The Clark Art Institute. Fellowships

The Clark Art Institute’s Research and Academic Program (RAP) awards funded residential fellowships to established and promising scholars with the aim of fostering a critical commitment to inquiry in the theory, history, and interpretation of art and visual culture.

As part of our commitment to fostering diverse engagements with the visual arts, RAP particularly seeks to elevate constituencies, subjects, and methods that have historically been underrepresented in the discipline.

In addition to the general Clark Fellowships, which are open to any topic, time period, and geographic focus, RAP offers a number of special fellowships for specific research interests that are intended to nurture a variety of disciplinary approaches and support new voices in art history.
These include:

1. Center for Spain in America Fellowship: Sponsored by the Center for Spain in America, this one-semester fellowship is intended to support the study of all aspects of Spanish art from the early medieval period to the beginning of the twentieth century, as well as the worldwide impact of Spanish art and artists. In addition to research for a publication and/or exhibition on specific artists or periods, projects examining collecting and connoisseurship of Spanish art—particularly in the Americas—and the influence and importance of Spanish art and its reception throughout the world are welcomed.

2. Every Page Foundation Fellowship: This fellowship supports projects that radically advance feminist perspectives and equal representation in the canon of art history. The Every Page Foundation is a feminist non-profit organization dedicated to being a resource and strategic partner for social and environmental justice by protecting and advocating for women and girls for the purpose of advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in the arts and sciences.

3. Caribbean Art and Its Diasporas Fellowship: The Caribbean has been home to some of the most influential critical theorists, poets, writers, and artists of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. This fellowship seeks to support art historians, artists, critics, and writers who are engaging with the complexity of critical Caribbean scholarship, art, and visual practices today.

4. Futures Fellowship: This fellowship supports artists, educators, scholars, writers, and art critics who are reimagining the possibilities of museums, scholarship, and public engagement. Projects that examine social justice and the arts, reimagine the canon of art history, or consider the role of performance art in exposing erased histories are particularly welcome.

Details:
All fellows receive a stipend; are provided offices in the open-stack, 280,000-volume art history library of the Manton Research Center; apartments in the gracious residence across the street from our 140-acre campus; and reimbursement of travel expenses. Fellowships typically last for one semester, but longer- and shorter-term opportunities are available.

Requirements:
The Clark welcomes applications from individuals with a significant professional record. Applicants should hold a PhD or demonstrate equivalent professional experience. They may be employed full- or part-time, or be independent scholars, artists, curators, and/or critics.

Typically—though not always—artists have exhibited at multiple galleries, museums, or curated spaces. Likewise, curators have curated several exhibitions; are affiliated with a museum or similar institution; or work as an independent curator with relationships across several institutions.

For those in academic positions, the Clark neither funds dissertation work nor awards pre-doctoral or post-doctoral fellowships. Clark fellowships are not intended to support projects that transform a dissertation into a first book.

For more information and application details, please visit clarkart.edu/rap/fellowship.
The application portal may be directly reached at clarkart.smapply.io

Applications are due by October 15, 2024, for the fellowship residency period covering July 2025 through June 2026.