Applications for the 2026-27 Artist Mentorship Program are now closed. Watch this page for announcements regarding the 2027-28 application.

Zea Mays Printmaking is offering a unique opportunity for artists seeking to deepen their artistic practice while developing their printmaking skills. The Artist Mentorship Program (AMP) pairs each participating artist with a Zea Mays Printmaking faculty member who serves as their Primary Mentor. Working closely together on a self-designed course, the mentor is there to guide the artist through technical and conceptual challenges, helping refine the artist’s eye and skill.

Regardless of age, experience and past art training, the Artist Mentorship Program (AMP) is open to all artists who wish to engage in a sustained studio experience designed to sharpen their abilities as artists and as printmakers.

Developing one’s work over time and absorbing new approaches to technique can challenge the content, the expression, and the visual elements of one’s art making practice. Mentorship can provide support, insight and clarity during the often challenging, artistic process. Mentors will respond to ongoing work and help mentees master techniques, providing guidance, feedback and encouragement.

This program can specifically help an artist deepen their artistic practice within the field of printmaking, gain technical skills, set goals, resolve aesthetic issues, prepare a portfolio, complete a project, or approach galleries.

As we have learned from the Covid-19 pandemic, this program can be done virtually through online tutorials, demonstrations and conversations. This program can provide the support you need to keep your artistic practice growing and thriving during these challenging times.

In October 2024, Monotype Guild of New England held a Zoom presentation about the ZMP Artist Mentorship Program, which included the testimonial of several former Mentees. You can watch the full video here.

Participating in the Artist Mentorship Program at Zea Mays Printmaking has given me a sense of where I want to go in my work. Having a great mentor to lean on and give constructive feedback during our meetings and support as I move further into the many techniques available in printmaking. My way of working is task oriented and my mentor has realized that having definite projects to work on for each session is very much my style. I feel the mentor puts emphasis on recognizing how my background fits best for the work I want to do and thus provides me with reasonable pressure to accomplish that. Getting acquainted with the studio and the equipment is important in order to feel secure while working independently – learning this is also a part of working with a mentor. I feel respected by my mentor and encouraged to try new ways.

Edda Sigurðardóttir

My mentor helped me see where I was at the present moment and what steps to take to move my printmaking practice forward. She helped me set priorities and break a project into steps, a process I find challenging. My mentor was always there for me and that meant a great deal to me.

 

Doris Madsen

I was very new to printmaking when Covid started and took many on-line print making workshops with Zea Mays. And then, had a wonderful opportunity to participate in the Artist Membership Program. I am so very grateful that Lynn Peterfreund was my mentor.

Perhaps the most important part of the process for me was the “trust” relationship built with Lynn. When she talked with me about my work, I trusted that her words came from a sincere place in trying to know “who I was as an artist”…..knowing “what I wanted from the program”….and how to best help me in “achieving my goals to grow in the areas of composition and color”. Toward the end of my mentorship, I moved from making prints to primarily using print making to make collage papers and collages. This is what I love most about print making and will continue along this path. Again, I so value Lynn’s support and “eyes” in helping me learn how to “look” and “see” more clearly.

Priscilla Smith

The Zea Mays mentorship has been an incredible experience for me. While many of your mentees are likely established artists looking to further develop their practice, I was in search of a mentorship relationship that would help me establish a regular studio practice, build an portfolio and provide accountability. Joyce has done that for me and so much more. I’ve always admired her work and appreciate her thoughtful feedback and encouragement — not only when I’m feeling great about where I’m at, but also those times where I question my own potential.

Maryellen Quarles

Words cannot convey how much I learned and grew as a printmaker during this time.  Nancy not only helped me work through the inevitable obstacles and pitfalls, but encouraged me to seek out the expertise and perspectives of other Zea Mays faculty, who offer an amazingly deep and broad range of wisdom, talent, experience and support.  The mentorship program enabled me to achieve the goal I stated in my mentorship application, “ to gain the experience of transforming an idea into a body of work with the hope that will enable me to work more independently with higher confidence and success.”  A profound thank you to Zea Mays!

