At Zea Mays Printmaking, we believe environmental justice, social justice, economic justice and racial justice are inextricably intertwined. As part of our mission to help make printmaking safer for artists and the environment, we are committed to finding ways to remove barriers of access to our studio for artists from marginalized racial and ethnic groups.

In 2024 and 2025, we ran the BIPOC Artist Membership program, which provided free Zea Mays Printmaking memberships and studio access hours to BIPOC artists. While we appreciate how much we learned from running this program and the many talented artists it put us in touch with, we felt that the program’s impact was falling short of its intentions, and decided to revamp it for 2026 and beyond.

Introducing Project Support for BIPOC Artists!

With this new program, we hope to be able to provide more meaningful support to a larger number of artists. We are inviting BIPOC artists to tell us about your upcoming projects, and let us know how Zea Mays Printmaking can help you make those projects a reality.

The types of support we are offering include:

  • Use of our printmaking facilities and equipment
  • One-on-one instruction or critique with our faculty
  • Consultation on incorporating more sustainable methods and materials into your artistic practice

Instead of a predetermined number of awardees, our plan is to review each proposal and commit to assisting as many as we can, based on our capacity and budget.

Application Guidelines:

  • This application is open to artists who identify as Black, Indigenous, South/East/West Asian, Latino/a/x, Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, or any artist who identifies as a person of color.
  • Artists do not need to be local to Western Massachusetts – if you feel that remote support can benefit your project, you are welcome to apply.
  • Projects need to be printmaking-based or have a printmaking component.
  • All artists who work at the studio must agree to adhere to the policies in our Shop Manual.

Applications will be reviewed by Zea Mays Printmaking management and faculty, and selected based on what resources we have available, and how well the project aligns with our values of safety and sustainability.

How To Apply:

Applications for project support are currently closed. We will make announcements to our mailing list and via social media when we open them again for 2027.