About Artistic Research Fellowships
Folger Institute Artistic Research Fellowships are open to all artists whose work would benefit from significant primary research related to the histories, concepts, art, and objects of the early modern world (ca. 1400-1800) and its legacies. Artistic applicants are not required to hold a formal degree, but should describe their training and level of industry-specific experience in their CV.
For more information
Leah Thomas
Public Humanities Program Manager
lthomas@folger.edu
Artistic applicants may apply for one, two, or three months of research support and have the option to take their fellowships fully onsite, fully virtual, or a combination of the two. Fellowship awards are $4,000 per virtual month and $5,000 per onsite month, and may be taken any time between July 1, 2025, and June 30, 2026. Applicants may propose the research schedule that best fits their project’s needs. A final art deliverable is not required upon conclusion of the fellowship residency. However, we do require all fellows to complete an evaluation survey to help us continue to improve our program.
Please note that while fellowships taken onsite at the Folger provide access to and time with our collection, they do not include studio space. Artists who need studio space while in residence will be expected to arrange their own.
Frequently Asked Questions
Current Artistic Research Fellows
Learn More about the Fellowships Program
Virtual and Hybrid Fellowships
The option to take an artistic fellowship as fully or partially virtual was designed for individuals who cannot, for a variety of reasons, travel or commit to an extended residential research period, but whose projects will be significantly advanced by the funding of access to primary sources online, dedicated time to work, and the validations of a fellowship award. By alleviating financial, professional, and personal barriers to fellowship participation, full and hybrid virtual opportunities provide greater access to research fellowships while simultaneously allowing artists to take advantage of the increasing multitude of digital resources accessible to them at home.
We also recognize that, in addition to working with archival materials, time to think, experiment, work in a home studio, and create are all equally important aspects of artistic research. As such, our virtual fellowships allow researchers to “buy time,” or use their fellowship funds to offset personal and professional expenses such as caregiving and supplementary employment. In their applications, artists must make their own best cases for how they will utilize the onsite and/or virtual portions of their fellowship.
“Research is an innate part of how I develop the work that I’m creating. It’s how I seek inspiration, and it comes in many forms. I did my research fellowship with the Folger as a virtual fellow, which worked perfectly for me. I can access the content that I’m making work about at home, where all the work that I create happens.”
Alexander D'Agostino
Alexander D’Agostino is an interdisciplinary artist based in Baltimore, Maryland.
“I was able to bring my lighting equipment and my tripod. The staff was hugely accommodating of me to find a good quiet spot, a room that was mine. I felt incredibly well taken care of and very appreciated for looking at these materials and using them in different ways.”
Mindy Stricke
Mindy Stricke is an interdisciplinary artist mapping a new geography of authenticity and belonging.
Resources and Benefits
- Research using the Folger’s vast collections, including rare materials, visual art, theatre history, and secondary publications
- Online resources such as the Folger’s Digital Image Collection, which contains thousands of open-access and out of copyright files
- Consultation with Researcher Services, onsite or virtually
- Remote access to undigitized rare materials via the Virtual Reading Room
- Opportunities to network with Folger Theatre, Consort, Poetry, and public engagement professionals, as well as with Folger curators, librarians, and conservators
- Discounted ticket to Folger Theatre, Poetry, and Consort performances while in residence
- Participation in scholarly and community-building programs with other Folger Fellows
- Personal “digital portfolio” page on folgerpedia to document and share your project
- Exposure on the Folger website, social media, blogs, and newsletters
- J1 Visa sponsorship, if needed
Past Artist Fellows
Folger Artist Fellows represent a wide range of genres, media, and practices. Visual, Performance, Installation, and Sonic artists have all found their place within our fellowship community, along with writers (fiction, non-fiction, and journalism), filmmakers, poets, community engagers, chefs, and theatre-makers.
The Folger Institute hopes to continue expanding the types of creative projects we support each year. Furthermore, the Institute is committed to supporting work across artistic fields that address inequities or marginalized subjects, and that point to richer and more inclusive histories. However, to provide some context, here are generalized examples of past artistic fellowship projects we have funded:
“I loved the resources the Folger offered. Oftentimes I found myself going down obscure rabbit holes of information and the staff indulged all my many questions! The Folger is truly a place where my inner toddler could ask all of her “Why, why, why” questions and get them answered!”
