Visual Arts Fellowships 2019–20

Professional Artists

1. You must be a citizen or permanent resident of the United States, as well as a current legal resident of Virginia, and have been so for at least 24 consecutive months prior to the application deadline.
2. You must continue to be a legal resident of Virginia for the Fellowship period of Aug 2020–May 2021. A legal resident has a valid Virginia driver’s license, and/or pays income taxes in Virginia, and/or is a registered Virginia voter. Applicants must be able to provide verification of residency upon request.
3. You cannot be a degree-seeking student at the time of the application deadline nor plan to be a degree-seeking student during the Fellowship period of Aug 2020–May 2021.

Professional Artists who are NOT ELIGIBLE include the following:

• 1. Recipients of a VMFA Professional Fellowship after July 2015
  2. Recipients of three or more Fellowships in any category
  3. Full-time VMFA employees
  4. Students currently enrolled full time in a degree-seeking program at the time of the application deadline (Nov. 2019)

Students (Graduate and Undergraduate)

1. You must be a citizen or permanent resident of the United States, as well as a current legal resident of Virginia, and have been so for at least 12 consecutive months prior to the application deadline.
2. You must continue to be a legal resident of Virginia for the Fellowship period of Aug 2020–May 2021. A legal resident has a valid Virginia driver’s license, and/or pays income taxes in Virginia, and/or is a registered Virginia voter.
3. Students paying in-state tuition to an accredited Virginia college, university, or school of the arts qualify as legal residents of Virginia. If you do not qualify for in-state tuition in Virginia, you may not apply for a VMFA Fellowship until you establish Virginia residency. If you are a legal Virginia resident but attend school full-time outside of Virginia, you may still apply. Applicants must be able to provide verification of residency upon request.
4. You must be planning to be enrolled full-time and qualify as a Virginia resident as outlined above for the entire academic year Aug 2020–May 2021 at an accredited college, university, or school of the arts.
5. Half-year fall semester Fellowship awards (worth $3,000 for graduate students and $2,000 for undergraduate students) may be considered on a case-by-case basis for full-time students in the final year of a degree program who plan to graduate in Dec 2020.

Student Artists who are NOT ELIGIBLE include the following:

• 1. Recipients of three or more Fellowships in any category
  2. Full-time VMFA employees
  3. Students that will NOT be enrolled full time in a degree seeking program during the fellowship period Aug 2020-May 2021.

Fellowship applicants’ works are reviewed in a blind selection by distinguished jurors.

Jurors do not see the applicant’s information (General Application Form) or the applicant’s resume.

Awards are based solely on artistic merit.

All applicants will be notified by letter no later than the first week of February 2020.

VMFA does not provide written or verbal explanations regarding the awards.

To complete your application follow the step by step process outlined below.

Required items (in order of completion):

GENERAL APPLICATION FORM

1. RESUME: Upload your most current resume or CV. Note: this is for internal use only. Juror(s) do not see the applicant resumes.
2. After your form is completed and submitted you will receive (via email) your Unique ID and the link for submitting work samples.
3. COLLABORATIVE: Each artist in a collaborative group must fill out this application form on which she/he notes the Unique ID assigned to collaborator(s). When filling out the form, it will ask if the applicant is the first in the group to complete the general application form, so only ONE applicant will be assigned a Unique ID to be used for the WHOLE GROUP. As each collaborative group proceeds to steps two and three, only ONE work sample submission form
   is to be submitted.

PREPARE WORK SAMPLE FILES FOR SUBMISSION

1. See work sample rules & guidelines as outline by discipline.
2. You will need your Unique ID acquired in step 1 in order to properly submit/name your files.

It is strongly recommend that you prepare your image/video files (resize, rename, and select the order
you would like to have them viewed 1-8) before proceeding to the Work Sample Submission form.

WORK SAMPLE SUBMISSION FORM
(All applicants will be emailed a link to this form upon completion of the General Application Form)

1. Artistic Statement:
   • Upload a 200 words maximum artistic statement about the work you are submitting. (art history applicants do not submit an artistic statement)
   • The applicant’s name should not appear on the artistic statement.
   • Accepted File Formats: .pdf, .doc, .docx
2. Work Sample list:
   • Applicants are to provide the following information along with samples of their work:
   1. Title of the work
   2. Date (year) of completion
   3. Description optional (for film/video include primary responsibilities)
   4. Media (for film/video categorize the as narrative, animation, or experimental)
   5. Dimensions (for film/video include running time)
3. COLLABORATIVE: Each collaborative group is assigned one Unique ID to complete ONE Work Sample Submission Form.

TRANSCRIPT (UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE STUDENTS ONLY)

1. A most recent transcript officially stamped and sealed by your school’s registrar
2. Mail to: Fellowship Program Coordinator | Art & Education Division | Virginia Museum of Fine Arts | 200 N. Arthur Ashe Boulevard | Richmond, VA 23220-4007

Transcript Postmark Deadline: Mon, Nov 18, 2019

Help?

