A nonpartisan seminar-colloquium, The Art & Law Program seeks qualified, open-minded and self-motivated individuals with a genuine and rigorous attraction to critical thought and debate. In particular, The Program welcomes candidates who are open to controversial dialogue and who seek to challenge their respective practices. The Program favors applicants whose work does not engage the law. There are no exhibition, project or paper presentation requirements.

Please note that the Program is not for everyone. Applicants are strongly encouraged to study and fully understand the mission of the Program and speak with alumni regarding the Program’s structure and expectations of its fellows. By applying and, if accepted, agreeing to participate, you agree that you may be asked to withdraw from the Program should your participation be deemed detrimental to the Program.

The Art & Law Program fully believes in freedom of speech and in protecting that freedom when others attempt to restrict it. To that end – and in response to the recent and ongoing debates concerning freedom of expression within educational settings – The Art & Law Program has adopted the following resolution.

Dates, Times, Location of Fall 2025 Three-Day Intensive

The Fall 2025 dates are October 31, November 1, and November 2nd. The times are 10am to 5pm each day (with a one-hour lunch break).

The location is in New York City, at The Institute for Studies on Latin American Art (ISLAA), at 142 Franklin St, New York, NY 10013.

Fall 2025 Subject Focus

The Program will examine artists’ legacies through the doctrines of property, intellectual property, contracts, moral rights, freedom of expression, and corporations. This will allow us to examine how sectors of the art industry— such as academia, the gallery system, for-profit and non-profit museums, curatorial approaches, and law—impact the practices, definitions, economics and controversies of contemporary art and culture.

The Fall 2025 Three-Day Intensive will cover the following topics:

Legal Analysis – The Legal Mind
The American Legal System
Freedom of Expression
Contracts 
Property
Intangible Property
Moral Rights
Corporations
Archives
Legacies

Travel, Lodging, Food, Expenses

Please note that accepted fellows are fully responsible for their own travel, lodging, food, and other expenses.

Requirements

Please note that the Program requires a serious time commitment on your part. Admitted fellows are expected to read and review all materials before the beginning of each seminar, as well as engage and contribute in seminar discussions with thoughtful and intelligent comments. Given that lengthy and dense readings are assigned, materials will be made available to admitted fellows at least two weeks prior to the beginning of the first seminar. The language of instruction for the Program will be English.

Participation Fee

There is a nonrefundable participation fee of $1500. All participation fees must be paid in-full on or before your payment deadline to secure your place in the Program. Please also note that at this time the Program does not provide any financial aid or scholarships.

Eligibility

Visual artists, architects, film makers, writers, musicians, critics, and curators may apply. Applicants with backgrounds in art, art history, art criticism, architecture, philosophy, business, economics, sociology, urban planning, political science and history are strongly encouraged to apply. Those with no artistic training are especially encouraged to apply. This list is non-exclusive.

Seminar Leader

All seminars are led by Sergio Muñoz Sarmiento.

How To Apply / Deadline

Applications for the next colloquium are now being accepted. The online application form is available here and contains all the necessary application instructions. The deadline to submit your applications is October 1, 2025. There is no application fee.

Selection and Notification Process

Ten to twelve fellows will be selected based on the strength of their application, self-initiative, and their specific and unique interest in art and the law. Candidates may be asked to interview in-person, via phone and/or via Zoom as part of the application process.

We accept fellows on a rolling-admission basis, which means we review applications as they are received and we accept or reject applicants within ten days of when the applicant submits their application.

Our admissions process is competitive—each year we get many more applications than we have spaces for, so if you'd like to increase the likelihood of acceptance or need to know of an acceptance or rejection as soon as possible, obviously the sooner you apply the better it is for you. Non-US based applicants are strongly encouraged to apply sooner rather than later.

Application inquiries should be sent to Sergio Muñoz Sarmiento via e-mail to: sms@artlawoffice.com.

Last updated: July 29, 2025