Camille Simone Thomas
Camille Simone Thomas is a 5th generation Detroiter through her father’s side and a first generation Jamaican through her mothers. It’s important for her to name this because her work most often interrogates cultural legacies, familial healing, spirituality + ancestral wisdom, and the general kicking and screaming of how Black folks get free despite the oppressive forces of colonialism, capitalism, and white supremacy. Her plays have been workshopped and performed at The Connelly Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop, Playwrights Horizons, Sanguine Theatre Company, Blackboard Playwriting series, Lime Arts Theatre company, American Slavery Project, The Obie Award-winning Harlem9 and Detroit Public Theatre Company, Dixon Place, Workshop Theatre, Barter Theatre Company, The National Women’s Theatre Festival, The Brick, and more!
- A visual artist requests funding to produce a series of paintings that explore mental illness, body image, and eating disorders from early modern Europe to today.
- A digital humanities artist requests funding to research and create an online game exploring the colonization of the Philippines.
- A playwright requests funding to complete the development and staging of a play by incarcerated artists.
- A journalist requests funding to research how the early modern food traditions of Florence, Italy, persist in recipes and culture today.
- A novelist requests funding to re-imagine characters from history and Shakespeare in a work of speculative fiction.
- An interdisciplinary artist requests funding to use a Folger digitized manuscript for creative work, including innovative printing techniques and performance art pieces.
Drinking with Shakespeare: Early Modern Tavern Tokens
Artistic Fellow Leah Hampton showcases the Folger’s collection of Early Modern bar tokens
There's the Short and the Long 'ſ/f'
Artistic Fellow Krysten Fikes explores the long ‘s’ in the context of her project on Black American Ebonics and Elizabethan English.
Information Regarding Housing and COVID Policies
Artist fellows may elect to live in Folger housing or in off-site housing. Fellowship awards are intended to cover travel, housing, and living expenses associated with the fellowship.
Residential fellows are expected to inform themselves about, and follow, the most up-to-date public health guidelines in both their place of origin and Washington, DC.
Please see the Folger’s COVID-19 Safety Protocols for more information. Please note that the COVID-19 policies may shift as the pandemic continues to evolve. Please check back prior to travelling to the Folger for the most recent information. Qualifying COVID-19 vaccinations, as well as details on exceptions and on applying for humanitarian waivers to this requirement, can be found on the CDC website.
Application Instructions
The application portal for Artistic Research Fellowships is now open. All applications must be completed and submitted through our online portal.
Please be sure to review the Fellowships FAQs page before applying. To evaluate applications each year, the Fellowships Program assembles an external committee of respected artists, aiming for disciplinary, methodological, and geographical diversity. Committee membership changes annually.
To apply for a 2025–2026 Artistic Research Fellowship, please submit the following:
1. 250-word abstract of your project.
2. 1,500-word description of the project you propose to work on while in residence at the Folger. Please emphasize your proposed topic’s impact, its relevance to the field, the originality and sophistication of your approach, and the feasibility of your research goals. Your proposal should also address at least a preliminary plan for dissemination upon the project’s completion. Please be sure to indicate how many months of research you are applying for (1, 2, or 3 months), why that is an appropriate length of time, and how you will utilize each month (virtually and/or on site).
3. Two-page CV.
4. One-page list of relevant Folger primary sources, rare materials, secondary publications, digital assets, and/or other resources you wish to consult during your fellowship.
5. One letter of recommendation. You will identify your recommender in the online application portal and will be given guidance on how to upload their letter. Anyone is eligible to act as a recommender: artists, scholars, teachers, colleagues. We recognize that, due to continuing contractions in the humanities, we are all under unique and significant pressures. Letters of recommendation are very helpful to interdisciplinary selection committees as they work to understand how a project fits within its field. Applications may be disadvantaged, but they are not rendered ineligible or formally penalized if they are missing a letter of recommendation.
6. If you feel that portfolio materials or a link to an online portfolio will help the selection committee to better understand your application, please upload them as one file through the application portal or provide a link to your online portfolio in your proposal. DO NOT upload portfolio materials that are unrelated to your proposed fellowship project. Providing portfolio materials is optional.
It is helpful to start your online application early. You can revise your application at any point in the process right up to the deadline. You must hit the “submit” button for your application to be completed.