Work in Progress Launches Inaugural New York City Edition
An Art Fair Featuring 50 Artists Creating Work On-Site In Real Time
June 18–21, 2026
Hosted at THE BLANC
15 E 40th St, New York
Installation shots from the February, 2026 debut of Work in Progress in Mexico City.
New York, NY – May 18, 2026 – Beginning June 18, 2026, Work in Progress presents its second international art fair featuring 50 artists working live on site-specific commissions and interventions. Centered around the act of creating, Work in Progress allows the audience to become a part of the artistic process, bringing a more communal art fair experience to New York City.
Work in Progress will host its inaugural New York City edition at THE BLANC, a contemporary art space in Midtown, Manhattan, presenting exhibitions, performances, cultural programming, and artist residencies. Four of its five floors will be converted into temporary open floor working studios, with artists across a variety of mediums – fiber, ceramics, installations, social practice, painting – creating participatory and collaborative experiences open to the public.
This concept was first launched in Mexico City in February, 2026, with 50 artists working out of a four story former factory and 20 studios across the city. Visitors may purchase existing and in-progress works by the artists on-view, and the festival will close with a stand-up comedy performance featuring a live-auction of unsold works in progress.
“People were hanging out for hours at the Mexico City fair, and we realized this sort of slow art was missing in an ecosystem like New York,” says Chuman Zhang, executive director and co-founder of the festival. “We hope that this way of working can point to a different approach to the art market overall.”
Work in Progress pulls back the curtain to show the uncertain and at times messy work that goes into making something from scratch. “Instead of just looking at a finished piece on a wall, the public is invited to watch the art come to life in real-time, and in some cases to participate in the making itself,” says Jerry Guo, artistic director and co-founder. “We’re highlighting process over product, in a way that just naturally tickles your curiosity, like when a magician reveals how a trick works.”
“THE BLANC was founded as a space for interdisciplinary exchange, and we’re excited to open our studios to Work in Progress and expand the ways artists and audiences can engage with creative practice in Midtown,” said Leo Yuan, Gallery Director at THE BLANC. “By bringing together artists working across disciplines within an active studio environment, the program reflects our commitment to fostering experimentation, dialogue, and collaborative forms of cultural production.”
Some highlighted artists include:
Chris Baily, a video artist who paints on canvas, incorporating multiple screens with video captured by participants and added in real-time.
Richard Boehnke, a ceramicist exploring the process of decomposition by installing clay sculptures in an aquarium and allowing them to be destroyed by the audience; participants will also create tactile tiles meant to be stepped on barefoot and destroyed in the process.
Alison Cheng, a furniture maker creating an Ikea manual for people to make lamps on-site out of the discarded manuals accompanying the furniture used throughout Work in Progress.
Craftwork, a fiber design studio weaving fabric and fiber optics in a participatory installation that employs sentiment analysis on stories from participants; and transforming them into the textile itself.
Ifeoma Ebo, an urbanist coordinating a collective quilt of a map of Manhattan using cut fabrics in the West African indigo tradition.
Adelle Yingxi Lin, a performance artist who will attach her braids to floating balloons and charge participants to cut these braids, ultimately leaving the public to collectively determine her haircut.
Deborah Morris, a fiber artist who fires and breaks ceramics that are then embroidered back together using techniques from the 1930s depression era.
Zahra Saleki, a choreographer building upon an ongoing series – first conceived in the Mexico City edition – in which individual participants transform trauma through dance and conversation as she captures their movements through long-exposure photography.
The mononymic artist Ventiko will create a photo studio, filled with a large-scale nude tableau built with audience participation
Beyond the individual sessions, other programming includes a collaboration with queer collective Verbal Animal on their art rave Play Me Techno featuring a slate of performance artists across multiple nights. A series of performances curated by IMPULSE Magazine will be held at THE BLANC on Friday, June 19, and at the art bar Beverly’s on Saturday, June 20.
Lead sponsor Ikea will support the set design and donate furniture that will be modified by multiple artists in on-going installations, while art supply manufacturers Amaco and Speedball Art will supply materials for multiple large-scale collaborative installations by the entire roster of artists.
Work in Progress will open with a VIP preview on June 18, from 6pm – 10pm. It will open to the public from June 19 – 21, daily from 2pm – 10pm. A full list of programming will be announced before the opening. For more information, visit www.veryworkinprogress.com.
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Fair Schedule Details
THE BLANC
15 E 40th St, New York, NY Private press preview: June 18, 2pm – 6pm Private opening reception: June 18, 6pm – 10pm Public hours: June 19-21, 2pm – 10pm
Note to media: Please contact Katrina Stewart at katrina@bluemedium.com to request access to the private press preview.
About Novo Collective
A curatorial platform focused on new ways for the public to engage with public art. By experimenting with new models of production, we support artists in realizing works that rethink how audiences encounter contemporary art in everyday spaces. Our previous exhibition, uncommissioned (www.uncommissioned.art) featured all-new, site-specific public art across 41 cities.
About THE BLANC
Founded in 2021, THE BLANC is a contemporary art space that provides a “blank slate” to encourage interdisciplinary exchange and to nurture creative talent. THE BLANC occupies five stories of a historic building in Midtown Manhattan, with a ground-floor gallery program dedicated to international artists, emerging practitioners with established bodies of work, and artists who have not previously exhibited in New York City. In addition to its exhibition program, THE BLANC offers artist studio spaces and hosts panel talks, workshops, and regular performances. For more information, please visit www.theblanc.art.
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For images, further background, or interviews, please contact:
Katrina Stewart
Account Manager, Visual Arts
Blue Medium
T: +1-212-675-1800 katrina@bluemedium.com
