience as a Teaching Artist. Work samples may be documentation of student work or other relevant materials from your Teaching Artist practice (lesson plan excerpts, residency maps, etc.). Items such as press reviews, promotional videos, letters of recommendation, or similar records are not considered work samples.

If submitting work samples with your proposal, please keep in mind the following requirements:

• Please upload work samples as a single PDF (maximum file size: 50 MB; maximum number of files: 1; allowed file type: PDF). 
• It should take panelists no longer than 5 minutes to review these materials collectively.
• Audio or video materials must be a submitted as links included int the PDF. Start and stop times of the section(s) you wish the panel to review must be indicated in the PDF.
• For all work samples, please include captions or notes with applicable artwork information (medium/media; dimensions or duration; year completed) and/or applicable teaching context (program type [e.g., school day, after-school, Saturday program, residency, etc.]; whether the class was co-taught or taught independently; subject area; grade level, etc.).
• Images or literary text should be included directly within the PDF. Literary text should be limited to approximately 300 words.

A panel of 6 Teaching Artists and arts education practitioners will review applications using the following criteria:

• Demonstrated evidence of experience, training, and/or professional development in arts education.
• Articulated desire to take the next step in your career, whether deepening work as a teaching artist or expanding work beyond teaching artistry.
• Clarity in being able to articulate personal and professional goals, the “why” of why are you interested in this opportunity.

Criteria are not listed in priority order and each are valued equally. Grant recipients will be awarded funding in 3 installments pending their contract signature and submission of a completed W9 form and relevant banking information.

Interested in learning more about past mentees and mentors? Meet the teaching artists from past cohorts on our website here!