Fellowships, unlike residencies, do not usually provide space—although there are some exceptions. Fellowships are unrestricted, larger chunks of money awarded based on merit. Fellowships usually have some kind of limitation in regards to subject matter, geography, medium or identity. This follows along with the idea that a fellowship is in pursuit of some joint goal.
Please note, some of the fellowships below DO NOT have current open calls. Funding for fellowships may change from year to year. But it is a good idea to get on the mailing lists for any fellowship that you are eligible for.
KRESGE ARTIST FELLOWSHIPS for emerging and established metro Detroit artists
Deadline: January each year
Artists receive $25,000 awards and professional practice opportunities.
Fellowships recognize creative vision and commitment to excellence within a wide range of artistic disciplines, including artists who have been academically trained, self-taught artists, and artists whose art forms have been passed down through cultural heritage.
GILDA AWARDS are $5,000 prizes for emerging artists, named in honor of artist, CCS professor, and 2009 Kresge Artist Fellow Gilda Snowden (1954–2014).
Fellowships and Gilda Awards are no-strings-attached awards, meaning artists may spend the money on any aspect of their creative practice or life (i.e. making new work, renting or purchasing studio space, travel, general living expenses, etc.).
Follow on Instagram
————————————————————————————————————————————Deadline: Applications for the 2019-2020 program are closed. The next application cycle opens in 2020.
The new Artist Fellowship program that offers flexible, two-year grants to support the creative development of early-career generative artists in the state of Minnesota and the five boroughs of New York City. Artists may apply individually or together with other members of ongoing collectives or ensembles.
The Foundation recognizes that the term “emerging” means different things to different people. In preparation for this program, we received over 1400 artist surveys with wildly different definitions of “emerging.” Some people said that, in this country, all artists are always emerging, and some people gave specific criteria for identifying the markers between emerging artists versus mid-career or established artists.
The Foundation’s goal is to serve a spectrum of artists typically in their 3rd to 15th year of creative practice, post-student status (if applicable). This spectrum is framed by artists with some track record of creating and presenting full work (not beginning artists), and artists who are NOT at a point in their careers where they receive consistent development and production opportunities and significant recognition, awards, and acclaim (not mid-career or established artists).
The Foundation will make 10 grants in each of six categories:
- Dance
- Literature (fiction, creative non-fiction and poetry)
- Media—including Film, Video and Digital Production (documentary, narrative, animation, or experimental) and New Media (artistic work that is computational and distributed digitally, in the form of websites, mobile apps, virtual worlds, computer games, human-computer interface or interactive computer installations)
- Music
- Theater, Performance and Spoken Word
- Visual arts
A BLADE OF GRASS FELLOWSHIP for socially-engaged art
Deadline: September
Artists receive $20,000 in minimally restricted support.
We look at the process and relationships of socially engaged art projects. We see the aesthetic qualities of socially engaged art in how alliances are formed and maintained, the way disparate stakeholder groups are coordinated, how power dynamics are navigated, and how bridges are built between many different types of people within a socially engaged art project.
We create content that illuminates and deepens understanding of these relationships. A primary goal of ABOG is to make the “invisible” parts of socially engaged art visible. We do this through documentary films and field research that are artist-led, and are grounded in the perspective of project participants, as well as publications, web content, and public programming.
We also use this focus on process and relationships to advocate for a more expanded sense of what art is, how artists can work in communities, and how art might be integrated into everyday life. Our field research, documentary films, and other content serve as the basis for curriculum, toolkits, and consulting that enable more artists to work in partnership with non-artist stakeholders.
Follow on Instagram
————————————————————————————————————————————NATIVE ARTS AND CULTURE FOUNDATION REGIONAL ARTIST FELLOWSHIP
Deadline: deadlines change as money becomes available; sign up for the mailing list to be alerted when there is an open call.
At its heart, the Artist Fellowship initiative is built around the fact that in order for any artist to succeed creatively, they need time, space, and financial support to cultivate their creative process, improve their craft, explore new concepts and, for some, take risks that they might not have had the capacity to take otherwise. Native artists in particular struggle with a lack of equal opportunity in the arts and culture sector, reflected in the mere 0.2% of all national arts funding which reaches them each year. By offering Fellowships, the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation proactively strengthens the ecosystem of support for Native artists, enabling them to generate more artistic work, live sustainable lives, and contribute to their communities.
Goals of the Artist Fellowship Initiative:
~Power the artistic growth and magnify the voices of Native artists through the development of new works or completing projects in motion
~Increase recognition and visibility for Native artists in national and international arenas
Follow on Instagram
————————————————————————————————————————————Deadline: March 1, 2019.
Artists receive an unrestricted award of $20,000 for visual and literary artists for one year. In addition to the unrestricted award, TAF provides free housing, studio space to visual artists and co-working space to literary artists in the heart of Tulsa’s vibrant arts and entertainment district.
Given the unique cultural and historical landscape of Tulsa, designated fellowship spots will be reserved for Alaska Native, Native American and Native Hawaiian artists.
Fellowships are merit-based, not project grants, with a one-year term. Artists at any stage of their careers are encouraged to apply.
Follow on Instagram
————————————————————————————————————————————ARTIST FELLOWSHIP AT MUSEUM OF ARTS AND DESIGN
Deadline: Applications for the February—July 2019 session will become available in August 2018
Artists receive a stipend of $15,000 and work 40 hours per week in their studios.
