Silver Art Projects reserves quarter of residency spots for formerly incarcerated artists at World Trade Center

Silver Art Projects, a nonprofit incubator for emerging and overlooked artists founded in 2018 by Cory Silverstein and Joshua Pulman, reserves one quarter of its annual residency spots for formerly incarcerated artists. The residency takes place on the 28th floor of 4 World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan, a 3,700-square-meter space in one of the world's most expensive buildings. For its third cycle opening in spring 2022 (starting June), Silver Art Projects will offer mentorship and a stipend to 6-7 formerly incarcerated artists out of 25 total spots. The initiative is supported by the Art for Justice Fund, launched by philanthropist Agnes Gund and the Ford Foundation with $100 million from Gund's sale of Roy Lichtenstein's Masterpiece. The first residency opened in June 2020 during the Black Lives Matter movement, formalizing social justice as the program's focus for 2021. The 2021 cohort was selected from 700 applicants by a jury including Isotta Brielmaier, deputy director of the New Museum, and artists Hank Willis Thomas, Chella Man, and Tourmaline. Together with the collective For Freedoms (co-founded by Thomas), they mentor the winners, offering opportunities to engage directly in social justice.