Apply Now | NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship in Video/Film

New York State Artists: apply to receive $7,000 cash grants!

First launched in 1985, the program has provided over $30 million in unrestricted cash grants to artists in 15 disciplines at critical stages in their creative development. The 2018 categories include Interdisciplinary Work, Folk/Traditional Arts, Fiction, Painting, and Video/Film. 

Each awarded artist receives an unrestricted grant of $7,000 that can be used in any manner they deem necessary to further their careers. This is not a project grant and is intended to fund an artist’s vision or voice regardless of the level of their artistic development.

“It’s so exciting to open the letter and find out you’ve won a grant: no matter how big it is —and the NYFA grant is no small sum — it really feels like winning the lottery.” – Michelle Handelman (Fellow in Video ‘10)

The Video/Film category accepts work in video or any work in which video or video techniques are pivotal, if not exclusive. This category also accepts work that has been initially shot with a film camera. Filmed material that has been transferred to videocassette or computer for editing and processing is acceptable.

Past NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellows in Video/Film include:

• Doug Aitken (’00)
• Barbara Hammer (’88, ’97, ’98, ’01, ’92, ’12)
• Todd Haynes (’89)
• Nina Katchadourian (’04)
• Spike Lee (’85)
• Mira Nair (’88)
• Yvonne Rainer (’90, ’95)

Deadline: Wednesday, January 24, 2018, 11:59 PM (EST)

Application Materials

• Work Statement – 100 words (max)
• Excerpt Explanation – 400 words (max)
• Technical Statement – 200 words (max) (optional)
• Cultural Statement – 400 words (max) (optional)
• Work Samples – 1 to 2 full length videos and 2 excerpts

Eligibility Guidelines

• You must be 25 years old or older
• You must be a current resident of New York State and/or one of the Indian Nations located in New York State, and have been a resident for at least the last two consecutive years prior to the application deadline (2016 & 2017)
• At the time of the application deadline, you must not be enrolled in a degree-seeking program of any kind
• You must not have received a NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship in any disciplines in the last five years (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017), and cannot submit any artwork samples that have been previously awarded a NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship
• Fellowships are not awarded to interpretive artists such as dancers or actors; applicants must be the originators of the work; i.e. choreographers or playwrights
• Artists that have been awarded five NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowships receive Emeritus Status and are no longer eligible to apply
• You must not be a NYFA employee, member of the NYFA Board of Trustees or Artists’ Advisory Committee, an immediate family member of any of the above, or an immediate family member of a 2017-2018 panelist

Apply Now!

Visit Submittable to start your application.

For more information about the NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship, read the 2018 Application Overview, review the guidelines for Video/Film, and consult our Frequently Asked Questions page.

NYFA is pleased to announce that the name of this award has changed to NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship. NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowships are administered with leadership support from New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.

Image: Ivan Cortazar (Fellow in Video ’12), They Sleep Beneath the Water, video installation, 60"x 2 monitors, 2009