1. No category

2015 Artists’ Fellowships
Guidelines
Please read the following guidelines carefully as
there have been some changes to the program.
Now in its 43rd year, the New York
Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) gives more money
and support to individual living artists of all
disciplines than any other organization in the
country: a total of nearly $7 million in grants and
services annually. NYFA serves individual artists
through financial and informational assistance, and
promotes their freedom to develop and create.
For the past 29 years, the New York
Foundation for the Arts has awarded
Artists' Fellowships of $7,000 to individual
originating artists living in New York State and/or
Indian Nations located in New York State. NYFA is
committed to supporting artists from diverse
cultural backgrounds at all stages of their
professional careers. In 2014, NYFA awarded 90
Fellowships to 93 artists, there were 3
collaborations.
Artists' Fellowships are $7,000 cash awards made
to individual originating artists living and working in
the state of New York for unrestricted use. Artists’
Fellowships are not project grants but are intended
to fund an artist’s vision or voice, regardless of the
level of his or her artistic development.
3.
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 2014-2015
panelist.
DEADLINE & CATEGORIES
APPLICATION DEADLINES:
February 26, 2015 at 11:59 p.m.
Fiction
Folk/Traditional Arts
Interdisciplinary Work
February 27, 2015 at 11:59 p.m.
Painting
Video/Film
These are firm deadlines: no exceptions will be made. We
recommend completing your application in advance of the
deadline to avoid potential technical problems.
2015 Categories:
Fiction
Folk/Traditional Arts
Interdisciplinary Work
Painting
Video/Film
Who may apply?
1.
2.
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 for at least the two consecutive
years prior to the application deadline, which is
February 26 or February 27 depending upon
your discipline.
Who may not apply?
1.
2.
A graduate or undergraduate student enrolled in
any degree program at the time of the
application deadline, depending upon your
discipline.
A past recipient of a NYFA Fellowship award in
the last five years: 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 or
2014.
[Page 1] Artists’ Fellowships 2015
Questions may be sent to [email protected]
Category descriptions are available at www.nyfa.org
Additional categories will be reviewed according to the
following schedule:
2016
Architecture/Environmental Structures/Design
Choreography
Music/Sound
Photography
Playwriting/Screenwriting
2017
Crafts/Sculpture
Printmaking/Drawing/Book Arts
Nonfiction Literature
Poetry
Digital/Electronic Arts
NYFA’s Artists’ Fellowships are
administered with leadership
support from the New York State Council
on the Arts, a state agency.
Please print a hardcopy or save a version of your
application for your records.
HOW TO APPLY - OVERVIEW
1. Create a new application online.
All applications are submitted through an online account.
Applicants must create a new online account, including a
new login and password, even if you have applied before
in previous years. To create an account and complete an
online application, go to nyfa.cuerate.org and click on
“create a new account.” You will be able to return to edit
your application(s) as needed before submitting.
2. Begin your online application.
Select your category or categories. You may apply in up to
two categories per year, but you may only receive funding
in one. Submit separate support materials and
applications for each category.
List any collaborators. Collaborating artists should apply
together with one application. A collaboration is defined
as up to three artists who can clearly demonstrate an
ongoing collaborative career. Collaborators only need to
establish one online account, wherein each artist will
provide his/her biographical information. However, only
one set of statements and work sample(s) is required for
the collective application. Should a collaborative
application receive an award, the grant will be divided
evenly between the collaborating artists. All individual
applicants must clearly state their roles and must meet
eligibility requirements.
Fill out your online application. You must fill out your
Applicant Information, Work Statement, any
Technical/Excerpt/Cultural Statements, Résumé and Work
Sample Inventory. Continue reading for details about each
portion of the application.
3. Upload or provide links to your WORK SAMPLES
(images, video or manuscript)
Work samples are a representation of your recent artistic
work within the last five years. Digital images and
manuscripts are submitted through the online application.
Video must be submitted as a link to the piece on
Vimeo.com.
Please see page 4 for formatting requirements.
NOTE: Once you have submitted your application,
you will no longer be able to make changes, so be
sure you have reviewed everything carefully before
submitting.
[Page 2] Artists’ Fellowships 2015
Questions may be sent to [email protected]
CATEGORIES
Fiction
This category accepts work in all varieties and genres of
prose fiction, including novels, short stories, and
experimental forms. Work in graphic or “comic book”
fiction is also accepted in this category. You
may include as many different short stories or novel
excerpts as you wish within the 20-page limit, but
overly brief fragments should be avoided.
Excerpt Explanation:
You may provide an excerpt explanation if applicable. This
statement explains how the work sample relates to the
larger work.
Work Sample:
Applicants should submit a PDF of a 20-page double
spaced manuscript.
Fiction Applicants must submit the following:

