New York Pilots Fellowship Program

This September, the Affordable Art Fair NYC will pilot a new Fellowship Program inviting emerging Tri-State Area arts organizations to submit curatorial proposals to participate as exhibitors in a dedicated Fellowship booth on Level 2 of the Metropolitan Pavilion.

The program is intended to grant an opportunity to up-start arts organizations in the Greater New York area to showcase their community’s work to a wider audience of collectors and enthusiasts. The program is conceived to encourage and amplify the reach and long-term commercial viability of Fellows by providing resources, underwriting, and a platform for commerce, marketing, and community-building.

For the Fall 2022 edition, Affordable Art Fair NYC is thrilled to welcome Brooklyn-based Established Gallery to participate as the inaugural Fellow! Read on to learn more about the gallery’s founders as well as the extraordinary artists they will be exhibiting in just a few weeks…

Established Gallery is uniquely positioned as the inaugural Fellow for the AAF Fellowship pilot. Hally Thornton and Johnny Thornton co-operate the gallery, having assumed leadership of the gallery in a moment of transition. In this capacity, Hally and Johnny focused a more concerted effort around artists with whom they’d previously partnered. Their intention remains simple, but charged: to focus on a business model that sustains emerging artists and their careers, while simultaneously connecting them to a network of peers, colleagues, and contemporaries who are passionate about supporting the arts.  

As gallery owners, Hally and Johnny hope to serve as a catalyst for community-building, and to provide opportunities for artists to feel nurtured while cultivating relationships with like-minded creators and collectors. They have often heard from people outside the art world that many art galleries are intimidating to them as new buyers.

Liza Domingues

Liza Domingues was born in São Paulo, Brazil and currently lives in Brooklyn, NY. In 2004, she received a degree in visual communications from Fundação Armando Álvares Penteado of São Paulo, Brazil.

Best known for her acrylic paintings and cut, painted and assembled wood pieces, she also works in a variety of other mediums. Her work has been exhibited throughout New York and is part of several private collections.

Traci Johnson

Traci Johnson was born and raised in Brooklyn and graduated from the Fashion Institute of Technology with a bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts.

Their concepts are driven by mental health, and art and fashion as therapy subcultures. Johnson’s work is informed by trauma and how the human mind, soul, and body can be soothed by a moment. They also hope to bring a sense of euphoria and vibration within the colors of their art.

Sean Qualls

Sean Qualls was born in Cocoa Beach, FL and raised in Bordentown, NJ. Some of his earliest creative memories include crayon drawings on bedroom walls and copying superheroes from comic books. Sean studied fine art and illustration at Pratt Institute.

While working at the Brooklyn Museum, he made use of their extensive collection of American, European, African, Oceanic and Asian art to further his education. He is also a highly sought-after illustrator and has created art for books by Spike Lee, Toni Morrison, and Zindzi Mandela to name a few. His work is held in numerous private collections and has been exhibited nationally. Sean lives and works in Brooklyn where, on occasion, you can also find him DJ’ing or sharing his art with the community.

Rick Secen

Rick Secen is a Brooklyn-based artist who has been working primarily in oil painting since 2015. After graduating from the Savannah College of Art and Design in 2005, he moved to New York City to pursue sound editing for film.

His current work is informed by his love of storytelling. Rick’s compositions and painting methods embrace his fascination in the dual nature of life, which seems to speak in chaos and rhythm simultaneously. The large works are often saturated with a sense of light and atmosphere and a strong sense of story.