SI is pleased to announce a new educational offering for young adults ages 20–26. The Young Adult Arts Immersion Cohort (YAAIC) is a mobile, dynamic, experiential engagement with contemporary art designed specifically for young adults who have followed a nontraditional education path and/or are not currently enrolled in a formal academic program.

The core of the course will be visits to galleries, performance and music venues, museums, archives, and community spaces, and will be grounded in dialogue between cohort members and those we meet along the way.

This peer-centered course will have a shifting and mutable structure to be determined by participants, informed by shared interests and the art we encounter. Possible directions the cohort may take include: ongoing arts immersion, shared readings, writing and self-publication, research projects, and/or artmaking, but ultimately the path we take will be decided through group consensus.

No prior or specific skills/art knowledge is required. This program is ideal for participants with an openness to negotiate and work toward collaborative decision-making who are interested in cultivating community through engagement with contemporary art. This is a process-oriented program, which means we do not expect participants to create a specific product.

Upon completion of the program, participants will receive a stipend for their time. In addition, all admissions/tickets to other arts and culture spaces, events, and performances over the course of our time together will be covered by SI.

Requirements & Application Details

Applicants must be between the ages of 20 to 26.
Applications must be submitted by March 31. The form offers options for written, recorded, or image-based answers to several questions. Our intention is to get to know you, your interests and passions, and how you might fit into the group. Please use whatever form/s of communication feel most accessible, exciting, and true to you.

Apply Now →

2025 Schedule

The program will meet over 15 sessions from April through November.
We begin with a required half day orientation. This will most likely be on Wednesday, April 16th from 11am-3pm, with a break for lunch that will be provided.
The program continues with a month of two-hour weekly-ish meetings on the following Wednesday in the early evening hours, between 4pm and 6pm: April 23, April 30, May 14, and May 21.
We then shift to a twice-a-month meeting schedule for the duration with a break in late summer. Future dates are as follows: June 4, June 25, July 16, August 6, September 10, September 24, October 8, October 22, November 5, and November 19.

Goals

Access resources and support in creative and professional endeavors.
Cultivate creative community and reciprocal relationships.
Practice collective decision-making and self-driven modes of organizing.
Explore contemporary art through research and discussion.
Build critical thinking and problem solving skills.
Engage with alternative approaches to education.

Access Statement

In this program we will be moving around in the city, using public transportation and seated or standing for a long amount of time. Sometimes, there will be artworks containing triggering or challenging content. We will give a content warning as much as we possibly can in these cases.

Masks are not required for this program but participants are welcome to wear one. SI will make masks and COVID-19 tests available to all participants. All meetings on-site at SI will have a HEPA air purifier running in the meeting space. All participants must be up-to-date with vaccinations including COVID-19 vaccines.