Center for Craft Announces Two New $20,000 Craft Research Fellowships for Mid-Career Artists

Artists seeking support to research their creative practice and create a new body of work now have two more opportunities for funding. The Center for Craft is excited to announce two $20,000 “Craft Research Fund Artist Fellowships” as the newest part of their longest-running grant program, the Craft Research Fund. These fellowships expand the definition of “research” and make funds available to mid-career artists for projects that would not otherwise be possible, culminating in an exhibition of new work at Center for Craft’s gallery in downtown Asheville, North Carolina and a presentation of their research at an upcoming symposium.

Center for Craft receives many inquiries from artists seeking funds to support their creative practice and research. Now, artists who fall outside of existing Craft Research Fund categories of Graduate, Project, and Exhibition grants have a complementary platform through which to seek funding. Mid-career artists, artisans, designers, makers, sculptors, and others who identify their practice within the field of craft are invited to submit proposals by October 1, 2019, through a process that combines both external nominations and self-nominations.

Opening two channels for nominations will ensure that applicants outside academic and traditional craft circles will be able to participate, widening the conversation around what research can look like – and who gets to conduct it. “Artists are actively expanding the definition of research,” said Cindi Strauss, a member of the Center for Craft’s Board of Directors and  Sara and Bill Morgan Curator of Decorative Arts, Craft, and Design at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. “And I am pleased to see the Center for Craft continuing to demonstrate their leadership by recognizing and supporting this new direction in craft practice.”

This new fellowship evolved out of a two-day meeting on July 26-27, 2018, when nine national leaders in the fields of art, craft, and philanthropy met at Center for Craft to discuss grantmaking strategies to increase the award’s impact on the field of craft. The group contextualized and discussed definitions of “practice-based research” and considered comparative models for funding arts research and mid-career grants before finally making recommendations for the new grant program.

Award Amount:
$20,000

Grant Period:
18 months

Timeline
Applications Open: Jun 2019

Deadline: Oct 1, 2019

Notification: Dec 2019

Fellowship Period Begins: Jan 2020

Fellowship Period Ends: June 2021

Exhibition Period: Jun–Aug 2021

Symposium Presentation: July 2021

Final Report: Aug 2021

For more information, visit their website.