COHORT V

APPLICATIONS ARE NOW CLOSED

APPLICATION TIMELINE

OCTOBER 2nd 2024
IN-PERSON MEET AND GREET

Join us for an in-person Meet & Greet to learn more about the upcoming Cohort 5 application process. Tour The Cedars Union, meet current members and alumni, and hear firsthand about their experiences in the program.

OCTOBER 15th 2024
COHORT V APPLICATION LIVE

OCTOBER 29th 2024
VIRTUAL INFO SESSION

Join us for an in-depth info session led by Taylor Gibson, our Manager of Programming. This in-person event will cover all aspects of the Cohort program and provide a step-by-step walkthrough of the application process, including tips for navigating Slideroom.

OCTOBER 30th 2024
IN PERSON INFO SESSION

Join us for an in-person info session, including a tour of The Annex. You'll get to explore the space, learn more about the Cohort program, and receive guidance on completing the application process.

NOVEMBER 15th 2024
COHORT APPLICATION CLOSES

Submit your Cohort 5 application via Slideroom by November 15th to be considered for this exciting opportunity. Don’t miss the deadline!

JANUARY 10th 2025
ACCEPTANCE LETTERS GO OUT

Successful applicants will be notified via email, so keep an eye on your inbox for your acceptance letter and next steps!

THE CEDARS UNION STUDIO HALL

Studio Lease Rates

Studio payments are made monthly at the rate of $1.50 per square foot. Artists select their studio size preference in their application.

Studio Sizes

The Annex studio hall at The Cedars Union offers two types of studios: Micro-Studios and Traditional Studios.

Micro-Studios

Micro-Studios are customizable spaces featuring an in-house designed modular wall system, allowing artists to configure their workspace to fit their unique needs. These studios offer flexibility with movable furniture and storage.

8' x 8' (64 sq. ft.) - 6 studios available
$96.00 per month
8' x 16' (128 sq. ft.) - 4 studios available
$192.00 Per month

Traditional Studios

Traditional Studios feature drywall construction and utilize a French cleat system for hanging modular furniture, providing a more classic setup with the same level of customization. Both studio types have low walls and no doors to foster a sense of community and collaboration in the studio hall.

10' x 12' (120 sq. ft.) - 2 studios available
$180.00 per month
10' x 20' (200 sq. ft.) - 3 studios available
$300.00 per month

THE CEDARS UNION COHORT

The Cedars Union offers affordable studio spaces with access to tools, programs, and workshops. Our studios are intentionally designed with low walls and no doors to promote collaboration, visibility, and a strong sense of community. In addition to the private spaces, all members have access to shared work areas throughout the facility.

Personal studios are available through our Cohort program, a unique 18-month artist incubator. Each Cohort consists of 14-16 artists selected by an external jury to ensure a diverse range of artistic practices, experiences, and backgrounds. Artists commit to an 18-month lease in their chosen studio size and, upon completing the program, transition out to make room for the next Cohort. Many Cohort alumni continue their involvement as Community Members.

Cohort Benefits

24/7 Artist Access To:

Fabrication Lab equipped with tools and equipment, including a Juki industrial sewing machine, basic photography lighting, a projector, a letterpress, small and large printmaking presses, large work tables on casters, multi-material cutter, easels, and more.
Wet Lab featuring a slop sink, flammables cabinet and oily waste bin.
Woodshop with a scroll saw, table saw, vertical band saw, drill press, sanders, jointer and planer and other woodworking tools.
Tech Labs with PC and Mac stations loaded up with design software including the Adobe Creative Suite, a vinyl cutter, a plotter, Bambu 3D printers, and a flatbed scanner.
Access to Professional Meeting and Event Spaces, including a shared kitchen and communal spaces for casual work or breaks.

Workshops and Programs:

Regular Demos and Workshops on facility tools, techniques, and specialized skills.
Professional Development Workshops on Artist Entrepreneurship, covering topics like CV building, artist statements, grant writing, and legal services.
Monthly Member Critiques providing valuable feedback on your work from peers and professionals.
Field Trips and CU Social Events to engage with the local art community and beyond.

Exposure and Exhibitions:

Open Studio Events offering public exposure and networking opportunities.
Annual All-Members Show to showcase your work alongside fellow artists.
Cohort Show as a dedicated exhibition to highlight the work of Cohort members.
Exposure During Tours with visiting curators, collectors, and art enthusiasts.

Other Benefits:

20% Discount on all CU ticketed events.
Opportunities for Professional Documentation of your work.
Access to Professional Photo/Video Equipment for documenting projects or creating content.
Shared Resource Library with access to art books, reference materials, and tool manuals.

