NEW YORK, NY.- NEW INC, the New Museum’s cultural incubator, today announced its thirteenth annual cohort for the September 2026 to June 2027 program cycle. The cohort of 83 new members working at the intersection of art, design, technology, and entrepreneurship will participate in NEW INC’s yearlong program, which includes a values-centered business education curriculum, mentorship, and opportunities to showcase their work to the public, including NEW INC’s annual festival, DEMO at the close of the program year. In addition to its new cohort members, this year NEW INC will welcome 21 Anchor Members, established professionals joining NEW INC from adjacent industries and universities. Organized in partnership with Melco Group Inc., the Tokyo Geidai New York Project will welcome Tokyo University of the Arts (Geidai) to NEW INC as an Anchor Member. In addition, Anchor Members will rotate from Graduate School of Management, Kyoto University; Aichi University of the Arts; and the Tokyo-based architecture firm AS Co., Ltd.
“For more than a decade now, NEW INC has been furthering the New Museum’s commitment to our mission of ‘new art, new ideas’ by establishing a unique model of education, mentorship, and support for young professionals working at the intersection of technology, design, and art” said New Museum Toby Devan Lewis Director Massimiliano Gioni. “We look forward to welcoming the latest cohort of NEW INC members into the New Museum community.”
NEW INC’s thirteenth cohort of new members includes individual practitioners, collectives, studios, nonprofits, and startups. The members include participants in five tracks: Art & Code, redefining cultural and digital landscapes in collaboration with Rhizome; Creative Science, employing modes of scientific inquiry to advance creativity and storytelling; Extended Realities, expanding the artistic potential for technology to blur physical and digital worlds, supported by EY Intelligent Realities Lab and Onassis ONX; Social Architecture, reconstructing social and public space through design and architecture; and Launchpad, a new track supporting products and services ready to go to market. In addition to the five core tracks, NEW INC will introduce Bound, a focused sandbox of nine members exploring how independent publishers and graphic designers are circulating ideas and building community.
In addition to the Incubator Members joining NEW INC for Y13, the program will welcome 68 Community Members, largely comprised of NEW INC alumni who will continue their engagement through use of the shared workspace, professional development, and community events.
Y13 Members will be supported by the NEW INC alumni network and additional leading professionals through NEW INC’s robust mentorship program. Each year, NEW INC brings together more than 150 mentors to act as a sounding board for Members’ ideas, keep Members accountable, and help them chart a course for growth to pursue ambitious projects. In the early weeks of the program, each Incubator Member will be paired with a Dedicated Mentor to work one-on-one through monthly meetings over the course of the year. Incubator Members also have the opportunity to participate in regular meetings with their fellow Track Members and respective Mentor-in-Residence, who serves as a subject area expert, guide, and champion throughout the year. In addition, weekly appointments with Office Hours Mentors are available for one-time consultations or virtual studio visits for all Members.
“For thirteen years, NEW INC has invested in creative practitioners who challenge conventional boundaries and imagine new models for culture,” said New Museum Deputy Director of Strategy and Innovation and Director of NEW INC Salome Asega. “This cohort continues that tradition with practices that are inventive and deeply engaged with the questions shaping our world today. We look forward to learning alongside them as they expand what's possible across art, design, and technology."
In alignment with NEW INC’s mission to foster cultural value, many members are developing projects that emphasize social impact, addressing issues of racial equity, climate, access, education, and the future of work, among other pressing concerns. Over twelve years, NEW INC members have raised $31.4 million in investment capital, generated $46.9 million in revenue, and created 966 jobs internationally.
NEW INC members have been recognized as emerging leaders in their respective fields, which traverse art, technology, design, fashion, architecture, urban planning, education, music, and beyond. They have presented work at the New Museum, Sundance Film Festival, SXSW, Tribeca Film Festival, Cannes Film Festival, the Venice Biennale, the Whitney Biennial, Ars Electronica, and Coachella, and have won awards and accolades from the Serpentine, the Emmy Awards, Fulbright Program, Creative Capital, the Webby Awards, LG Guggenheim Art and Technology Initiative, Social Science Research Council Just Tech Fellowship, and Time Magazine’s “Most Influential People in AI.”
