The Kinhouse Cohort is a year long mentorship program committed to sustainable career growth, interdependence and generative practices for 12 selected artists.

All 12 artists will receive monthly mentorship, a residency at Kinhouse Residency in Fort Wayne, IN, a group exhibition at Kinhouse Gallery in Fort Wayne, IN, and a virtual exhibition small works sale on the Kinhouse platform. For the duration of the yearly cohort, artists will be placed in small groups to receive extra accountability and support.

This is an opportunity for artists looking to learn and grow in generative community, prioritize sustainable values that can support their careers, focus their commitments to their art careers and dedicate time and attention to their studio practices.

This program will provide you with an abundance of feedback, encouragement, accountability, community and support for your long term goals. We can’t promise, but we suspect that lifelong artist friends will be made during this cohort experience!

A full year of visibility, opportunities and community for 12 dedicated artists!

  • 1 monthly meet up (virtual) to workshop goals, discuss art and connect about career strategies

    1 residency week at Kinhouse Residency (3 cohort artists at a time)

    Accountability group of 3 artists from the cohort (buddy system!)

    Mentorship support from Kaylan throughout the year including direct connection via WhatsApp

    Group exhibition at Kinhouse Gallery in Fort Wayne, IN

    Small works sale on Kinhouse platform during the holiday season

    Promotion of your work on our Kinhouse IG and newsletter list

    PLUS each cohort artist will receive the following during the year:

    1 Studio Visit (with an artist, curator or arts professional outside of the cohort)

    1 Artist Statement revision session

    1 Social Media Review

  • The cohort experience is designed to facilitate your growth as an artist through sustainable practices and community support.

    Every month we will meet as a cohort to connect, focus our intentions, discuss what we are working on and resource share with each other.

    These meetings will be guided by Kaylan to be a conscious, intentional and nourishing experience. We will hold ourselves and each other accountable to our desires for growth in our art while also balancing compassion and empathy for the life we will experience together.

    Kaylan will be available for personalized mentorship as well throughout the year. Your connection will be facilitated through WhatsApp and Kaylan will be available on set office days to connect, answer questions, and check in.

    Each cohort artist will receive 1 studio visit from an artist, curator or arts professional that will take place in person while you are at the Kinhouse residency or virtually sometime throughout the year. Kaylan will facilitate the mentor selection based on your goals and work.

  • Each of the 12 artists in the cohort will have the opportunity to spend a week at the Kinhouse Residency in Fort Wayne, IN

    You will be arranged based on your preferences and availability in groups of 3 artists from the cohort and your residency will take place sometime in the 2025 calendar year.

    The residency has 2 studio spaces + 3 bedrooms and lots of common space/room for 3 artists to be there at a time.


    This residency is fully funded as part of your program fee, there will be no additional costs to you for attending the residency. Please note that travel costs, groceries, and studio supplies are not included.

  • Group Show:
    All 12 Kinhouse Cohort artists will have the opportunity to participate in a group exhibition at Kinhouse gallery! We are thrilled to be able to include this opportunity in the cohort experience.

    We will work together as a cohort to discuss the theme, title, statement and more for the show. Preparation for this exhibition will be collaborative between the cohort artists, Kaylan, and Dana or gallery co-director.

    An opening reception will take place on one of our "First Friday" events and your work will be promoted on the Kinhouse platform.

    Please note: Each artist will be responsible for shipping their work to and from the gallery.

    Small Works Show:
    Towards the holiday season in 2025 each cohort artist will be provided the opportunity to participate in our "Small Works" show.

    You will create a series of works to sell on our platform. This opportunity can help fund your participation in the cohort program providing greater accessibility to the experience.

  • The Kinhouse Cohort program will operate on a sliding scale model with a financial commitment for the 2025 year in 3 sliding scale options of $2,400 or $1,800 or $1,200 (total).

    This price includes everything in the program: a 1 week residency, consistent mentorship, a studio visit, 2 exhibition opportunities and more.

    The program fee will be broken into 3 payments due:
    December 20th, 2024
    February 14th, 2025
    April 11th, 2024

    Not included: travel to and from the residency in Fort Wayne, IN and shipping costs for art to/from the exhibition at our gallery in Fort Wayne, IN

    There is no fee to apply to this program! Applications are due December 8th, 2024. Artists will be notified by December 16th, 2024.

A Year of Growth

The Kinhouse Cohort experience will provide you with consistent encouragement, mentorship and community as you navigate your year as an artist. We believe in the power of these elements to propel artists towards growth!

Kaylan has years of experience facilitating community for artists through the Artist/Mother podcast community, the Thrive Together Network, 11 seasons of Crit Crew Programming and more. She is looking forward to this opportunity to combine an extended mentorship experience to artists that combines an accessible virtual component + an in-person residency experience + 2 exhibition opportunities for the cohort artists!

A full year of visibility, opportunities and community for 12 dedicated artists!

“Kaylan's mentorship and support helped bring my creative practice to the next level.  She encouraged me to dream big, break projects into manageable pieces, and stay grounded in my goals, including balancing my roles as a parent, artist, and activist.  I'm in awe of how much I have accomplished in the last year as a result.” - Anna Pancoast

“I feel really grateful to have been mentored by Kaylan--she is the real deal and operates from an honest and integrated perspective--she has spent years cultivating a supportive and generous community of artists, and having the opportunity to build quality relationships and learn from the collective wisdom of a group with such vision and grit has been a gift both professionally and personally.” - Kassie Palmer

“Working with Kaylan as a mentor was a fantastic and eye opening experience! She helped me to see how the various strands of my art practice were connected, and pointed out my strengths and uniqueness. With Kaylan's wide and extensive knowledge of artists and their practices, she could identify who to look to for ideas and inspiration and gave me a refreshed and renewed passion for my art!.” - Shantala Robinson

“The mentorship, support, and community Kaylan built were life-changing. By bringing artists together through a program that included prompts and guidance, but also the real tangible support of showing and selling work, she and Pam helped us level-up our careers. Her unique mix of compassion, art world knowledge, organizational and community-building skills are invaluable. I highly recommend working with Kaylan!” - Rebecca Potts Aguirre

“I had the pleasure of being a part of Kaylan’s critique group in 2023. She lead with a clear and organized approach which helped me stay on track and understand expectations. Within that well articulated structure, she worked with us to create a group plan that was attainable and balanced so everyone had the chance to be heard and provide feedback. I really appreciate her practical leadership skills, but more importantly, her kind and empathetic approach. She not only gave and encouraged helpful feedback for our work (to include a thoughtful personal reflection email after we concluded), but she also facilitated community by layering in prompts to write to one another. Working with her always left me feeling more grounded and centered, especially when she made space within our meetings for gentle “big picture” reflection. I highly recommend working with Kaylan if  you have the opportunity! Her wisdom has stayed with me long after the  group concluded and I’m so glad I had the chance to work with her. ” - Kristin Cronic