Last updated: 12/17/19

Artist Fellowship Award

A pilot grant that invests in mid-career individual artists living and working in Boston.

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The City of Boston offers five fellowship awards, each worth $10,000, to Boston-based artists across all artistic disciplines.

Have questions about the award?

Check out our answers to frequently asked questions. You're question has probably been answered already.

617-635-4445

Arts@Boston.gov

Deadline

Applications are currently closed for the Artist Fellowship Award.

News and announcements

Second round of Artist Fellowship Award winners announced

Five local artists have been selected to receive the City of Boston’s second round of Artist Fellowship Awards.

Jun 25

Six recipients awarded $30,000 total through City of Boston Project Partnership Grants

Arts and Culture

Image for mfornabai act3mix towaterlily 2018 photocredit anne piessens 01b

Apr 29

Artist fellow Michelle Fornabai on what one artist can do for a City

Arts and Culture

Oct 17

City holds first-ever Artist Fellowship Awards ceremony

Arts and Culture

Jun 2

Boston Cultural Council Artist Fellowship Award to support individual artists

Arts and Culture

About the award

Picking artists across the City

We consider artists from a diverse range of backgrounds who live and work in different neighborhoods throughout the City.

What happens during a fellowship

If you receive the fellowship, you’ll be asked to work with the City on one public event showcasing your work during the year. The event will take place in the year after you receive the award. You'll also be asked to keep the City aware of any public displays or performances of your work. We want to help the public get to know your work during your year as an Artist Fellow.

The goals of our program include:

commending the work of artists living in Boston and investing in their future success
giving Boston-based artists the resources they need to dedicate their time to their work, and
elevating local artists in our City.

Eligibility for the award

Art disciplines

Individual artists may apply if they work professionally in an art discipline, including:

dance
music
theater
visual arts
literary arts
interdisciplinary or performance art, and
media arts.

We do allow applications submitted on behalf of an artist.

Boston residency

You must be a City of Boston resident. You also must have have lived in Boston for three years before you can apply. You need to maintain your Boston residency during the 12-month period of the fellowship.

Other requirements:

You must be at least 18 years old.
You must consider yourself a mid-career artist. You can read examples of what a mid-career artist might look like .
You can’t be enrolled in a degree program when applying for the Artist Fellowship Award. You also can’t be in a degree program during the 12-month period of the fellowship.
You must be able to show that you have at least three years of experience creating art through the application process.
If you already received the award, you can’t apply again.
You must have one public presentation of your work during the year of the fellowship.
You need to provide accurate documents when we ask for them.