NANA
The New Art, New Artists (NANA) College Student Program offers Michigan college students the opportunity to sell their artwork at the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair, The Original while receiving comprehensive guidance.
NANA 2026 applications are now closed.
Participation is free and artists keep 100% of their sales revenue. Selected artists enjoy equal access to amenities and mentorship from established artists, gaining valuable exposure and entrepreneurial experience.
NANA’s Impact
18 Years
Of the New Art New Artists program
$180,000
In NANA artist sales
108
Emerging college artists impacted
How Does NANA work?
Six Artists
Six college artists are chosen by jury to exhibit their work at the fair, fostering artistic growth and development. Eligibility requires current enrollment at a college or university in Michigan, and is open to undergraduate and graduate students.
Team Experience
The jury selected NANA artists collaborate as a cohesive team, working together to create a shared booth and providing mutual support to ensure successful sales. Our NANA college students receive personalized mentoring from the dedicated staff of the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair, the Original, starting from their acceptance in April until the Fair in July. Throughout this period, our student artists actively engage in meetings where they gain valuable skills in presenting their artwork, crafting compelling Artist Statements, designing captivating art fair booths, and receiving tips on effective public interaction and art sales.
Professional Mentorship
Furthermore, each student is paired with a Mentor, an experienced Art Fair Artist, who offers additional guidance and support. Many of these mentor-mentee relationships extend beyond the program’s duration, blossoming into year-long partnerships that assist these aspiring artists in establishing their artistic ventures and making significant strides in their careers.
NANA 2026 applications are now closed.
NANA 2026 Guest Mentorship
John Stanley
John Stanley, a distinguished figure in the art museum world, provides guest mentorship for NANA’s 2026 program. With a career spanning roles at institutions like the Whitney Museum of American Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Toledo Museum of Art, Stanley brings invaluable expertise to guide participants. Throughout his tenure, he oversaw numerous large-scale projects and collaborated with acclaimed architects such as Frank Gehry, Norman Foster, and Renzo Piano. His dedication to the museum field is further evidenced by his appointment as the President of the Board of Directors for the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair, the Original.
NANA 2026 Participants
Lila Hudgins
University of Michigan
Panama-raised artist Lila Hudgins uses vibrant colors and a range of abstraction to create uplifting and energetic paintings about the spirituality she finds in the natural world. Common subjects include animals, plants, and landscapes that comment on life, death, and gratitude. Her artwork has an aesthetic emphasis on light, texture, and movement.
Elke Ott
University of Michigan
My work centers on flowers as a way to explore mortality, family, memory, and lived experience. I am drawn to the ways flowers change over time, especially as they begin to wilt and shift in color. I think about these physical transformations in relation to the human experience and the ways aging slowly becomes visible in the body. Through thick applications of paint and intentional color relationships, I approach flowers as portraits rather than decorative objects, using color and texture to express personality, emotion, and presence while reflecting on the connection between beauty and impermanence.
Teresa Morgan
North Central Michigan College
Teresa’s work brings awareness to the plight of our world’s most fragile species through porcelain. By combining traditional wheel throwing, hand-drawn illustration, and ethereal watercolor with 3D technology, she crafts a voice for the voiceless. Each piece is a dedicated tribute to the conservation of our natural world and the diverse creatures inhabiting it.
Oliver St Cyr
University of Michigan Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design
Like a conceptual scout for humanity, I am driven to learn, and art is the loudest voice I have to share my findings.
Jimmie Lee Lackey
College for Creative Studies
Jimmie Lee Lackey aka ABOY (born 2000, Southfield, Michigan) lives and works in Oak Park, MI. He is an oil-painter with special interests in limited color palettes paired with large-scale, figurative works. ABOY is projected to receive his BFA in Art Practice (2026) from the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, MI. As a previous member of The Guild of Artists and Artisans, through their Emerging Artists program, Jimmie has participated in the Ann Arbor Summer Art Fair four years in a row (2022, 2023, 2024, 2025). His work has been represented in the collections of The Gutman Gallery and Dez Delmar.
ABOY’s previous curated and judged exhibitions include: The Hendrie Holiday Exhibit (2026), Quiet: Moments (2026), Dark vs. Light (2026), Leafless (2024), CCS SEO (2023, 2024, 2025). His work has been shown at A2 Gallery Nights, Kerrytown, Ann Arbor, MI (2024), Gutman Gallery Artist’s Pop-up, Kerrytown, Ann Arbor, MI (2023), Emerge, Kerrytown, Ann Arbor, MI (2022)
Mia Noel
University of Michigan
Mia’s wearable and sculptural textiles draw inspiration from historical garments to reimagine the future. She often uses secondhand fabrics and natural dyes to create as little waste as possible. Never compromising on scale, her pieces use interfaced fabrics, quilting, and shibori dye to emphasize volume.
My work looks to nature to examine anthropological concepts, most frequently femininity and social class. I build off of pre-existing styles to question who the original piece is made for and why. Some of my works are wearable while others function as freestanding sculpture.