MISSION
Print Center New York champions printmaking as an art form that drives invention, collaboration, and access, and plays a vital role in society. Through exhibitions, public programs, education, and artistic development, Print Center New York is a hub of exploration and inquiry for all those engaged with and new to prints.
New Voices: Design
There is no fee to apply. New Voices is Print Center New York’s annual open call program, which provides opportunities for a curator-selected cohort of six to eight artists who engage the curator's thematic framework. Selected artists will present their work and develop their practice through: a group exhibition, artist-led public programming, focused conversation and community-building, and individualized resources for artistic and professional development.
This application is for the 2026 cycle of New Voices, which will be centered on a group exhibition on view June– August, 2026. Please visit printcenternewyork.org/new-voices for a full description of program features and requirements.
Artist Eligibility
Applicants must:
- currently be living in a state or territory in the United States. Accepted cohort artists will be asked to fill out a W-9 (Request for Taxpayer Identification Number), and to provide a Tax Identification Number such as a social security number (SSN), employment identification number (EIN), or individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN).
- engage printmaking in their practice through concept, materials, or techniques. Artists do not need to identify primarily as “printmakers” to apply. The programming, relationship-building, and artist development resources included in this program are designed to support artists with an investment in the printmaking field. Artists who work exclusively in another medium (oil painting, sculpture, or photography, for example) will not be best served by this program.
- be working without institutional support from a major gallery or degree-seeking academic program. Gallery representation and support varies from place to place; you will be asked to share any gallery affiliation, and this will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Applicants must be at least one year out from a degree-seeking academic program, such as an MFA or BFA, related to their practice. Applicants must not be actively enrolled, or entering such a program in the 2025–26 academic year.
Applications are encouraged from artists of any race, ethnicity, national origin, age, physical ability, gender identity or expression, sexuality, or other experience or identity. We welcome applications from U.S. citizens, legal permanent residents, undocumented immigrants, refugees, people seeking asylum, temporary visa holders, stateless people, and those with all other citizenship and immigration statuses.
Application Materials
The application consists of:
- Short Answers: Responses to three prompts about your practice, submitted in writing (250 words each) or as recorded verbal statements (2–3 minutes each).
- Work Samples: Up to ten (10) images of existing work created within the last four years (since January 1, 2021). Selected works do not need to be from a singular project or body of work, but should give a cohesive and holistic view of your artmaking practice.
- Curriculum Vitae: A CV including exhibition history and other relevant activity, such as residencies or fellowships (past or upcoming).
Guiding Theme: Design
Design is more than a set of professions—it is an attitude that informs artistic practice through concepts of function, application, and sheer visual delight. For centuries, printmaking and design have shaped each other through a web of reciprocal influences.
Printing creates patterns and images on textiles, wallpaper, ceramics, and glass. Prints enrich apparel, cover interior furnishings, articulate architectural spaces and ornament functional objects. As we see in Isabella Parasole’s 16th century lace patterns, prints can serve as models for objects rendered in different materials and scales. Prints can also propose ornaments, objects and spaces that are not executed, even as they capture the design ethos of a particular period. Giovanni Battista Piranesi’s Imaginary Prisons etchings come to mind.
What are contemporary equivalents? What does design—its visual manifestations, procedures, and ethos—offer printmaking? What happens when a printmaker takes on the mantle of the designer? When a design practice incorporates possibilities inherent in printmaking?
Curator: Andrew Raftery
Andrew Raftery is a Rhode Island based artist who explores both observational and autobiographical narratives of contemporary American life. His artistic work combines deep expertise with an appreciation for historical methods of art-making, most notably copperplate engraving. His precise and labor-intensive works demonstrate the enduring relevance of this medium’s application to modern-day subjects in disseminating universally accessible images. Recent projects in transfer printed ceramics and wallpaper investigate prints in relation to functional objects and design.
Raftery is Professor of Printmaking at Rhode Island School of Design. Awards include the Winterthur Research Fellowship in 2022, the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship in 2008 and the Louis Comfort Tiffany Award in 2003. He was elected to membership of the National Academy of Design in 2009 and Print Council of America in 2012.
For questions, please visit the program website and applicant support resources. For additional support, please contact us at programs@printcenternewyork.org with the subject line "New Voices 2026 Additional Support."
We look forward to reviewing your application!