Pioneer Works Announces 2026 Visual Art & Music Residents

BROOKLYN, NY, JANUARY 12, 2026— Pioneer Works (PW) is thrilled to announce its 2026 cohort of Visual Artist and Music Residents: a dynamic group of 30 artists-in-residence who will work at its Red Hook campus. Selected through an open call process and reviewed by a jury comprising PW Residency Alumni and experts from the respective fields, the incoming artists’ practices encompass a range of multi-disciplinary talents, including voice-based sculpture, hypnotic performance, and photography. As a group, they reflect PW’s mission to break down siloes between creative fields.

The acclaimed Polish experimental music festival Unsound and the Sierra Leonean-American artist and composer YATTA juried for this year’s Music Residents. The Visual Arts jury comprised Phong Bui, co-founder and artistic director of The Brooklyn Rail; Onyedika Chuke, artist and founder of Storage; and Summer Guthery, co-founder of JOAN and most recently the Artistic Director of Canal Projects. 

PW is additionally collaborating with OceanX Education for an ambitious, year-long program that will send Resident Alum LaJuné McMillian, alongside Matt McCorkle and artist duo Memo Akten and Katie Hofstadter, aboard the cutting-edge OceanXplorer marine research vessel. The artists will then take up residence in PW’s Technology Lab, where they will turn ocean science into immersive learning experiences that reach and inspire global audiences. As part of an exchange with Cerámica Suro, Resident Alum Lizzi Bougatsos will spend three months in Guadalajara, while Renata Petersen will occupy a studio at PW. Lastly, PW will welcome five artists as part of collaborations with the Finnish Cultural Institute in New York—now in its second year—and the Strother School of Radical Attention.

“With residents from Australia, Colombia, Denmark, Finland, Jamaica, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Tunisia, Turkey, and the United States, this is one of our most global cohorts yet, mirroring Pioneer Works’ desire to seek the best and most exciting talent worldwide. This expansion could not have been achieved without our incredible partners both in New York City and around the world. Pioneer Works has always been about creating a home for all who seek to create, and I’m incredibly excited to keep supporting artists and musicians through our residency program,” said Gabriel Florenz, Founding Artistic and Executive Director of Pioneer Works.

The 5-month Visual Arts Studio Residency program provides artists with glass-enclosed, public-facing studios; bimonthly studio visits; access to PW’s resources; and public engagement opportunities. Residents this year engage with themes of queer identities, disability, belonging, geopolitics, colonial legacies, and time through unique modes—including painting, hypnosis and pyrography.

The 2026 Visual Art Residents are:

• Aapo Nikkanen (Finnish Cultural Institute in New York)
• Alice Wang
• Alex Strada
• Andros Zins-Browne
• Barnett Cohen
• D. Graham Burnett & Julian Chehirian (Strother School of Radical Attention)
• Gabriela Ruiz & Emmett Palaima
• Hanson Okere
• iida jonsson & ssi saarinen (Finnish Cultural Institute in New York)
• Jen DeLuna
• Kevin Peter He
• LaJuné McMillian (OceanX)
• Mae Howard
• Matt McCorkle (OceanX)
• Memo Akten & Katie Hofstadter (OceanX)
• Natalia Mejía Murillo
• Renata Petersen (Cerámica Suro)
• Shanzhai Lyric
• Simon Benjamin

The month-long Music Residency provides exclusive use of Pioneer Work’s uniquely built recording studio, with direct production support from its artist-led Music and AV team. The 2026 Music Resident cohort features composers, performers, DJs, and sound artists whose work defies easy categorization. Working across genres from metal to North Indian classical, these musicians will use their time at Pioneer Works to explore innovative approaches to sound and performance, offering audiences new ways to experience music.

The 2026 Music Residents are:

• Ella Moore (Cleo Reed)
• Hisham Bharoocha
• Lia Kohl
• Marcus Brown (Nourished by Time)
• Nour Harkati
• Rashaad Newsome
• Jules Reidy
• Colin Self
• Astrid Sonne
• Zeerak Ahmed (Slowspin)
• Zubeyda Muzeyyen (DJ Haram)

PW provides all artists-in-residence with free, 24/7 access to its resources (a darkroom, ceramic studio, design lab, technology lab, and recording facilities) as well as the opportunity to engage with PW’s' vibrant public programming through performances, exhibitions, conversations, and its signature Second Sundays program—a monthly open house and forum for artistic experimentation through workshops, open studios, discussions, and performance. 

Throughout their time at PW, artists-in-residence will also engage with curators, gallerists, and other professionals through one-on-one studio visits. All artists who complete the program join PW's ever-growing alumni network and are tapped for future opportunities, including exhibitions, partnerships and other public programs. In 2026, alumni can apply for an inaugural fellowship presented in partnership with Onassis ONX, which provides one awardee with technical support and a $5,000 honorarium for the production of new media artworks.

“We are pleased to collaborate with Pioneer Works on the 2026 residency. At Cerámica Suro, we value partnerships that nurture artistic exploration, and we are honored to support a program that brings such thoughtful vision to the creative community. We look forward to working closely with the PW team and to witnessing the inspiring projects that will emerge from this collaboration.”
—Juliana Suro, Director of Arts and Residences, Cerámica Suro.

