The New York City Artist Safe Haven Prototype is a collaborative residency program that provides housing, support, and career development to international artists who:
- Are at risk of political, gender or religious persecution.
- Need a respite from dangerous situations.
- Are from conflict regions anywhere in the world.
- Are from countries where repressive regimes severely limit freedom of expression.
- Seek to enrich the city’s arts and culture, human rights, and diaspora communities, as well as New York City at large, through their practice and personal narratives.
Partner Organizations
The program brings together:
- Residency Unlimited (RU) — a residency program based in New York City.
- Westbeth Artists Housing — a 384-unit artist housing complex in the West Village.
- Artistic Freedom Initiative (AFI) — a non-profit organization comprised of immigration and human rights attorneys who provide free immigration representation and resettlement assistance to at-risk artists.
- ArtistSafety.net (ASnet) — an international volunteer network providing case management for threatened artists and culture workers.
- PEN America — in partnership with Fordham University, focused on literature, human rights, and protecting at-risk writers and free expression in the United States and abroad.
Program Operations
The program currently operates two single occupancy loft units at Westbeth:
- One unit houses a visual artist for six to twelve months, managed by AFI.
- One unit houses a writer under partnership with PEN America.
To date, the program has supported two visual artists at risk from Iran and Syria respectively, and a writer at risk from Nigeria. These artists are integrated into Westbeth’s community and New York City’s creative communities.
Additional Support
In addition to housing, the coalition provides professional, legal, and personal/social support services to residents, plus connections to curators, arts professionals, and public programming opportunities in New York City and beyond.
Funding
The NYC Artist Safe Haven Prototype is made possible with support from the Art and Social Justice grant by the Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation.
