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The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Fellowship Program is a vital source of funding for the visual arts and art history in Virginia. VMFA is committed to supporting professional artists as well as art and art history students who demonstrate exceptional creative ability in their chosen discipline and, as such, has awarded more than $6.5 million in Fellowships to Virginians.

Fellowship Disciplines

Fellowship applicants may submit work for the following disciplines. Applicants should select the discipline that most closely corresponds to the body of work they are submitting.

Submissions are not judged within these disciplines, but instead within eligibility categories (Professional, Graduate, Undergraduate) across all disciplines.

• Crafts

• Drawing

• Film/Video

• Mixed Media

• New/Emerging Media

• Painting

• Photography

• Printmaking

• Sculpture

• Art History (Graduate Students Only)

OPEN CALL

Curators in Flux

Founding Edition

A 6-Week Hybrid Curatorial Laboratory

Berlin, Germany | February-March 2027

Applications are now open.

Curators in Flux is a six-week hybrid professional development programme designed for emerging curators who wish to expand their curatorial practice through research, critical dialogue, mentorship, and direct engagement with Berlin's contemporary art ecosystem.

Bringing together a small international cohort of 4–6 curators, the programme combines four weeks of online learning with two immersive weeks in Berlin, culminating in a collective public exhibition.

Rather than offering a conventional curatorial course, Curators in Flux creates an experimental learning environment where participants critically examine contemporary curatorial practice while building meaningful professional networks across institutions, artist-run initiatives, and independent cultural spaces.

Programme Structure

Phase I

Online Laboratory

4 Weeks

The online programme creates a collaborative space for research, discussion, and project development.

Participants meet several times each week through workshops, lectures, mentoring sessions, and peer discussions.

The programme includes:

• Curatorial methodology workshops

• One-to-one mentoring sessions

• Group critiques

• Artist and curator talks

• Reading seminars

• Curatorial writing workshops

• Exhibition development

• Peer learning sessions

Throughout the online phase, participants gradually develop the curatorial concepts that will later be realised collectively during the Berlin residency.

Phase II

Berlin Laboratory

2 Weeks | Berlin

The second phase takes place entirely in Berlin.

Participants immerse themselves in one of Europe's most dynamic contemporary art scenes through an intensive programme of institutional visits, artist studio visits, workshops, and collaborative exhibition production.

The programme includes:

Institutional Visits

Participants will visit leading contemporary art institutions and meet members of their curatorial teams to gain insight into exhibition development, programming, collections, public engagement, and funding structures.

Independent Galleries & Artist-Run Spaces

Visits to Berlin's independent galleries, project spaces, and artist-run initiatives introduce participants to alternative exhibition models and self-organised cultural practices.

Artist Studio Visits

Participants will meet Berlin-based artists in their studios, learning about artistic research, production processes, and artist-curator collaboration.

Workshops

Topics include:

• Curating Beyond Institutions

• Exhibition Design and Spatial Thinking

• Curatorial Writing

• Budgeting & Fundraising

• Working with Artists

• Audience Engagement & Mediation

• Accessibility in Curatorial Practice

• Producing Exhibitions with Limited Resources

Individual Mentoring

Each participant receives personalised mentoring sessions focused on their curatorial development and professional goals.

Exhibition Production

During the final week, participants collaboratively curate and produce a public exhibition in Berlin, presenting projects developed throughout the programme.

The exhibition is accompanied by an opening event and public conversation.

Who Can Apply?

Applications are open to emerging curators from all countries.

Applicants should:

• Have a minimum of two years of curatorial experience

• Have previously organised exhibitions, public programmes, or independent curatorial projects

• Demonstrate an interest in collaborative and experimental curatorial practice

• Be available for the full six-week programme

The working language is English.

What Participants Receive

Participants will receive:

• Six-week hybrid curatorial programme

• Weekly workshops and seminars

• Individual mentoring

• Artist and curator talks

• Institutional visits

• Artist studio visits

• Independent gallery and project space visits

• Professional networking opportunities

• Collective exhibition in Berlin

• Certificate of participation

Application Requirements

Applicants should submit:

• CV

• Short biography (maximum 200 words)

• Letter of motivation (maximum 700 words)

• Portfolio of previous curatorial work (maximum 10 pages)

• One curatorial research question they would like to explore during the programme (maximum 500 words)

Key Dates

Applications Open: 05.08.2026

Application Deadline: 04.11.2026

Interviews: 05.11.2026

Selected Participants Announced: 07.11.2026

Programme Begins: February 2027

About Curators in Flux

Curators in Flux is an international platform dedicated to supporting the next generation of curators through critical learning, interdisciplinary exchange, and collaborative practice.

