The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Fellowship Program is a vital source of funding for the visual arts and art history in Virginia. VMFA is committed to supporting professional artists as well as art and art history students who demonstrate exceptional creative ability in their chosen discipline and, as such, has awarded nearly $5.8 million in Fellowships to Virginians.
The Fellowship Program was established in 1940 through a generous contribution made by the late John Lee Pratt of Fredericksburg. 2020 will mark the 80th anniversary! Offered through VMFA Statewide, Fellowships are still largely funded through the Pratt endowment, supplemented by gifts from the Lettie Pate Whitehead Foundation and the J. Warwick McClintock Jr. Scholarship Fund.
2021–22 Fellowship Application
A complete application includes:
Applicant’s basic Information (name, contact info, etc.)
Resume/CV
Work Sample Submission Form (outlined in “How to Apply”)
Work Samples (Images/videos/papers)
Artistic Statement (visual arts only)
Transcript (students only)
Step by step instructions, information on deadline, eligibility, adjudication, notification, and help all outlined below
Incomplete applications and applications not received by the deadline will not be considered. Please be sure to complete both online forms and allow the appropriate amount of time based on your upload speed to upload all samples of your work.
Paper applications will not be considered. Please contact the Fellowship Office if you need any assistance completing the online application.
Categories
Professional Individual | $8,000
Any artist can be a professional artist so long as they are not currently enrolled in a degree-seeking program and do not plan to enroll in such a program within the following year.
Professional Collaborative| $8,000
Professional artists who can clearly demonstrate a history of ongoing collaboration may apply together for one fellowship.
Collaborating winners will receive one $8,000 fellowship to divide among themselves.
Graduate (Individual only) | $6,000
Graduate artists must be enrolled full time in a degree-seeking program and must plan on continuing to be enrolled in such a program for the following year. The graduate Fellowship includes art history as a discipline. 1st year and 2nd year graduate students that meet the qualification are allowed to apply.
Undergraduate (Individual only) | $4,000
Undergraduate artists can be college-bound high school seniors or current undergraduate students who are enrolled in a full time degree-seeking program and will continue to be enrolled in such a program for the following year.
Full-time students in their final year of a degree program who plan to graduate in December 2021 will automatically be considered for a half-year fall semester Fellowship (worth $3,000 for graduate students and $2,000 for undergraduate students).
Eligibility
Professional Artists
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.
You must continue to be a legal resident of Virginia for the Fellowship period of Aug 2021–May 2022. 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.
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 2021–May 2022.
Professional Artists who are NOT ELIGIBLE include the following:
Recipients of a VMFA Professional Fellowship after July 2016
Recipients of three or more Fellowships in any category
Full-time VMFA employees
Students currently enrolled full time in a degree-seeking program at the time of the application deadline (Nov. 2020)
Students (Graduate and Undergraduate)
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.
You must continue to be a legal resident of Virginia for the Fellowship period of Aug 2021–May 2022. A legal resident has a valid Virginia driver’s license, and/or pays income taxes in Virginia, and/or is a registered Virginia voter.
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.
You must be planning to be enrolled full-time and qualify as a Virginia resident as outlined above for the entire academic year Aug 2021–May 2022 at an accredited college, university, or school of the arts.
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 2021.
Student Artists who are NOT ELIGIBLE include the following:
Recipients of three or more Fellowships in any category
Full-time VMFA employees
Students that will NOT be enrolled full time in a degree seeking program during the fellowship period Aug 2021-May 2022.
Adjudication
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.
Notification
All applicants will be notified by email no later than the first week of February 2020.
VMFA does not provide written or verbal explanations regarding the awards.
How to Apply
To complete your application follow the step by step process outlined below.
Required items (in order of completion):
RESUME: Upload your most current resume or CV. Note: this is for internal use only. Juror(s) do not see the applicant resumes.
TRANSCRIPT (Undergraduate and Graduate Students ONLY): A most recent unofficial transcript.
ARTIST 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.
Work Sample list: Applicants are to provide the following information along with samples of their work:
Title of the work
Date (year) of completion
Descriptionoptional (for film/video include primary responsibilities)
Media (for film/video categorize the as narrative, animation, or experimental)
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
A work sample consists of a total of eight digital images (25MB maximum).
Of the eight images, at least six must represent individual works; no more than two images may be details of the individual works.
Professionals: All works must have been completed in the past three years. No works in progress.
Students: At least four of the works must have been completed in the past three years. No works in progress.
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.
Image Size: Maximum total upload size for eight images is 25MB.
NOTE: You DO NOT need to have the same file size/resolution for each image.
File name: Your Last NameFirst Name_VMFA_1
Your Last NameFirst Name_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
Film/video applicants may submit personally conceived works in the following categories only: Narrative, Animation, and Experimental.
Only noncommercial, non-instructional works over which the applicant has exclusive control and primary creative responsibility will be accepted.
No music videos will be considered.
Submit video samples of three individual works total 15 minutes (maximum) in length.
Work can be submitted online by providing a direct link to your downloadable video.
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.
Professionals: All works must have been completed in the last three years. No works in progress will be accepted.
Students: At least one of the works must have been completed in the last three years. No works in progress will be accepted
No legible names, credits, or signatures may appear on the individual on-screen works to ensure anonymity with the juror(s).
Guidelines
Time: Total work sample consists of a 15-minute (maximum) in length.
File Name:
Your Last NameFirst Name_VMFA_1
Your Last NameFirst Name_VMFA_2
and so on.
Videos must be downloadable. If you have password protected your submissions, please provide the password in your application.
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
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.
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.
Professionals: All works must have been completed in the last three years. No works in progress will be accepted.
Students: At least one of the works must have been completed in the last three years. No works in progress will be accepted.
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
A work sample consists of three research papers or published articles.
All papers or published articles must have been written in the past three years and in English.
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
File Format: Format papers as word (.doc or .docx) or (.pdf) files.
File name:
Your Last NameFirst Name_VMFA_1
Your Last NameFirst Name_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.