Work Statement – 200 words

Excerpt Explanation – 400 words (Optional)

Résumé/Narrative Bio – 700 words

Work Sample Inventory – 20-page manuscript
Folk/Traditional Art
This category accepts work of traditional folk art and
creative and cultural expressions of contemporary selftaught artists: work that is traditionally practiced within
and among ethnic, regional, occupational, and religious
groups as well as other kinds of communities with a
common identity, including performing traditions in music,
dance, and drama; traditional storytelling and other verbal
arts; festivals; traditional crafts, visual arts, architecture,
the adornment and transformation of the built
environment, and other kinds of material folk culture. This
category does not include work involving choreography,
theatricalization, or stylization that significantly alters
traditions.
Cultural Statement:
Applicants must provide a Cultural Statement up to 700
words describing how your work is rooted in a specific
technique and/or cultural tradition. In addition, please
answer the following questions: Where, how, when and
from whom did you learn this traditional art form? How
long have you been involved in this art form? Please also
include information about your cultural community,
defined below:
NYFA’s Artists’ Fellowships are
administered with leadership
support from the New York State Council
on the Arts, a state agency.
Cultural community:
A group sharing cultural, regional, ethnic, racial, religious,
gender, age and/or occupational bonds. Such groups share
customs, heritage, and artistic expressions, which include
the traditional arts.
Folk/Traditional Arts Applicants must submit the
following:

Work Statement – 200 words

Cultural Statement – 700 words

Résumé/Narrative Bio – 700 words

Work Sample Inventory/Descriptions - Up to 8
digital images, and/or links to 1 to 2 videos and 2
to 4 excerpts
Interdisciplinary Work
This category accepts submissions from artists combining
or crossing disciplines, either within a single piece or
throughout a body of work. This work may draw on
traditions from the visual arts, especially those with a
performative, political and/or social aspect. Examples
include, but are not limited to: participatory installations
or environments, live art, and public art. Theater, dance,
or visual art that employs traditional methods of
exploration are not appropriate for this category. You may
not submit manuscripts. Live performances cannot be
attended.
Technical Statement:
Applicants must provide a brief Technical Statement
describing the relationship of support materials to the
work (i.e. is your work sample(s) the work itself or a
documentation of the work?), the circumstances in which
the viewer/audience should experience the work, and
your role in the creation/execution of the piece. Also,
please include instructions on how to navigate your work
sample if your work is interactive
Interdisciplinary Applicants must submit the following:

Work Statement – 200 words

Technical Statement – 400 words

Résumé/Narrative Bio – 700 words

Work Sample Inventory – Up to 8 digital images,
and/or links to 1 to 2 videos and 2 to 4 excerpts
Painting
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 are encouraged to apply in the
Printmaking/Drawing/Book Arts category in 2017 and
should not apply in Painting.
Painting Applicants must submit the following:

Work Statement – 200 words

Cultural Statement – 400 words (Optional)
[Page 3] Artists’ Fellowships 2015
Questions may be sent to [email protected]



Technical Statement – 400 words (Optional)
Résumé/Narrative Bio – 700 words
Work Sample Inventory – Up to 8 digital images
with descriptions
Video/Film
This 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.
Excerpt Explanation:
You may provide an excerpt explanation if applicable. This
statement explains how the work sample relates to the
larger work.
Video/Film Applicants must submit the following:

Work Statement – 200 words

Excerpt Explanation – 400 words (Optional)

Technical Statement – 400 words (Optional)

Résumé/Narrative Bio – 700 words

Work Sample Inventory – links to 1 to 2 videos
and 2 to 4 excerpts
APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS
STATEMENTS
Work Statement: A 200-word statement directly related
to the work sample submitted. Explain your clear artistic
vision to the panel as it is exemplified in your work
samples. Work statements will be available for panelists to
read in later rounds as they view your work sample.
Excerpt Explanation: A 400 word supplemental statement
to further orient the panel to the context, concept, and
execution of work sample(s). Statements will be available
for panelists as they view your work sample.
Cultural Statement: A 400 word (or in Folk/Traditional
Arts, 700 word) supplemental statement describing how
your work is rooted in a specific technique and/or cultural
tradition.
Technical Statement: A 400 word supplemental statement
(required in Interdisciplinary) describing the relationship of
support materials to the work (i.e. is your work sample(s)
the work itself or a documentation of the work?), the
circumstances in which the viewer/audience should
experience the work, and your role in the
creation/execution of the piece. Also, please include
NYFA’s Artists’ Fellowships are
administered with leadership
support from the New York State Council
on the Arts, a state agency.
instructions on how to navigate your work sample if your
work is interactive
image; panelists will have access to this information as
well.
Résumé/Narrative Bio: A 700-word resume that details
your artistic career as it relates to the discipline in which
you have applied. You may choose CV (list) or bio
(paragraph) format. Résumés are available for panelists to
reference in later rounds as a way for them to
contextualize the work. An artist’s career point,
publication, or exhibition history is not a determining
factor in this award.
Manuscripts
Please upload a PDF that includes:

