The School of Making Thinking (SMT) and Abrons Arts Center are now accepting proposals for artists and thinkers to teach a class for our 2025-2026 school year.  We are seeking course proposals that offer unique approaches to instruction and bridge creative disciplines. Artists and thinkers working across the areas of architecture, visual art, writing, performance, music, movement, community organizing, and more, are encouraged to apply.  Four semesters of classes will be selected from this call for proposals: fall, winter, spring and summer. Our fall and spring classes will take place at Abrons Arts Center in the Lower East Side of Manhattan; our winter and summer classes will take place online.

SMT classes are an opportunity for artists to bring others into their thinking and making practices through experimental pedagogies.  Please see our our archive of past courses for examples. 

Proposals can be submitted via our online Submittable form once the application opens on May 27th, 2025. The application will close on Tuesday, July 1st, 2025 at 11:59 PM EST. 

The School of Making Thinking and Abrons Arts Center will offer a curriculum development workshop in advance of the deadline on Tuesday June 17th, from 1-2pm EST on Zoom. Please register in advance to attend.
About Organizational Partners:

About Abrons Arts Center
Abrons Arts Center is a program of Henry Street Settlement, a social services agency with nearly 130 years of experience providing front line support to New Yorkers. Since the founding of our Neighborhood Playhouse in 1915, Abrons has been a space for artists of all ages and stages to experiment with and share new ideas. Our Arts Education programming is shaped around the interests of our learners and is facilitated by professional teaching artists. 



About The School of Making Thinking
The School of Making Thinking (SMT) creates responsive, field-influencing arts programming in pursuit of equity, justice and sustainability. We do this by cultivating a peer-led community of practice between artists, researchers, and activists.



Eligibility Criteria
  • Must be eligible to work in the United States
  • Prior teaching experience is highly encouraged, but not a requirement. A passion and interest in teaching is a must.
  • Faculty must be available for the mandatory orientation and all course dates. Please review the “Important Dates” section before submitting your proposal.
  • We are interested in proposals that push the edges of creative fields. Course proposals should be socially and politically responsive, experimental, pedagogically innovative, and relevant to the instructor’s practice, in alignment with the mission and values of Abrons Arts Center and SMT.



Course Details & Important Dates
  • Courses run for 4 weeks in October-November 2025 for our Fall semester and April 2026 for our Spring Semester.
  • Class time runs for 2 hours.
  • Courses are hosted on weekday evenings between 6-8pm
  • All courses will gather on the Wednesday evening after the last week of classes for a class-wide convening event. The Fall convening will be Wednesday, November 12, 6-8pm, and the Spring convening will be Wednesday, May 6, 6-8pm. Pizza and refreshments will be served. Faculty attendance and facilitation is required.
  • Courses are held once a week on weekday evenings, scheduled in partnership with the instructor.
  • Courses require a minimum of 7 learners to run. The maximum capacity of a course is 20. Courses with less than 7 enrolled learners will be canceled.
  • Courses will take place in person at Abrons Arts Center.
  • Teachers will be required to attend the mandatory Faculty Orientation prior to the start of their semester. The Fall orientation will be Wednesday, October 1st, 5-6pm and the Spring orientation will be Wednesday, March 25th, 5-6pm. Both meetings will be held virtually on Zoom.



Compensation Details
  • Faculty are paid $900 for their course ($80/hour for 8 teaching hours + 2 hours at the final sharing + $100 stipend for preparation). Payment is issued 2 weeks following the culmination of the course.



Course Registration Information
  • Courses are offered on a tiered basis, from $50-$350 for a 4 week course with an additional $30 registration fee. 


Curriculum Development
To support applicants in preparing strong proposals, The School of Making Thinking and Abrons Arts Center will offer a curriculum development workshop on Tuesday June 17th, from 1-2pm EST on Zoom. Please register in advance to attend.
Photo by Eli Schmidt.
This program is supported through a Cultural Development Fund grant from the New York Department of Cultural Affairs.

Our classes are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.