Emerging young Chinese artists now have a dedicated incubator in New York City, courtesy of billionaire entrepreneur Adrian Cheng (a fixture on the artnet News Index of top collectors). The residency program is the joint brainchild of Cheng’s K11 Art Foundation (KAF), a Hong Kong non-profit dedicated to contemporary Chinese artists, and New York’s New Museum.

According to a statement from the New Museum, the annual residency, which will run from August through October, will select one “promising younger Chinese artist” to set up shop in their adjacent, newly-acquired space, before mounting a final solo exhibition. Hangzhou-based artist Cheng Ran takes the honor of inaugurating the residency program, having been selected from over fifty other applicants.

Cheng has accomplished a lot in the way of supporting Chinese artists since he first launched the foundation back in 2010. Recent years have seen KAF participate in numerous collaborations, exhibitions, and other programming efforts with institutions like the Armory Show and Metropolitan Museum of Art, both in New York, and the Palais de Tokyo in Paris.

The foundation’s partnership with the New Museum adds to what appears to be Cheng’s growing stake in the New York City art world. Earlier this year, Cheng took a seat as a board director for the New York Public Art Fund.

New York’s New Museum. Courtesy of New Museum Twitter.

Despite the openly commercial nature of his approach, Cheng’s efforts have been largely successful. In an interview with artnet, Cheng explained that he “wanted to support Chinese artists as they developed their technique and their aesthetic, and help them gain exposure, both in China and abroad.”

“Adrian Cheng, has grown this organization, in less than six years, into one of the most transformative arts institutions in China with profound global significance. The impact KAF has on individual artists—and on an entire generation of art lovers—is remarkable,” said New Museum artistic director Massimiliano Gioni in a statement.