Visual Artists Immigration Clinic (Guest Speaker: H. Heidi Son) (Oct. 2022)

The Visual Artists’ Immigration Clinic is designed to guide emerging and established international visual artists through the process of obtaining a visa to the United States.

Please be sure to read the following information and to refer to our FAQ below to ensure that you come fully prepared for the Clinic.

Schedule:

• 5:30–6:00 PM EST: Keynote Address by H. Heidi Son

• 6:00–8:00 PM EST: participating artists will be paired with a Volunteer Attorney for a confidential 15-min consultation.

For the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Visual Artists’ Immigration Clinic is continuing virtually: sessions are hosted on Zoom and the consultations take place in breakout rooms to ensure confidentiality.

Volunteer Attorneys:

• Rakhel S. Milstein | Milstein Law Group, NY
• Betina Schlossberg | Schlossberg Legal, PLLC, MI
• Cielomar Puccio | Brandlett, Puerto Rico

Are you interested in becoming a participating attorney? Please contact us at clinic@itsartlaw.org.

About the Speaker:

H. Heidi Son is the Senior Counsel, Head of Business Immigration at Murray Osorio PLLC, a full-service immigration firm. With over 10 years of immigration experience and 5 years in labor & employment law, Heidi currently manages an active caseload for a wide range of employment-based immigration cases, assisting individuals and corporations with obtaining business immigration benefits. Heidi specializes in helping individual clients to obtain temporary work visas (O-1s) and green cards (EB1-1s) based on their extraordinary ability in the fine arts, performing arts and music. To name a few, Heidi has helped sculptors, fashion artists, stage managers, DJs, writers, dancers, and pastry chefs. Heidi received her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center and has Bar admissions in Washington, D.C. and California. With a Fine Arts degree from Duke University, and once an aspiring artist herself, Heidi particularly enjoys working with artists and finds it most rewarding to secure their visas and green cards so that they can continue to contribute their artwork in the U.S.

Hosts:

The Center for Art Law is a Brooklyn-based research and education nonprofit that offers resources and programming for the advancement of a vibrant arts and law community. Through its website and monthly Art Law Blast newsletter, the Center disseminates information and keeps readers updated on art- and law-related news, events, cases, and publications. The Center facilitates conversations by hosting and participating in programs including conferences, workshops and clinics for visual artists, film screenings, and more. Today a world-renowned asset to the art law field, the Center serves artists, attorneys, students and scholars of both disciplines, art market professionals, and members of the general public.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who may register?

• Anyone may register for the Keynote Presentation and consultation sessions.
• We encourage participation by visual artists for the consultation sessions who wish to build and strengthen their case for employment-based visa applications over the next 6-12 months.
• The 1:1 consultations that occur at the Clinic are not suitable for artists with urgent immigration issues. However, all visual artists, students and others are welcome to attend and listen to the presentation.
• The Clinic best serves those artists which have no attorney and are seeking a first-time legal consultation. If you already attended a session of the Visual Artists’ Immigration Clinic, we encourage you to reach out to the attorney(s) you already met with (contact information is in the handouts distributed at the session).

How do I register?

• Pre-registration is mandatory.
• You may register for the Keynote Presentation for $10.
• You may register for a Consultation Session (with the Keynote Presentation included) for $10.
• Registration takes place through Eventbrite, where you will need to fill out a confidential intake form.

• Dial-in details and other instructions will be emailed once registration has been confirmed; be sure to check your emails in the days leading up to the Clinic.

How do I prepare for the Clinic consultation sessions?

Make sure that you have the following documents on your computer:

• A passport showing your current visa;
• CV or resume;
• List of exhibitions and media publications about your work.

What happens after the Clinic?

The Center for Art Law will be providing immigration law guides and the contact information of the Volunteer Attorneys participating in each session.

If you wish to pursue the conversation with the Volunteer Attorneys participating in the session, you should reach out to them directly!

VERY IMPORTANT:

• Attending this legal clinic does not create an attorney-client relationship.
• The information provided during the individual strategy session does not constitute legal advice.
• All the information shared during the Clinic will be kept confidential.

If you have any further questions, please write to clinic@itsartlaw.org.