Letter of Enquiry and Artist's Biography
Expected date16 January 2023
The ArtsLink International Fellowships programme gives priority to applicants whose social practices seek to actively engage communities in issues related to the current climate emergency and human rights. We will actively encourage artists and arts leaders whose work is making a vital contribution to promoting people's awareness, understanding and active participation in environmental and/or social justice issues. Additionally, we will prioritise artists recently displaced or still working in Afghanistan and Ukraine.

Please read these guidelines carefully.

How to apply
Applying for the full scholarship programme is a three-part process.

Expected date: 16th January 2023
Letter of Enquiry and Artist's Biography
A letter of enquiry is a brief (400 word) presentation of your interest in the Fellowship programme, including the impact you see it having on your practice. Consider the question, "Why would you like to participate in the programme now?". The LOI is used by CEC ArtsLink and external readers to determine whether or not to invite a full application. Those invited to submit a full application will be notified by 4 February 2023.

Deadline: 25th February 2023
Complete application
Submit a full application using our online system. We will send you a link if you are invited to submit a full application.

March 2023
Online interviews
Finalists will be notified by 5 March 2023, followed by online interviews during March, with Fellows receiving notification by 30 March 2023.

It should be noted that an invitation to a formal proposal does not guarantee acceptance onto the programme.

Eligibility

CEC ArtsLink welcomes applications from contemporary artists, curators and arts leaders whose work is shaped by community engagement strategies and social practices, and informed by our most pressing local and global issues. We welcome applications from artists of any generation and invite those with traditional and non-traditional artistic backgrounds. Applicants must be citizens of one of the countries in our network. If you live outside the region, please indicate where you are currently based. Please note that the ability to communicate both verbally and in writing in English will be essential for success in the programme.

Undergraduate students and research academics are not eligible. Artistic leaders/curators must be affiliated with an arts organisation in the non-commercial sector or work as independent individual arts professionals. Artists seeking placements with commercial companies are ineligible. ArtsLink International Fellows from previous years are not eligible to reapply.

Review criteria

All ArtsLink Fellowship applications will be assessed by an independent review panel made up of arts professionals, based on the following criteria:

• Artistic or professional rigour of the candidate's work
• Demonstrated experience and active commitment to community involvement and dialogue
• Potential for the candidate to interact with the host communities in the practice or development of their work
• Benefit for the candidate, at this point in their career, from interaction with American artists, artistic institutions and the US host community
• Applicant's plans to share the benefits of the exchange with artists and institutions in their home country
• The candidate's ability to successfully face cross-cultural challenges
• Preference will be given to candidates for whom this will be a first-time opportunity for in-depth research/creative work in the USA.
• The programme gives priority to candidates whose practices seek to actively involve communities in issues related to the current climate emergency and human rights.

Timetable

Phase 1: ONLINE
The fellows lead a 6-week online research and networking residency facilitated by their American host institution in March-April.

Phase 2: IN PERSON
Fellows travel in early October to mid-November for six-week residencies with their American host organisation to continue face-to-face research or develop a specific project in partnership with local collaborators. In mid-November, all Fellows travel to New York (or other appropriate US cities) to share their practices, experiences and to network with Fellows, CEC ArtsLink staff and other colleagues.

Phase 3 (Optional): PROJECT
The fellows expand their collaboration with North American organisation(s) and individual artist(s) with a follow-up project in their home country, with CEC ArtsLink as a co-producing partner.

Placement process

Candidates selected by the review panel are matched by CEC ArtsLink staff with arts organisations across the US that can provide a research residency experience appropriate to each candidate's skills and professional goals. The applicant's professional interests and contacts are carefully evaluated to ensure the best available opportunity for each ArtsLink Fellow. While we take geographical and organisational preferences into consideration, Fellows should be prepared to fulfil their fellowship in any of the fifty US states and territories. In order to provide each group of Fellows with exposure to the geographic and cultural diversity of the US, we seek as wide a range of host locations as possible.

Finance

The ArtsLink International Fellowships programme offers an initial honorarium to Fellows and American hosts to cover the research residency and subsequent project support in the US, to cover visas and travel, food and accommodation, health insurance, and up to 50% of production costs.

Report

At the conclusion of the scholarship, each Fellow must submit a feedback form that discusses the experience, research and activities of the project and its impact on their professional development.

Apply here.