Fine Arts Work Center - The Fellowship Program

The Fellowship Program

Today the Fine Arts Work Center is a leading long-term residency program for emerging artists and writers and one of the most renowned. Each year the Visual Arts and Writing Committees, composed of internationally recognized artists and writers, select twenty Fellows (ten visual artists and ten writers) from some 1,000 applications worldwide. The selection process is rigorous, and the Fellows are accepted on the basis of the quality of work submitted.

For the seven-month period of October 1 to May 1, the selected painters, sculptors, installation, and time-based media artists, photographers, fiction writers and poets bring their lives to Provincetown to devote their time to their work. The Fellows receive living and studio space and a modest stipend; the only thing asked in return is that they stay in Provincetown and focus on their work. Each year, writing Fellows have the opportunity to publicly read from their work and visual artists are invited to exhibit in solo shows. All Fellows can publish their work online in the in-house art and literary journal Shankpainter.

Since the Work Center's founding, more than 800 Fellowships have been awarded. Fellows have made an enormous impact on American arts and letters, publishing hundreds of books and exhibiting their art in countless museums and galleries worldwide. Past Fellows have won virtually every major national award in their respective fields, including the Pulitzer, MacArthur, Whiting, Pollock-Krasner, Tiffany, Prix de Rome, Guggenheim, NEA, and National Book Award. The Fine Arts Work Center awards more fellowships each year than any other program of its kind. It is among the most competitive fellowship programs anywhere. Its presence in Provincetown, with its rich artistic heritage, stunning natural beauty and legendary light, enhances its renown.