Suzanne Artemieff

The Zea Mays mentorship program was a great opportunity for me to connect with another professional to help guide me toward expansion. The feedback was critical to my process and it help me to shift perspective when needed. I appreciate my monitorship and the lifetime knowledge that I will take with me on my journey.

 

Melissa Sutherland Moss

My mentorship with Meredith has had a profound effect on my studio practice this year. With her encouragement, I have moved my woodcut designs to a whole new level, aesthetically if not technically. Meredith always has probing questions that cause me to dig deep and identify what is important to me, what excites me in my work, and what challenges I am facing. She has introduced me to many artists I had not previously known — artists whose work connects to mine in some way. Together we identify what I need to prioritize, plan for and schedule into the coming months to meet show deadlines and organize my studio administration.

My self-regard has grown under Meredith’s coaching, as I trust her completely and she sees value in my art practice and skills and expression.

Terry Wise

Lynn is a joy to work with. Our discussions about art and life and the intersections of both were very meaningful and inspiring. She shares from a wealth of knowledge and experience with great respect and care. I appreciate the way she has structured our work around my particular work and goals. Lynn and Liz have helped me find ways to make the mentorship work in spite of the challenges of the distance of my home (in NYC) and family commitments. In preparing to write this summary of my experience, I printed out and re-read the notes Lynn sent after each of our session. These are a great resource for me to look back at. There are many suggestions of things to look at, to try, to think about. I feel very grateful for the experience of the Mentorship program, and I think I now have a more organized framework for my art practice. I look forward to finding ways to continue this process.

Nancy Doniger

I was awarded my first artist residency: a week in a dune shack on Cape Cod National Seashore. I felt I needed some artistic guidance to develop the work created during the residency into a uniform body of work. A print project mentorship with Zea Mays was the perfect solution for me. Conversations with my mentor before the residency began triggered ideas and artwork created on site. Development of print imagery after the residency has been enhanced by further interaction; critiques, short demonstrations of print technique and color use tailored to me were extremely useful and gently steered me down my artistic path. We even came up with a new print technique!

Louise Wallendorf

I wanted three things from my Zea Mays mentorship: a deepening knowledge of printmaking, an increased confidence in my work and in myself as an artist, and a greater sense of myself as a part of a community of artists. I got all three from working with Joyce this year. I will always have more to learn—this is one of the joys of the work—and it is the mentorship that has opened these possibilities to me. I cannot praise it (and Zea Mays) too highly.

Sarah Thomson

The mentorship program helped crack open my practice. I applied because I felt that I had gotten to a point where my work wasn’t growing anymore and I was making things that were no longer interesting to me. Because I know I have a lot of gaps in my print knowledge, I thought that Zea would allow me to learn new techniques and create deeper, richer, and more interesting work. It has! I’ve been challenged in a supportive environment and it’s given me confidence to experiment, trust my intuition and trust the process again. For a mostly virtual mentorship, it’s been deeply effective. Working with multiple mentors allows me to triangulate what I’m learning, hear different ways of thinking, and really branch out. I’ve learned new techniques, really unexpected ways to approach a print, and it’s caused me to re-examine the relationship between the print and the paper. Overall, the Zea Mays printmaking community is really welcoming, empathetic, and gloriously curious.

Ren Cannon

How it works

Participants in the Artist Mentorship Program are assigned a Primary Mentor. They discuss how the program can provide a framework and direction for each individual artist. Mentors and mentees work closely to set goals. A mentor may provide demonstrations, printing advice, critiques, editing help, assign readings or research, or recommend resources specific to the participant’s interest — helping the participant work toward and develop a focused practice and deepening the experience of making, looking, and thinking about art. Mentors offer guidance in how to shape an interest into an idea, and an idea into a body of work. Mentors will also suggest other Zea Mays Printmaking faculty members to work with in the mentorship program.

