10 Visual Arts Fellowships for Emerging and Established Artists

Visual arts fellowships that support your creative career with funding, residencies, and opportunities to grow and share your work.Whether you’re an early-career artist seeking your first residency or an established creative looking to deepen your practice, visual arts fellowships can offer transformative opportunities. From generous project funding and studio time to cross-disciplinary residencies in inspiring settings, these programs support artists at key moments in their careers. This curated list highlights 10 competitive fellowships that provide time, space, funding, and community to help visual artists thrive. Explore the details below and bookmark your favorites to your ProFellow account to prepare for future applications!

MacColl Johnson Fellowships

The MacColl Johnson Fellowship, established by the Rhode Island Foundation and managed by Artist Communities Alliance, awards three $30,000 fellowships annually to emerging and mid-career visual artists based in Rhode Island. In addition to the main awards, three finalists receive a $3,000 stipend and a 2-4 week residency. The fellowship supports artists across a wide range of visual disciplines, with an emphasis on recent work created within the past five years. Designed to advance artistic careers without favoring established artists, the program offers substantial financial support, professional recognition, and opportunities for creative growth.

Creative Capital Awards

The Creative Capital Award offers unrestricted project grants and career support to boundary-pushing artists working in visual arts, film, literature, performing arts, and multidisciplinary practices. Selected through a national open call, awardees receive funding and professional development to bring ambitious new work to life. Creative Capital has supported more than 1,000 artists, many of whom have gone on to receive Guggenheim, MacArthur, and Pulitzer honors. Applicants are also considered for the State of the Art Prize, which awards one artist from each U.S. state or territory. Both are one-time awards that emphasize innovation, impact, and community building.

Martin House Creative Residency Program

The Martin House Creative Residency Program offers artists and researchers a project-based residency in Buffalo, New York, at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Martin House estate. Participants receive a $5,000 stipend, travel reimbursement (up to $1,000 for non-local residents), and housing at the historic Gardener’s Cottage. Residencies span 2 to 4 weeks, providing time and space to develop new work inspired by the Martin House’s architecture and legacy. Open to applicants from diverse disciplines and backgrounds, the program includes access to archives and collections and requires a public presentation of the work created.

Good Hart Artist Residency Program

The Good Hart Artist Residency offers 10 to 21-day stays for visual artists, writers, and composers at any career stage, providing a private, furnished residence, a detached studio, a $500 stipend, basic kitchen staples, and some home-cooked meals. Located near Lake Michigan in scenic Northern Michigan, the program emphasizes solitude, creativity, and community engagement. Residents collaborate with a local nonprofit and present work through public events like Open Studio Saturdays or the Harbor Springs Festival of the Book. The studio is available May through October, and artists inspired by nature and committed to environmentally friendly practices are especially encouraged to apply.

Walter Feldman Fellowship for Emerging Artists

The Walter Feldman Fellowship for Emerging Artists supports early-career visual artists through professional development, curatorial guidance, and opportunities for showcasing their work. The fellowship helps artists strengthen their exhibition practices and business skills for promoting their art. Fellows receive mentorship and are encouraged to experiment and grow their creative practices. Established by abstract expressionist Walter Feldman, the fellowship reflects his legacy of supporting young artists in gaining meaningful recognition and career momentum.

Guggenheim Fellowship for Creative Arts: U.S. & Canada

Often characterized as “midcareer” awards, Guggenheim Fellowships are intended for men and women who have already demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts. Guggenheim Fellowships are grants to selected individuals for 6-12 months. No special conditions attach to them, and Fellows may spend their grant funds in any manner they deem necessary to their work. Open to citizens and permanent residents of the United States and Canada.

American Academy in Rome Prize

For over a century, the American Academy in Rome has awarded the Rome Prize to support innovative and cross-disciplinary work in the arts and humanities. Prize recipients are invited to Rome, Italy, for five months or eleven months to immerse themselves in the Academy community. Each Rome Prize winner is provided with a stipend, meals, a bedroom with a private bath, and a study or studio. Those with children under 18 live in partially subsidized apartments nearby. Winners of half-term and full-term fellowships receive stipends of $16,000 and $30,000, respectively.

New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) Fellowship

Artists’ Fellowships are $8,000 cash awards made to individual originating artists living and working in the state of New York for unrestricted use. Grants are awarded in 15 artistic disciplines, with applications accepted in five categories each year. To be eligible for a NYFA Fellowship, applicants must be residents of New York State for at least two years before the application deadline and cannot be enrolled in a degree program of any kind.

AAF Prize for Fine Arts

Each year, the AAF/Seebacher Prize for Fine Arts offers U.S.-based fine arts graduate students, or those who have completed their graduate studies within the past 2 years, the opportunity to study at the International Summer Academy of Fine Arts Salzburg in Austria. Up to 5 Fine Arts Fellows are selected annually by a jury of artists and arts professionals. Fellows are invited to attend a specific course at the Summer Academy and participate in daily classes for 2-5 weeks. The fellowship covers tuition to one Summer Academy course, $1,500 for travel expenses, accommodation, and a small stipend.

Kresge Artist Fellowship

Kresge Arts in Detroit provides significant financial support for Kresge Artist Fellowships annually, each consisting of a $50,000 award and professional development opportunities for emerging and established metropolitan Detroit artists in the dance, music, film, theatre, literary arts, and visual arts. The Kresge Artist Fellowships are given to artists whose commitment to artistic achievement, in contemporary or traditional forms, is evident in the quality of their work. Fellowship applications are accepted from artists who are current legal residents of the metropolitan Detroit tri-county area in Michigan.

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