Apply Now | NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship in Photography

New York State-based photographers: This is your year to apply for a NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship!

NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowships, awarded in fifteen different disciplines over a three-year period, are $7,000 unrestricted cash awards made to individual originating artists living and working in the state of New York. These fellowships are not project grants, but are intended to fund an artist’s vision or voice, regardless of their level of artistic development. The 2019 NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship categories are: Architecture/Environmental Structures/Design, Choreography, Music/Sound, Photography, and Playwriting/Screenwriting. 

The Photography category accepts work in traditional and experimental photography or any work in which photography or photographic techniques are pivotal, if not exclusive.

Quick Tips for Photography Applicants:

• This category is one of our most competitive, as it receives a large volume of applications. Submit work that is unique to you and your particular practice and that represents your most recent and strongest work.
• If applicable to your practice, consider uploading 2-3 different projects or series to demonstrate the range within your practice.
• If installation is pivotal to your photographic practice, you may want to include an installation shot to demonstrate the specific way you exhibit your work.
• If your practice is largely conceptual, you can briefly describe this in a sentence in the “Additional Information” section in the metadata. This section appears after a Work Sample file has been uploaded.

For more useful tips on preparing your Image Work Samples, check out our blog post titled: “The Art of the Application | Preparing Your Work Samples: Digital Images and PDF Manuscripts.”

Apply Now

Visit NYFA’s Submittable page to start your application.

For more information about the NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship, visit our website, view our Fellowships FAQ, and download the application guidelines.

Applications close Wednesday, January 23, 2019 at 11:59 PM (EST).

Past Fellows

Recent distinguished NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellows who have been recognized in this award category include:

Justine Kurland, Photography ’13
Lorie Novak, Photography ’88, ’16
Shen Wei, Photography ’16

Visit our website for a full list of Past Fellows.

NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowships are administered with leadership support from New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.

Image: Shen Wei (Fellow in Photography ’16), A Glass of Water, 2014, C-Print