Nickelodeon has selected six participants for its annual Artists Program, which supports emerging artists.

For six months, this cohort will receive creative mentorship and get to sharpen their artistic abilities and production know-how through workshops and hands-on experience working at the Burbank-based Nickelodeon Animation Studio. The Paramount Office of Global Inclusion runs the program, which is now in its 13th year. 

This year’s artist participants are: 

Brian Duran, a half-Salvadorian, half-Taiwanese artist from Pasadena’s Art Center College of Design who is looking to share stories inspired by his culture. 

Trinity Akins, a BFA graduate from Michigan’s College for Creative Studies and a guest art teacher with a lifelong passion for cartoons. 

Heather Patterson, an advertising art director based in LA who wants to create stories that inspire kids to embrace their uniqueness. 

Mai-Han Nguyen, a Viet-American artist with a degree in printmaking from Boston University and a passion for books. 

Kelly Copeland, a CG-focused artist with a Master’s degree in visualization from Texas A&M University who knows her way around 3D modelling and rigging. 

Meibol Moran, an Ecuadorian American artist with a BFA degree from Florida’s Ringling College of Art & Design, who was inspired by Avatar: The Last Airbender. 

Nick’s Artist Program offers three “tracks” for participants to choose from based on their intended career path. The storyboard track is the most popular speciality this year, with Atkins, Moran and Patterson all opting for it. Duran and Nguyen both chose the visual development track, and Copeland picked the CG generalist track, which was introduced three years ago.

Previous participants went on to work for major studios and networks, including Disney Channel, Netflix, DreamWorks and Cartoon Network in addition to Nick. These include Jasmine Reyes (storyboard revisionist, Big Nate), Bikram Singh (storyboard artist, SpongeBob SquarePants), Anna Hill (storyboard artist, The Loud House) and Katarina Perez (CG generalist, Max and the Midknights).

Creatives can apply for the next round of the Artist Program by submitting their profiles online through the Nick Artist Program portal between July 1 and August 1. Separately, Nickelodeon will announce the selected participants of its annual writing program (which focuses on emerging writers) later this spring.

Featured image (clockwise from top-left): Brian Duran, Kelly Copeland, Mai-Han Nguyen, Meibol Moran, Trinity Akins and Heather Patterson.