SAT 05.11.24 4–5PM
The First AIM Convening is a day of professional development activities for artists.
To conclude the program, the 2023 Cohort of artists who completed The Bronx Museum’s flagship AIM Fellowship is hosting a reception where you can meet and connect with other NYC artists as well as staff members of the Museum. Light refreshments will be served. Everyone is welcome to join this free event, just please let us know if you plan to attend with an RSVP.
Attendees of the reception will also receive a free copy of a limited-edition print publication detailing career resources for artists. The publication was designed and produced by four artists from 2023 AIM Cohort: Huidi Xiang*, Walter Cruz, María Elena Pombo*, and Syd Abady.
The 2024 AIM Cohort collectively organized The First AIM Convening, which features appointments for artwork portfolio reviews and an artist career talk, in addition to the reception and resources publication.
The other artists in the 2023 AIM Cohort are Mickey Aloisio*, Roni Aviv*, Walter Cruz, Maya Jeffereis, Coral Saucedo Lomelí*, Dario Mohr, Ami Park, Jonathan Sanchez Noa*, Daniel Shieh*, & Misra Walker.
*Artists who currently have work on view at the Museum in Part Two of the exhibition Bronx Calling: The Sixth AIM Biennial.
About the Publication Artists
Photos of artists and their work on view at the Museum by Argenis Apolinario.
Huidi Xiang
Huidi Xiang holds an MFA in Art from Carnegie Mellon University (2021) and a BA in Architecture and Studio Art from Rice University (2018). Xiang’s works have been exhibited internationally by X Museum Triennial (Beijing, China), OCAT Biennale (Shenzhen, China), YveYANG Gallery (New York, NY, USA), Tutu Gallery (Brooklyn, NY, USA), KAJE (Brooklyn, NY, USA), Contemporary Calgary (Calgary, Canada), and more. Xiang has also completed many artist residencies, including NARS Foundation International Residency Program, ACRE Residency Program, and the Millay Colony for the Arts.
Walter Cruz
From The Bronx, Walter Cruz explores the intersections of art, design, music and architecture to better understand how Black and brown bodies activate and take up space. At the heart of Cruz’s artistic practice is a commitment to activism and community engagement.
The artist is the co-founder for Zeal; a Black artist-owned cooperative company that focuses on creating spaces for Black multidisciplinary artists to thrive. Cruz serves as a visual designer for the Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI). He has earned an MFA degree from The Maryland Institute College of Art’s Mount Royal School of Art and earned his B.A in Architectural Studies from Hobart & William Smith Colleges. His work has been shown at galleries, museums and international art fairs, including, The New Art Dealers Fair NY Edition, The Museum of the City of New York, the Center for Political Graphics, Los Angeles, REGULARNORMAL Gallery, Band of Vices Gallery, Syracuse University and Longwood Gallery in The Bronx and beyond. Cruz has completed artist residencies and fellowships with The Laundromat Project and NurtureArt Gallery, and The Haystack Mountain School of Craft amongst others.
María Elena Pombo
María Elena Pombo’s work has been presented via exhibitions and talks at Somerset House (London), Mana Contemporary (Jersey City), Yamamoto-Seika (Osaka), Fabbrica del Vapore (Milan), New Museum (New York), Venice Biennale di Archittectura (Venice), Advanced Transit Mix Corp (Brooklyn), and more.
She won the 2021 London Design Biennale’s Theme Medal and has received grants from New York Foundation for the Arts, Queens Council on the Arts, and more. Pombo is faculty at Parsons School of Design and was an instructor at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and the New York Botanical Garden.
Syd Abady
Syd Abady explores the politics and personalities of home spaces through a textiles-based practice. Her work incorporates architectural imagery, found objects, and fiber techniques to consider what makes a home and for whom. Abady received her BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in Textiles and Nature, Culture, Sustainability Studies with an emphasis on Urban Studies. She has exhibited throughout the US, including at the Museum of Arts and Design (MAD), the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA LA), and Miami Art Week.
About the AIM Fellowship
The AIM program is singular among artist fellowships in conceit, longevity, and impact. The program began in 1980 and has since served more than 1,200 artists. AIM is not a studio fellowship. Instead, it is designed to be a career accelerator for the most promising artists who are based in any of the five boroughs of New York City—including, but not limited to, the Museum’s own borough of The Bronx. The AIM Fellowship is designed to equip artists with the practical knowledge and skills necessary to succeed in the art world today.
AIM Fellows—selected for the program through an annual competitive open-call application process—are awarded a nine-month practicum led by a distinguished faculty of experts covering finance, law, media management, and writing, among other subjects vital to maintaining and growing a successful career as an artist. The Fellowship also builds lasting community and support networks amongst artists based in NYC.
Image: AIM Artists exhibiting in Part Two of The Sixth AIM Biennial. Photo by Argenis Apolinario.