COHORT V JURY

Narong Tintamusik (ณรงค์ ตินตมุสิก)

Narong is an artist and curator based in Dallas, TX. His work is autobiographical, mining elements from his 2nd-Generation Thai-American upbringing, Queer identity, Buddhist spirituality, and previous career in the biological sciences. Through painting and its iterations, he uses his Thai heritage to imagine an ancestral future to survive against society's current biopolitics.

He has exhibited in group shows locally in Dallas, TX, and beyond, including Chicago, New York, Canada, and Germany. Solo exhibitions include 500X (Dallas, TX), Plush Gallery (Dallas, TX), Tarleton State University (Stephenville, TX), Angelina College (Lufkin, TX), and Daisha Board Gallery (Dallas, TX). He is the recipient of the DeGoyler Memorial Fund from the Dallas Museum of Art, Art Walk West Microgrant, and the Puffin Foundation Grant. He was a part of the artist-run gallery 500X from 2019-2022.

He is currently pursuing a Master of Fine Arts degree in Painting and Drawing from the University of North Texas. Before entering graduate school, he worked in the environmental science industry for seven years.

Sara Hignite

Sara is an independent curator, trusted artist advisor, and cultural strategist. In 2023, she founded Hignite Projects, an advisory firm supporting artists through curatorial initiatives and career development guidance. Hignite has worked in the arts

for over 20 years at institutions including the Dallas Museum of Art, Meadows Museum at SMU, Goss-Michael Foundation, and Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum in St. Louis.

From 2020 to 2022, she oversaw the world-renowned Karpidas Collection, where she curated Texas’s first Richard Prince exhibition and edited the accompanying catalogue. Her forthcoming exhibition Is It Real? Contemporary Artists Address Reproductive Freedom, co-curated with Emily Edwards, will open in Dallas on October 5.

Will Heron

Reflecting on his Dallas roots, Will Heron (Wheron) fuses southern imagery and shape illusions to create prickly, high-contrast compositions. His minimalistic approach in both gallery and mural works bridges illustration and street art while exploring themes like nature’s dichotomies, resilience, and growth. His work spans media from 2D pen drawings and spray-painted wood cutouts to recent sculptural explorations in epoxy, resin, and rhinestones.

Heron’s murals can be found across the DFW metroplex, Phoenix, Miami, Oklahoma City, and Houston. Heron's studio is located in West Dallas in the Tin District, where he helps coordinate the annual Wild West Mural Fest. Over the past six years with the WWMF, Heron has helped curate over 60+ large-scale murals by local and national artists for the West Dallas community.

Heron currently serves as the artist liaison at Meow Wolf’s fourth permanent exhibit, "The Real Unreal," in Grapevine, TX, coordinating with local artists and painting the exterior mural.

Tina Medina

Tina is a Dallas-based artist, educator, and curator originally from West Texas. She holds a BFA from Texas Tech University and an MFA from the University of North Texas. Since 2006, Medina has been a full-time professor of art at Dallas College and has actively contributed to the Dallas art community, including serving on art jury panels, speaking at public engagements, and being a member of 500X Gallery, Texas' oldest artist-run co-op.

In 2022, she was awarded a Nasher Sculpture Center Artist Grant, became a member of the Dallas Cedars Union studio program (Cohort 3), and received the Talley Dunn Gallery Equity in the Arts Fellowship. Her work has been featured in national exhibits such as Immigration, Migration, Movement & The Humanities at Arizona State University and Strive: An Exhibition Highlighting American Immigration & the American Dream in Virginia.

Medina's art, which spans fibers, painting, video, and audio, reflects U.S. history through the lens of marginalized voices. In 2021, she co-founded Nuestra Artist Collective, curating exhibitions like Contemporary Latino American Artists of the Metroplex and ELLA: Exhibiting Local Latina Artists. She recently participated in Soy de Tejas, a statewide Latinx art survey in San Antonio and Fort Worth.

Vicki Meek

Vicki was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is a nationally recognized artist with work in the permanent collections of institutions like the African American Museum in Dallas, The Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, and the Fort Wayne Museum of Art. She has completed major public art commissions, including the Dallas Convention Center Public Art Project, and was one of ten artists commissioned to celebrate the Nasher Sculpture Center’s 10th Anniversary.

Meek’s retrospective, Vicki Meek: 3 Decades of Social Commentary, opened in 2019 at the Houston Museum of African American Culture, marking a shift in her focus from installation art. She has received numerous awards, including the NEA NFRIG Grant, the Dallas Museum of Art Otis and Velma Davis Dozier Travel Grant, and was named 2021 Texas Artist of the Year by Art League of Houston.

With over 40 years of arts administration experience, Meek retired in 2016 as Manager of the South Dallas Cultural Center. She serves as Chief Operating Officer for USEKLA in Costa Rica and is an appointee to Dallas’ Arts and Culture Commission. In 2022, she became the inaugural Nasher Sculpture Center Fellow and received a $100,000 NEA Our Town grant. Meek is represented by Talley Dunn Gallery in Dallas.