Fellowship selection follows the selection process outlined in The Artist Studios overview, but instead of artists being assigned one day each week to work, fellows work forty hours per week and receive a stipend of $15,000. A total of fifteen of the forty hours the Fellow is at work in the Museum must be open hours, during which the public has access to the Fellow’s studio. Additionally, fellows are given extra professional development opportunities including regular meetings with museum staff and outside professionals in addition to being able to participate in workshops and meet regularly with a mentor in their creative field.
Applicants must be thirty years or younger at the start of their fellowship, no exceptions (artists will be asked to submit paperwork to prove their legal age). Fellows must also identify racially and/or culturally with a historically underrepresented community, demonstrate the need for financial assistance to advance their artistic careers, and be residents of New York City.
Successful applicants have a mature body of work that reveals a mastery of techniques, methods, processes and/or materials, as well as demonstrates developed concepts, ideas, and/or themes. Proposals need to address a clear direction or question for pursuit in applicant’s work and take into account the public-facing nature of the program (we highly recommend applicants visit the museum and talk to current residents). Successful applicants also have an artistic practice that aligns with the mission of the museum to celebrate creative processes through which materials are crafted into works that enhance contemporary life. Key attributes for practices that align with the museum’s mission are: Innovation that drives 21st century creative production, the highest level of skill and workmanship, and an emphasis on cross-disciplinary approaches to production.
Follow on Instagram
Sign up for the mailing list
————————————————————————————————————————————MCKNIGHT FELLOWSHIP for ceramic artists living in Minnesota
Deadline: May 25
Artists receive $25,000.
In its 21st year of programming, the McKnight Artist Fellowship for Ceramic Artists will support outstanding Minnesota ceramic artists who have already proven their abilities and are at a career stage that is beyond emerging. Fellowship support may be pursued for, but is not limited to: experimenting with new techniques and materials, purchasing materials and equipment, collaborating with other artists, and pursuing education, exhibition, or travel opportunities. The McKnight Fellowship recipients will be featured in a workshop and an exhibition with a corresponding catalogue at the end of their grant year.
This program is made possible by the generous support of The McKnight Foundation, Minneapolis, MN. It is administered by the Northern Clay Center in Minneapolis.
Follow on Instagram
————————————————————————————————————————————Artists receive $25,000. It has distributed $1,000,000 to 50 contemporary Midwestern visual artists since its inception.
The Efroymson Contemporary Arts Fellowship program was established in 2004 to reward creativity and to encourage emerging and established individual artists by supporting their artistic development while increasing awareness of contemporary art in the Midwest.
Fellowship categories are restricted to Installation, Sculpture, and New Media. Selection criteria includes the following:
- Quality and skill
- Creativity and uniqueness
- Commitment to developing the work
- Impact the award will have on the artist’s career
To be eligible, artists must:
- Be age 25 or older
- Be a resident of either Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, or Wisconsin
- Commit to residing in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, or Wisconsin for the duration of the fellowship
Fellows are chosen by a five-member selection committee through a blind selection process.
————————————————————————————————————————————
RAUSCHENBERG FOUNDATION ARTIST AS ACTIVIST FELLOWSHIPS
Deadline: No current open call; sign up for mailing list
Artists receive up to $100,000 over two years, along with access to opportunities for professional advancement.
In 2015 we received more than 600 applications from 42 states, spanning a range of artistic genres and areas of thematic focus. The pool of applicants were narrowed to six fellows with the help of 30 field experts from across the U.S. This inaugural cohort tackled a range of timely issues—from climate change to caste-based sexual violence.
After the inaugural round of fellowship applications, the foundation decided to narrow the focus of future open calls by inviting projects addressing a specific issue or theme. The issue area is subject to change. The 2016 and 2017 cohorts of Artist as Activist Fellows are addressing racial justice through the lens of mass incarceration.
Sign up for the mailing list
Follow on Instagram
————————————————————————————————————————————
HEMERA FOUNDATION TENDING SPACE FELLOWSHIP for artists with a contemplative practice
Deadline: rolling; apply here
Artists receive financial support to attend one meditation retreat per year at one of our partner retreat centers (see below for a list of our partner centers)
The Tending Space Fellowship (TSF) program for Artists was developed with the view that art has the capacity to infuse the experience of everyday life with awareness. The aim of the program is to nurture the creative practice of seeing things as they are, to cultivate that awareness, and to live and create from this insight. To accomplish this, we provide financial support for artists to experience the immersive, contemplative environment of a meditation retreat. Qualified applicants will be full-time artists—visual, performing artists, writers, and multi-disciplinary artists—whose professions directly relate to their artmaking practice. This can include those who teach their artistic discipline, whether privately or with an organization, or in any type of school, as well as many others.
TSF are available for full-time artists with a sincere desire for the experiences of extended meditation practice to inform and influence their creative expression in the world.
Applicants will apply directly to the center holding the retreat they would like to attend. Artists who have never attended a residential meditation retreat longer than two nights will be provided with 100% funding for the retreat of their choice. Artists who have attended at least one meditation retreat longer than two nights will be offered 50% funding, with need-based support available beyond that. The program is open to domestic and international applicants, as well as groups of artists.