Open Call: Emerging Artist & Curator Incubator Program 2026–2027
Tiger Strikes Asteroid Greenville
The Tiger Strikes Asteroid Greenville Emerging Artist & Curator Incubator Program will support the growth of a small cohort of local, early-career artists/curators through a year-long program rooted in mentorship, support, and community. The incubator will foster sustainable practices, critical dialogue, and meaningful connections, culminating in a month of group studio space within the gallery, and transforming into a group exhibition that celebrates homegrown talent.
Approximately six artists or curators will be selected for the program based on future potential and commitment to the program. We aren't placing strict boundaries around the definition of emerging artist/curator. Emerging artists/curators are likely to be within the first 5-10 years of developing their practice and don't have significant institutional recognition (major exhibitions or awards). Applicants of any education level are encouraged to apply, including those with limited prior art education and those who have completed an undergraduate or graduate studies, but current students enrolled in a bachelors or masters program are ineligible for the program.
The program will consist of monthly in-person meetings which will focus on different topics selected by the cohort, in the format of discussions, presentations by guest speakers, or visits with other organizations. The program curricula will be developed by the selected cohort. TSA GVL members will facilitate the program, with primarily coordinator responsibilities undertaken by Wofford College professor Michael Webster. Since Tiger Strikes Asteroid is an artist-run organization with limited funding, we unfortunately do not have stipends for the program, but the monthly meetings of shared information, month of shared studio space, and culminating exhibition are the opportunities we can provide.
Important Dates
Monthly meetings: September 2026 - June 2027
TSA GVL becomes Incubator Studio Space: June 26 - July 31, 2027
Incubator Exhibition in TSA GVL: July 31 - August 14, 2027
Exhibition Reception: August 6, 2027 (First Friday)
Program Requirements
To be selected for and continue to remain in the Incubator cohort, selected applicants must:
Consider themselves an emerging artist or curator based on professional experience and recognition. Artists of any age may apply.
Live within 40 miles of the Tiger Strikes Asteroid Greenville.
Commit to completing the year-long program, culminating with a group exhibition in the gallery.
Attend at least 70% of the in-person monthly meetings (7 of 10 monthly meetings).
Work two Saturday shifts as the gallery attendant for Thornback/TSA GVL during the months the Incubator cohort is utilizing the gallery, in summer 2027.
About Tiger Strikes Asteroid
Tiger Strikes Asteroid is a 501c3 non-profit network artist-run exhibition spaces with locations in Philadelphia, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Greenville, SC.
Our goal is to collectively bring people together, expand connections and create community through artist-initiated exhibitions, projects, and curatorial opportunities. We seek to build an ethos of cooperative achievement in the visual arts, creating the physical and emotional space for artists to show their work and exchange ideas on their own terms.
Our artist-run model expands the artist’s role beyond that of studio practitioner to include the roles of curator, critic, and community developer and provides an alternate model to the conventions of the current commercial art market.