Frequently Asked Questions

Natasha Campbell | Fellowship Coordinator
804.204.2685
vmfafellowships@vmfa.museum

Overview

Applicants must select the one discipline that most closely corresponds to the work they are submitting. Submissions are not judged within these disciplines, but instead within eligibility categories (professional, graduate, undergraduate) across all disciplines. Artists may apply only once during each Fellowship cycle.

Submitting images/videos that do not follow the guidelines (below) as they pertain to your selected discipline will result in disqualification.

It is strongly recommend that you prepare your image/video files (resize, rename, and select the order you would like to have them viewed 1-8) before proceeding to the Work Sample Submission form.

If you have any questions on the instructions below please contact the Fellowship Office via email or phone

Rules & Guidelines by discipline

Crafts, Drawing, Mixed Media, Painting, Photography, Printmaking, or Sculpture

1. A work sample consists of a total of eight digital images (25MB maximum).
2. Of the eight images, at least six must represent individual works; no more than two images may be details of the individual works.
3. Professionals: All works must have been completed in the past three years.
4. Students:  At least four of the works must have been completed in the past three years.
5. No legible names or signatures may appear on the digital images to ensure anonymity with the juror(s).

Guidelines

File Format: JPG or jpeg ONLY, No gifs, tiffs, or other formats will be accepted.

1. Image Size: Maximum total upload size for eight images is 25MB.
2. NOTE: You DO NOT need to have the same file size/resolution for each image.
3. File name:
   Your Unique ID_VMFA_1
   Your Unique ID_VMFA_2
   and so on.

NOTE: Submitting a work sample that is not named correctly will result in disqualification. If you try to
submit more than 25mb, the online form will alert you that your file size is too large.

Film/Video

Rules

1. Film/video applicants may submit personally conceived works in the following categories only: Narrative, Animation, and Experimental.
2. Only noncommercial, non-instructional works over which the applicant has exclusive control and primary creative responsibility will be accepted.
3. No music videos will be considered.
4. Submit video samples of three individual works total 15 minutes (maximum) in length.
5. Work can be submitted online by providing a direct link to your downloadable video.
   1. Works should be uploaded to a host site, i.e. Vimeo, Dropbox, or Google Drive. Be sure that all works are able to be downloaded and not just viewed.
6. Professionals: All works must have been completed in the last three years. No works in progress will be accepted.
7. Students: At least one of the works must have been completed in the last three years. No works in progress will be accepted
8. No legible names, credits, or signatures may appear on the individual on-screen works to ensure anonymity with the juror(s).

Guidelines

1. Time: Total work sample consists of a 15-minute (maximum) in length.
2. File Name:
   • Your Unique ID_VMFA_1
     Your Unique ID_VMFA_2
     and so on.
3. Videos must be downloadable.
4. Videos must be uploaded (as specified) to host site before work sample form is submitted.

NOTE: Submitting a work sample that is not downloadable, not named correctly, and/or exceeds the time limit will result in disqualification.

New/Emerging Media

1. New/Emerging Media refers to works of art made using nontraditional techniques that do not fit into one of the other eight disciplines listed. Examples of New/Emerging Media art could be, but are not limited to, combined media installations, environmental or site-specific artwork, digital artwork, or interactive artwork.
2. A work sample consists of either uploaded images (option A) or film/video samples (option B). You must select only one of the following options. You may not submit both digital images and video samples.
   • Total of eight digital images (25MB). Of the eight images, at least six must represent individual works; no more than two images may be details of the individual works.
   • Video samples of at least six, and no more than eight, individual works total 15 minutes (maximum) in length.
3. Professionals: All works must have been completed in the last three years.  No works in progress will be accepted.
4. Students: At least one of the works must have been completed in the last three years. No works in progress will be accepted.
5. No legible names, credits, or signatures may appear to ensure anonymity with the juror(s).

Guidelines

Option A: Follow the Crafts, Drawing, etc. submission guidelines.

Option B: Follow the Film/Video submission guidelines.

NOTE: Submitting a work sample that does not follow the rules & guidelines pertaining to your selected discipline will result in disqualification.

Art History (Graduate students only)

Rules

1. A work sample consists of three research papers or published articles.
2. All papers or published articles must have been written in the past three years and in English.
3. Art History applicants must have sole authorship of their work sample submissions.

Note: The applicant’s name should not appear anywhere within the papers/documents to ensure anonymity with the juror(s).

Guidelines

1. File Format: Format papers as word (.doc or .docx) or (.pdf) files.
2. File name:
   • Your Unique ID_VMFA_1
     Your Unique ID_VMFA_2
     and so on.

NOTE: Submitting a work sample that does not follow the rules & guidelines pertaining to your selected discipline will result in disqualification.