A title page with your name, title of your work(s), and
year of the work’s completion.

Work Statement (the same Work Statement that you
are submitting in the online application)

Any other optional additional statements including
the Excerpt Explanation

Up to 20 pages double-spaced for Fiction which best
represents your work within the past five years. If you
are excerpting a larger work, you are strongly advised
to include substantial portions, rather than small
fragments.
Work Sample Inventory/Image Descriptions: Please
provide information regarding your work sample (i.e., title,
date). Note that for categories accepting digital images
you have the option to provide a specific description about
each image, and/or whether it is a detail or installation
view. Keep in mind the panel views a large volume of
material in quick succession; therefore, it is very important
that you document your work clearly.
NOTE: Once you have submitted your application,
you will no longer be able to make changes, so be
sure you have reviewed everything carefully before
submitting.
Do not include publication and/or production information
anywhere on your manuscript. Do not include your artistic
résumé in your PDF. Scanned excerpts from books or
periodicals, in published form, will not be accepted.
Manuscripts must be in English, but can be translated into
English by someone other than the artist.
Video/Sound
Please print a hardcopy or save a version of your
application for your records.
Video and sound work samples must be uploaded to
Vimeo.com.
FORMATTING OF WORK SAMPLES

Digital Images
Please upload up to 8 digital images using the following
specifications:

File name: Images numbered in the order you would like
them to be seen and labeled with your last name.
Example- “Smith01.jpg, Smith02.jpg, Smith03.jpg”
Dimensions: 1,240 pixels x 1,240 pixels (maximum)
Resolution: 72 dpi (low resolution)
File size: No larger than 4.0 MB (each image)
File format: .JPG
Upload your images directly to your application. Do
NOT send discs containing image files. No composite
images will be reviewed. A composite image is a single
image file that is comprised of multiple images. Images of
diptychs, installations, and multi-part works are not
considered composites and are permissible. Images will be
shown in the order they are uploaded, four at a time and
will appear as you see them in image preview on the
application. Images are viewed on widescreen laptops,
and projected at roughly 30" x 40" per image via highdefinition digital projectors. Moderators will read aloud
the materials, dimensions, and date of the first and fifth
[Page 4] Artists’ Fellowships 2015
Questions may be sent to [email protected]
If you are submitting one Work Sample Video, please
submit the full-length piece, and up to two 2 to 4
minute excerpts.
If you are submitting two Work Sample Videos, please
submit both full-length pieces, and one 2 to 4 minute
excerpt from each.
The panel will view 2 to 4 minutes of your work sample in
the initial review round. Should you advance to a later
round, it is likely that the panel will watch or listen to more
of your submission.
The links you provide for the panel to review must be for
the individual work sample or excerpt only, and not to
your Vimeo page containing multiple videos.
If you don’t want your videos to be publicly accessible, you
will need to make them “private” on Vimeo. If you choose
to make your video(s) private, you MUST indicate the
password in your online application. You MUST use the
same password for all videos submitted.
Vimeo upload limits are as follows:



