Apply Now | NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship in Painting

Painters: 2018 is your year to apply for a $7,000 unrestricted cash grant!

For over 30 years, in partnership with New York State Council on the Arts, New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) has awarded Artist Fellowships of $7,000 to individual and collaborative originating artists living and working in New York State and/or Indian Nations located in New York State. The Fellowship program accepts submissions in 15 different disciplines, with five disciplines reviewed each year on a rotating three-year cycle. The 2018 categories include Interdisciplinary Work, Folk/Traditional Arts, Fiction, Painting, and Video/Film. 

NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowships are awarded to eligible artists of all career levels. These are not project grants; they are intended to fund an artist’s vision. In 2017, NYSCA/NYFA awarded 92 Fellowships to 95 awardees with 3 collaborations, totaling an amount of $644,000.

“Receiving a NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship has given me a lot of validation and a lot of weight when applying for grants and residencies. It is a huge honor to be a Fellow." – Roxa Smith (Fellow in Painting ’12)

The Painting category accepts work that involves painting of any kind upon any surface. However, artists who make engravings, etchings, lithographs, prints, serigraphs, woodcuts, and drawings should apply in the Printmaking + Drawing + Artists’ Books category that will be offered in 2020—not Painting.

Past NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellows in Painting include:

• Ida Applebroog (’86, ’90)
• Ross Bleckner (’85)
• Deborah Kass (’91)
• Sherrie Levine (’87)
• Marilyn Minter (’94, ’00)
• Faith Ringgold (’88)
• Kay Walkingstick (’92)

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

Application Materials

• Work Statement – 100 words
• Technical Statement – 200 words (optional)
• Cultural Statement – 400 words (optional)
• Work Samples – 10 digital images with descriptions

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 Painting, 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: Luis Cruz Azaceta (Fellow in Painting ’85)