Mentees do not have to be local. Past mentees have come from California, Ohio, Maine, New York, Connecticut, Texas, Maryland and Massachusetts as well as Argentina and Australia. When possible, Mentees can meet with their mentors in person in the studios at Zea Mays Printmaking. Most of our mentors live in the Northeastern United States, and one lives in London, England.

The Details

AMP55:

AMP55 is for artists who want to deepen their artistic practice, learn new techniques, engage in critical dialogue about their work, develop language, overcome obstacles and generate new work.

The program consists of 40 hours of one-on-one work with your mentor over the course of ten months. The hours can be spent as critique, technical instruction, support while making art, goal setting, discussion of readings or trends, career advising, portfolio development, etc. In addition, your mentor will spend 15 non-contact hours in email conversations, research, documentation, etc. to support your mentorship.

Mentorship hours can be used to work with your primary mentor, or with other mentors in the program to target specific areas of expertise, or to get a different perspective on your work.

You and your mentor design the program to suit your individual desires and availability. At your first meeting you will discuss your interests, goals, artistic practice, obstacles and outline the shape and scope of your mentoring experience.

In addition to your time spent with your mentor, artists must commit to a minimum of 250 hours working independently over the 10 month period.

Additional hours can be added to the mentorship program at a rate of $75/hour.

When: September 2026 – June 2027 – dates and times of meetings set by Mentee and Mentor

Cost:

  • $4500 includes:
  • 40 contact hours with mentor
  • 15 non-contact hours by mentor to support mentee
  • One-year ZMP membership
  • Unlimited access to two ZMP video tutorials or one 1 or 2-day in-studio workshop (during mentorship year)
  • Monthly meet-ups of the 2026-27 mentee cohort, with a mentor facilitating to help create community, share work & experiences, plus the option to meet additionally
  • Flexible payment options, including monthly or quarterly payments

AMP35:

AMP35 is shorter in length and is for artists who 1) have a definite project in mind (upcoming exhibitions, organization and graduate school applications, flat file entries, etc.) and want the technical and professional support to complete a project within a given deadline or 2) who want to develop a personal printmaking practice but require less support or 3) those who want to repeat the program on a more limited basis.

The program consists of 25 hours of one-on-one work with your mentor over the course of 4 – 10 months. The hours can be spent as critique, technical instruction, portfolio development, help writing artist statements, exhibition promotion. In addition, your mentor will spend up to 10 non-contact hours in email/phone conversations, research, documentation, etc. to support your mentorship.

You and your mentor design the program to suit your individual desires and availability. At your first meeting you will discuss your interests, goals, artistic practice, obstacles and outline the shape and scope of your mentoring experience.

Mentorship hours can be used to work with your primary mentor, or with other mentors in the program to target specific areas of expertise, or to get a different perspective on your work.

Mentees receive unlimited access to two of Zea Mays’ online video tutorials.

In addition to your time spent with your mentor, artists must commit to a minimum of 100 hours working independently during the period of mentorship.

Additional hours can be added to the mentorship program at a rate of $75/hour.

When: September 2026 – June 2027 – dates and times of meetings set by Mentee and Mentor

Cost:

  • $3100 includes
  • 25 contact hours with mentor
  • 10 non-contact hours by mentor to support mentee
  • One-year ZMP membership
  • Unlimited access to one ZMP video tutorial or one 1 or 2-day in-studio workshop (during mentorship year)
  • Monthly meet-ups of the 2026-27 mentee cohort, with a mentor facilitating to help create community, share work & experiences, plus the option to meet additionally
  • Flexible payment options, including monthly or quarterly payments

Applications will be accepted through June 30, 2026 and applicants will be notified by July 31st.

The Mentors

We’re excited to be working with seven amazing mentors this year. Applicants who are accepted will be assigned a core mentor based on their goals, the techniques they are interested in exploring, and whether they are looking for in-person or online coaching. In addition to working with their core mentor, mentees can work with any of the other mentors and ZMP faculty.