By connecting institutions, independent organisations, artist-run initiatives, and cultural practitioners, the programme encourages participants to rethink curating as a socially engaged practice capable of building new forms of dialogue, collaboration, and cultural imagination.

The Founding Edition marks the beginning of a long-term initiative that will expand into a multi-country hybrid curatorial programme across Central Europe.

Grants for individuals to support the creation/production of new or in-progress works covering costs of subsistence/materials or production and/or post-production support.

What does this program support?

Toronto Arts Council’s Media Artists Program provides support to media artists who have a professional independent art practice for the creation/production of new work or the completion of works in progress. Funds are intended to cover direct costs of creation/production, and materials. Applicants may apply for production and/or post-production.

Media Arts includes independent film, video, audio, digital, video and electronic games, virtual and augmented reality and new media artworks. New media refers to works that use multi-media, computers or communications or information technologies for creative expression, including installation and performance art works that integrate such technologies.

TERAVARNA, together with Horizon World Art (HWA), presents the P.A.R.I.S. 2026 International Art Exhibition. The global project invites artists from all backgrounds to exhibit their talent in the world’s art capital. Along with an OPEN theme, we are open to all mediums, including painting, mixed media, photography, digital art, and others. There is no particular exhibition history or portfolio required—just your desire and your work.

TERAVARNA is accepting submissions for digital representation for this one-of-a-kind show in Paris. Each participant will have social media promotion, and the chosen artists will enjoy local news and press coverage in Paris. The exhibition will be open from November 23 to December 6.

It is your time now; the application window is open for digital submissions. To get in touch with us, email us at info@teravarna.com. 

You have a chance to showcase your creativity on a global stage—apply and become a participant in the TERAVARNA P.A.R.I.S. Exhibition. Note: Entries should be original; no AI-generated art will be accepted.

The Elizabeth Murray Artist Residency (EMAR) program by Collar Works is designed to provide emerging, underrepresented, and established artists an immersive, supportive, productive, and communal atmosphere for art-making and dialogue on a bucolic 77-acre farm in Granville, NY. The summer residency offers 2-week residencies for individual artists and 1-week residencies for families.

In 2017, the Murray-Holman family partnered with Collar Works to design a summer residency program for visual artists, with unique opportunities for individuals and families. Dedicated to supporting the legacy of Elizabeth Murray, Collar Works believes there is a kindred connection between its mission and what Murray’s story symbolizes to emerging artists, to those who are artists as well as parents, and to individuals who overcome adversity to achieve their vision.

EMAR creates opportunities for artists to take risks and develop new contemporary works across many art forms, primarily visual and literary arts, while engaging in meaningful dialogue with fellow residents and arts professionals.

Our goal is to create a residency program that addresses the critical needs of emerging and underrepresented artists, as well as artists with children, while offering a program that reflects the rich cultural environment of today through an active commitment to diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion. Since its inception, the Elizabeth Murray Artist Residency has been committed to creating an environment that stands out as a safe space for creative risk-taking, personal growth, and respite.

The late, visionary artist Elizabeth Murray believed that each person deserves an opportunity to make their art and for their art to be visible on equal platforms. With that in mind, our goal is to provide space and access for all, regardless of differences of race, age, color, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, religion, national origin, migratory status, disability/abilities, political affiliation, veteran status and/or socioeconomic background.

For more than two decades, Elizabeth Murray and her husband Bob Holman, together with their children, split their time between a Tribeca loft and a classic farmhouse in Washington County, New York. Murray, who passed away in 2007, was a groundbreaking artist. Her many honors include a Skowhegan Medal in Painting in 1986, a MacArthur “genius” grant in 1999, and a career retrospective at MoMA in 2005. Holman, a poet and arts activist, founded the Bowery Poetry Club in 2002 and produced the PBS series The United States of Poetry (1996) and Language Matters (2019). In 2017, the Murray-Holman family partnered with Collar Works to design a summer residency program for artists.

For many years, the farm served as both a summer home for the Murray-Holmans and a creative retreat for Elizabeth Murray, whose studio was located in the large, cathedral-like dairy barn. Given the history, location, and amenities, the family felt that the creative use of the property and its natural surroundings would carry on Elizabeth Murray’s legacy.

 2027 Individual Artist Residency Dates: 

Session 1: May 15- May 29, 2027   

Session 2: June 1- June 15, 2027

Timeline:

• Finalist Interviews: November 2026

• Final Notification of Acceptance: December 2026