Cooperative Studies
Designing care-based models for collective futures
How are artists, designers, and technologists experimenting with community- and worker-centered cooperative models for governing, funding, planning, or collective ownership? From the future of work to housing to community financing to cultural infrastructure, members of this track have a vision for untangling systems-level challenges and applying solidarity structures to build collective power.
Who Should Apply: We seek artist collectives, DAOs, mutual aid groups, worker cooperatives, land trusts, community designers and organizers, barter clubs, creative technologists, and archivists and filmmakers amplifying stories about cooperatives.
Expectations: Commit to participation in NEW INC’s full year-long program, Sept 2024-August 2025, which includes required orientation and a multi-day onboarding experience September 12-14, monthly track meetings, seasonal day-long intensives, monthly meetings with a dedicated mentor, and a handful of other touchpoints. Members should also be aligned with NEW INC's values of Collectivism, Experimentation, Interdisciplinary Collaboration, Stewardship, and Justice.
Benefits: Expert track mentorship and opportunities to present work in private and public settings.
Cost: $150/month depending on membership tier with a required 12-month commitment. Limited subsidies are available, based on financial need, for Black, indigenous people of color, queer, trans, nonbinary, and people with disabilities. The subsidized rate is $60/month.
MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
Duty Free is a design collective formed by Tee Topor, Munus Shih, and Nikki Makagiansar. They specialize in interactive experiences that transcend the screen. Duty Free’s practice exists within the liminal space between graphic design, algorithmic generation, and art experience. To be “duty free” symbolizes their fundamental belief that the collection of data and resources should not only be decentralized but also distributed amongst communities.
Ayana Zaire Cotton is a cultural worker from Prince George’s County, Maryland. Ayana is the founder of Seeda School, named after the protagonist from the parallel universe of Cykofa. Seeda School is a skill building platform for learning how to code through a black feminist lens. Through Seeda School she publishes a newsletter and podcast titled Soft, Where?. Inside the ecosystem of their practice Ayana braids writing, software, abstraction, teaching, and worldbuilding to engage our collective imagination around the technologies we need in the world we desire.
dreamspace is the project of nicole killian and Sam Taylor. dreamspace is a platform to share, an Internet utility for dreaming, a record of practice, an invitation.
Header image credit: Eliza Evans