About Aferro Studios – Gallery Aferro’s Studio Residency program

Gallery Aferro’s Studio Residency takes place in 19 studios ranging from 500 – 900 square feet throughout our 5-floor building. For more than a decade, artists accepted into the program have been able to work in their studios 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for 6-month rotations (with renewal options), and gain access to visiting curators and inclusion in collaborations with a wide range of organizations, including museums, orchestras, and galleries.

Gallery Aferro’s centrally located space, with two floors of galleries, coupled with Newark’s growing population of artists, makes for a focused center of artistic expression that is constantly engaged, with people and ideas. The artist-owned organization regularly hosts large group tours, open studios, and artist talks, all with the focus of maximizing exposure and interaction between the public and working artists. Many residency alumni have commented that the building is a kind of “context within a context” — an evocative 19th-century building in almost ceaseless use by a large, varied, and lively population of gallery staff, volunteers, and numerous artists, youth, and community residents, all within the complex, dense cultural, architectural, and historical context of Newark, New Jersey’s largest city.

The studios consist of simple work-only spaces with high ceilings and built-in storage for each studio.  The large spaces, and unique context encourages incubation of ambitious self-organized, sometimes collaborative projects that might otherwise have not been possible for the artist to achieve. Gallery Aferro focuses on this aspect when choosing artists to participate, as well as a commitment to a chosen field, excellence of artwork, demonstrated interest in engaging the public, etc.

The different artists working in our studios range broadly in age, media, temperament, and many other attributes. Local, national, and international artists have participated. To date, four Fulbright fellows, one Joan Mitchell Foundation awardee, and two of Eyebeam’s only female fellows have participated in our studio residency program, adding to a growing brain trust of Newark-connected talent. As a workspace and presenting organization, Gallery Aferro encourages and engages with dedication to process, collaboration, and conceptual development. You’re welcome to visit the Studio Blog to learn more from the residents themselves!

Fellowships at Gallery Aferro

We are currently able to offer one fully-funded residency. The Sustainable Arts Fellowship supports artists and writers who are parents or legal guardians of children age 18 or under. The fellowship covers all workspace studio costs of six months for two artists or collectives annually, along with a restriction-free $1000 stipend and bespoke solo programming opportunities within the vibrant context of Gallery Aferro and Newark, NJ.

If you’re an artist, this fellowship — space, time, and money — could be yours.

If you know someone who could benefit from this fellowship, please tell them about us, and us about them.

If you want to discuss creating the next fellowship advancing equity at Gallery Aferro, let’s talk. We can work together to model the world as we wish it to be. Email Candace Nicholson at cnicholson@aferro.org or call at 973-353-9533 to learn more about this amazing and surprisingly accessible possibility for you or your group.

Name a fellowship after someone you love and work with us to create space and uplift artists you wish to see thrive. Against what barriers, in what media and traditions, from which communities, do you want to support artists?