“The Finnish Cultural Institute in New York could not be more thrilled about our continued collaboration with the outstanding residency program at Pioneer Works. PW is the most exciting and inspiring residency platform in New York, offering artists an exceptional space for experimentation, research, and vibrant exchange. We are incredibly proud to work together to support artistic collaborations between the US and Finland, and to be part of a program that we truly honor.”
—Kati Laakso, Executive Director, Finnish Cultural Institute in New York

“At OceanX Education, we see creative practice as a powerful bridge between ocean science and public understanding. This residency with Pioneer Works brings artists into direct conversation with real exploration, data, and discovery, then carries those insights into cultural spaces around the world. It reflects our shared belief that immersive experiences can deepen ocean literacy, spark curiosity, and build long-term stewardship for the ocean.”
—TM Lim, APAC Regional Executive Director, OceanX Education

“Pioneer Works is one of the most original and audacious arts venues in New York. Their work covers a full range of disciplines, and yet every individual piece is grounded in the most imaginative and spirited creative practice. Onassis ONX is proud to partner with PW and to share in the unexpected, tumultuous, and exciting results they deliver.”
—Karen Brooks Hopkins, Senior Advisor to Onassis USA & Board Member

Learn more about each of the 2026 Pioneer Works Residents on our website.

Residencies at Pioneer Works are supported in part by New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

About Residencies at Pioneer Works

The Pioneer Works Residency Program h​​as been a cornerstone of the center’s founding mission—deeply committed to providing emerging artists, musicians, and technologists with a space to work, tools to create, and a platform to exchange ideas. Aided by a jury of experts and Alumni Residents, we select residents through an open call who work outside existing models and “norms” of their field and will uniquely benefit from our facilities and community. As such, Pioneer Works shifts and evolves to reflect the interests and work of each new cohort of residents. All residents that complete the program join our ever-growing alumni network and are tapped for future opportunities like teaching, partnerships, and other public programs.

About the Finnish Cultural Institute in New York

The Finnish Cultural Institute in New York works across the fields of contemporary art, design and architecture, creating dialogue between Finnish and American professionals and audiences. For more information, visit their website.

About the Pioneer Works & Brooklyn College Partnership

Beginning in 2022, Pioneer Works partnered with Brooklyn College to select one recent graduate from their MFA program aimed at supporting an intergenerational cohort of emerging artists who demonstrate artistic excellence in work outside existing models and “norms” of their field, whose practice can make use of our unique facilities and collaborative environment, and those with an interdisciplinary practice.

About Pioneer Works
Pioneer Works (PW) is an artist and scientist-led 501(c)(3) nonprofit cultural center in Red Hook, Brooklyn, that fosters innovative thinking through the visual and performing arts, technology, music, and science. We support onsite production through our science, design, recording, and ceramics studios; media, virtual environment, and technology labs; darkroom; and garden. Multi-disciplinary programs, exhibitions, residencies, and performances are presented to the public, of which the majority are free.

Follow Pioneer Works on Instagram, Facebook, and X, and visit our website for upcoming announcements.

About Cerámica Suro
Cerámica Suro was founded in 1951 and is a family-run factory in Guadalajara, Mexico, led by José Noé Suro. It specializes in the production of tiles, tableware, and decorative objects, primarily for the restaurant and hotel industry. Additionally, they offer residency programs for artists interested in large-scale ceramic production, enabling them to expand their artistic practice or gain expertise in production techniques in a professional setting. By 2025, over 500 international artists will have participated in the residency.

About the Finnish Cultural Institute in New York (FCINY)
The Finnish Cultural Institute in New York works across the fields of contemporary art, design and architecture, creating dialogue between Finnish and American professionals and audiences. The FCINY, founded in 1990, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization located in Dumbo, Brooklyn. The FCINY has grown from a residency program to commissioning large-scale projects and events that foster critical dialogue and work to build support for professionals in architecture, design, and contemporary art. The FCINY is committed to advancing artist-led and customized projects across multiple disciplines and to creating free and accessible programming for diverse audiences. For more information, visit their website.

About OceanX
OceanX is a nonprofit working to unlock the ocean’s sustainable potential. Through a dual focus on science and education, OceanX Education is building a new paradigm where humanity and the ocean mutually thrive. Its approach is fueled by exploration, leveraging advanced research, multimedia educational programs, cross-sector partnerships, and advanced technology to help transform how people understand and value the ocean. Its work strives to fortify biodiversity and increase the sustainable use of ocean resources to help ensure the ocean remains a foundation for human wellbeing and potential. OceanX is a nonprofit operating program of Dalio Philanthropies.

About Onassis ONX
Onassis ONX is the Onassis Foundation’s global platform for art and advanced technologies. As a catalyst for digital cultures, it supports genre-defying new media and immersive projects while also bolstering a network of institutions and industries ready to respond to new forms of creative expression. The modular infrastructure that Onassis ONX builds enables experimentation and circulation, fostering innovative works that meaningfully engage with audiences around the world.

About the Strother School of Radical Attention
The Strother School of Radical Attention (SoRA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to Attention Activism: the movement to resist the commodification and “fracking” of human attention by coercive digital technologies. Through seminar-style courses, experiential “Attention Labs,” and hybrid group learning/workshop formats, SoRA practices and promotes “radical attention”—diverse modes of attention that resist extractive attention economies—to deepen collective understanding of attention’s relation to human flourishing. SoRA is supported by the Institute for Sustained Attention, a registered 501(c)(3).

Press Contact(s):

Pioneer Works
Yume Murphy
Digital Marketing and Communications Manager
press@pioneerworks.org

Cultural Counsel
Allison Brainard, Associate Director
allison@culturalcounsel.com

Jane Drinkard, Account Executive
jane@culturalcounsel.com

Lara Xenia Mashayekh, Account Coordinator
lara@culturalcounsel.com