Lynn Peterfreund has been working as a painter, printmaker and art educator since receiving her MFA in 1980 from Pratt Institute. Her work is included in hundreds of public, private and corporate collections. Her mural work can be seen in hospitals, schools, bookstores, museums, and homes in western Massachusetts and beyond. Her monotype animations and daily drawings can be seen at her website, www.lynnpeterfreund.com. Her areas of expertise include monotype, intaglio, animation, supportive critique.

Joyce Silverstone is a graduate and traveling fellow of The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. She was selected to be one of Speedball’s Professional Artist Network Partners, to advance safe and sustainable printmaking practices. Her prints can be seen on her website: www.joycesilverstone.com. Her areas of expertise include: color theory applied to layering and color mixing for printmakers, viscosity printing techniques, monotype printing on and off the press, layering and combining monotype with woodcut, and alternative relief plates, collage, and polyester plate lithography.

Jenny Gover’s areas of expertise include screen printing of all kinds: photo, hand drawn, watercolor, screenprint monotype, graphic design and Photoshop. She received a BA in art history and visual arts from Columbia University, and an MFA in graphic design from Boston University College of Fine Arts. She has worked as an interactive and graphic designer for companies including the former cultural touchstone, MySpace.com. She is available as a mentor for artists who work primarily in screenprinting, as well as for individual consultations and lessons.

Julie Rivera’s area of expertise includes woodcut (western style) and collage and the intersection of poetry and print, collaborative art making, sculptural printmaking, monoprint combined with woodcut, representation and abstraction. Currently, in addition to teaching workshops at Zea Mays, Julie teaches in the art department at Smith College and the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown. She teaches workshops and exhibits her work locally, nationally and internationally.

Angela Zammarelli received her BFA from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and MFA from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design in Minneapolis, MN. he has attended residency programs at the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts in Omaha, NE, Elsewhere Artist Collaborative in Greensboro, NC, and Three Walls in Chicago, IL. In 2011 she received a Massachusetts Cultural Council fellowship in sculpture/installation. Her areas of expertise include Tetra Pak intaglio and relief, watercolor monotype, etching, environmentally conscious printmaking and sculpture.

Maureen Nathan is a multi-disciplinary artist based in London, England. She is on the board of the UK Printmakers Council, a member of Zea Mays Print Studio and the UK Southbank Printmakers Cooperative. She has been awarded artist residencies at Cill Rialaig, Ireland, JOYA:Air, Spain and Zea Mays Print Studio, USA. Her areas of expertise include bridging drawing and painting with printmaking and upcycling materials for printmaking.

Tracey Cockrell is a transdisciplinary artist who frequently collaborates with other artists, writers, and musicians. Currently, she is faculty in the MFA in Studio Art at Maine College of Art & Design, is a visiting faculty member in sculpture at Bennington College, and teaches at Zea Mays Printmaking. Her sculptures and sound art have exhibited nationally and been featured in alternative radio programs and live performance at festivals in New York, San Francisco, Oakland, and Seattle. Her areas of expertise include sculpture, sound art, mixed media, professional development and residency & graduate school applications.

Meredith Broberg is a multi-disciplinary artist with a deep interest in the natural world and our relationships with and within our ecosystems. She regularly teaches Drawing at Smith College. Previously she taught Artists Books at Hampshire College, Printmaking at Springfield College, Drawing at Carleton College, and Art at Pelican Bay State Prison, a remote supermax facility near the northernmost redwood park in California. Meredith earned a B.A. magna cum laude from Carleton College, and an M.F.A. from the University of California at Berkeley. Honors include a Fulbright Scholarship in Costa Rica, Marion Hahn Simpson Fellowship in Art, and a Sloan Fellowship in Science, Technology & Public Policy. Her prints and books are included in numerous collections, including the University of the South, Smith College Museum of Art and the Decordova Museum.

Zea Mays Printmaking’s other faculty members can be brought into the AMP experience to teach specific skills.