Uncensored New York is currently raising funds to expand our education initiative, which provides tools, visibility, and support to artists who are often left out of the mainstream narrative. Over the last four years, we have offered artists a dynamic framework for critical engagement and artistic experimentation. Our programming encompasses studio seminar classes, project development workshops, lectures and the facilitation of collaborative projects that support the creation of new work across visual art, sound, film, performance, and theory.

To date, our efforts have prioritized action, collaboration, and responsiveness—often unfolding in informal, fluid ways that resist institutional codification. However, we recognize the need for a more tangible reflection of this work. As such, we are in the early stages of producing the first Uncensored New York Art History Textbook. This publication will serve as both an archival document and a pedagogical tool, synthesizing four years of artist collaborations, curatorial projects, community organizing, and theoretical exploration around censorship, resistance, and creative autonomy. The textbook will offer clarity and continuity to a platform that has, by nature, existed somewhat outside traditional visibility. It will include contributions from artists, educators, and writers involved in our programming, and will function as a regional resource for independent arts education. 

Looking ahead, we aim to produce a public exhibition showcasing student work developed through the program. This exhibition will provide a platform for new voices, allow audiences to engage directly with creative responses to censorship and mark a significant milestone in our mission of education, creation, and public engagement.

Accessibility is at the heart of what we do. All guest lectures will be professionally recorded and freely distributed, ensuring wide and ongoing access to critical discussions. Our forthcoming textbook will further contextualize the artwork developed and exhibited through Uncensored New York, providing a lasting educational resource for students, educators, and the public worldwide.

The people who experience Uncensored New York include artists and individuals without formal education backgrounds, many of whom are directly impacted by censorship. By centering these voices, our platform ensures accessibility and meaningful engagement across diverse audiences.

With your support, we will continue offering a low-cost education program with seminar classes, lectures and public performances, publish an art history textbook documenting four years of work, and realize our first exhibition of student projects. This exhibition, long envisioned but not yet possible due to limited resources, will share bold creative responses to censorship with a broader audience.Your support helps us continue this vital work of expanding educational opportunities, empowering artists, distributing lasting resources and making the public exhibition possible.

We need $16,000 to support our 2026 education initiative. Your contribution helps us keep arts education accessible to all. Of this goal, $5,500 will fund studio seminar, lectures and project development courses —covering teaching fees and venue rentals to keep classes low-cost and lectures free. $4,000 ensures artists can exhibit their work without paying out of pocket, and $1,500 helps us publish affordable materials that share new ideas and research. $3,500 will go toward marketing and outreach to reach wider audiences, with a modest 10% administrative fee to make it all possible.

Led by Samantha Sutcliffe an award-winning educator, visual journalist, and co-founder of Uncensored New York. This campaign builds on her proven track record of developing accessible education programs, curating exhibitions, and securing major arts grants to support independent artists and amplify underrepresented voices. A graduate of the Visual Journalism and Documentary Practice Program at the International Center of Photography, she has taught in ICP’s Teen Academy and Visual Journalism departments. Over the past four years, she has developed a low cost education program for working class artists, programmed free lectures, curated exhibitions, and distributed independent cinema across the U.S with a commitment to preserving and producing art in today’s challenging socio-political climate. Samantha is the recipient of the 2024 Jersey Art Book Fair Emerging Exhibitors Grant, the 2022 Creatives Rebuild New York, the 2022 Lucie Foundation Notions of Home Prize, the 2021 Fotofilmic Scholarship, the 2021 City Artist Corps Grant, the 2021 Hopper Prize Finalist and the 2018 International Center of Photography Directors Cut Scholarship. Her work has been featured in Dazed, Liminul Magazine, Atlantic.Rethink and Truth in Photography and is part of the permanent collection at The Phoenix Art Museum.