500MB per week for a Basic (free) Account
5GB per week for a Plus Account
20Gb per week for a Pro Account
NYFA’s Artists’ Fellowships are
administered with leadership
support from the New York State Council
on the Arts, a state agency.
Sound works will need to be converted to video for
uploading. The recommended software is Handbrake,
available as a free downloads.
For help with Vimeo, visit the Help Center and read the
section on uploading:
http://vimeo.com/help/faq/uploading
When uploading videos, the conversion process may take
several hours. We strongly suggest that you upload and
test your videos well in advance of the application
deadline.
NOTE: Once you have submitted your application,
you will no longer be able to make changes, so be
sure you have reviewed everything carefully before
submitting.
Please print a hardcopy or save a version of your
application for your records.
FAQ
What is a Fellowship?
Artists' Fellowships are $7,000 cash awards made to
individual originating artists living and working in the state
of New York for unrestricted use. Artists’ Fellowships are
not project grants but are intended to fund an artist’s
vision or voice, regardless of the level of his or her artistic
development.
NYFA is committed to supporting New York State artists of
diverse cultural, sexual, and ethnic backgrounds. NYFA
does not discriminate based on age, gender, ethnicity,
sexuality, or ability/disability of artists, and welcomes
work whose content reflects the lived experiences of the
applicants.
How are Fellows selected?
Artists' Fellowships are chosen based on the single
criterion of work that demonstrates a compelling vision as
defined by the assembled panel's collective opinion.
Materials are reviewed and voted on by the panelists in
elimination rounds which produce a smaller pool for each
round. An artist's advancement is a product of the
collective vote of the panel. A single panelist cannot
ensure an applicant's success or failure. Panel proceedings
are reviewed by the Artists' Advisory Committee and by
NYFA's Board of Trustees. Neither the Committee nor the
Board reviews the work of applicants or makes any
aesthetic judgments. Panelists' names are kept
confidential until the awards are announced. Artists are
awarded Fellowships at all career levels.
How is work reviewed?
[Page 5] Artists’ Fellowships 2015
Questions may be sent to [email protected]
For all categories, an applicant’s statements are available
for panelists to read as they review support materials. In
visual arts, an artist's digital images are projected four at a
time, horizontally, in the order uploaded by the applicant.
Moderators will read aloud the materials, dimensions, and
date of the first and fifth images to the panel. In categories
accepting video, panelists review up to a total of two to
four minutes of an applicant's work samples, and may scan
through the samples in later rounds. In the literature
categories, manuscripts are reviewed by five readers
across the state before assembling at NYFA for the final
decision. NOTE: This review is not anonymous. Applicants'
names are known by the panelists in all categories.
How are panels assembled?
Recommendations for potential panelists come from many
sources, including: the NYFA Advisory Committee, arts and
cultural organizations around New York State and Native
American Nations located in New York State, and
suggestions from practicing artists. All potential panelists
must be practicing artists and must receive three
recommendations from their field. The Artists' Advisory
Committee then approves final choices that reflect
considerations of genre, age, ethnicity, and geography
within New York State and Indian Nations located therein.
Panels are held separately with different panelists for each
category. Applicants may participate in this process by
suggesting themselves or others as panel candidates on
the application. NOTE: Panelists change each year.
When are the fellowships announced?
All applicants will be notified of final decisions in Fall of
2015. The names of all Fellows and the panelists who
selected them will be listed online at www.nyfa.org.
If I receive an award, what must I do?
Fellows must first verify their New York State residency or
residency in a Native American Nation within New York
State. Once a recipient has received notification of their
award, they are required to submit documentation
verifying their residency for the years 2013 and 2014.
Acceptable documents include tax forms, phone bills,
utility bills, bank statements, driver’s license, etc.
Grants are given in one payment of $7,000 upon verification
of residency. Each Fellow must submit a final report on the
Fellowship year. Most recent tax laws state that
Fellowships are taxable income; therefore, you should
consult your tax advisor.
Questions may be sent to: [email protected]
ARTISTS ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Christopher Kurtz (Crafts/Sculpture)
Michael Ferris Jr. (Crafts/Sculpture)
Danielle Abrams (Interdisciplinary Work)
NYFA’s Artists’ Fellowships are
administered with leadership
support from the New York State Council
on the Arts, a state agency.
Nicholas Fernandez (Music/Sound)
Bora Yoon (Music/Sound)
Sarah Dohrmann (Non-Fiction Literature)
Kevin Cook (Painting)
Lori Nix (Photography)
Willie Perdomo (Poetry )
Andrea Dezsö (Printmaking/Drawing/Book Arts)
Fay Ku (Printmaking/Drawing/Book Arts)
Gabriel Barcia-Colombo (Video/Film)
Trustee Liaison to the Advisory Committee:
Judith Brodsky
The NYFA Advisory Committee, appointed by
NYFA's Board of Trustees, is an ethnically and
geographically diverse group of professional New York
State artists who represent all the disciplines in
which Fellowships are awarded. The Advisory Committee
determines policy and procedures for Artists' Fellowships
but does not make decisions on individual applicants. The
above list represents the Committee roster in 2014-15,
and is subject to change in the 2015-16 cycle.
NYFA’s Artists’ Fellowships are
administered with leadership
support from the New York State
Council on the Arts, a state agency.
[Page 6] Artists’ Fellowships 2015
Questions may be sent to [email protected]
NYFA’s Artists’ Fellowships are
administered with leadership
support from the New York State Council
on the Arts, a state agency.