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Rhode Island visual artists who dream of having the resources to push their work to the next level have until Aug. 14 to apply for $30,000 fellowships from the Rhode Island Foundation. The grants are considered to be among the largest no-strings-attached awards available to artists in the United States.

The Foundation will award grants to three emerging or mid-career visual artists through its Robert and Margaret MacColl Johnson Fellowship Fund. The awards are intended to free them to concentrate time on the creative process, focus on personal or professional development, expand their body of work and explore new directions.

“By providing the financial support these artists need in order to perfect their craft we are investing in them, and in expanding a sector that makes our state such an incredible place to live,” said David N. Cicilline, president and CEO. “These fellowships reflect the importance we put on enhancing Rhode Island’s cultural life.”

Previous recipients of visual artist fellowships include Kelsey Miller, who just completed a residency with the Montello Foundation and whose work was exhibited most recently with the Newport Artists Collective; and Jordan Seaberry, whose work is in the collections of the RISD Museum, the Crystal Bridges Museum and the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum in Lincoln, Mass.

Applicants must have been residents of Rhode Island for at least 12 months prior to the Aug. 14 deadline. High school students, college and graduate students who are enrolled in a degree-granting program and composers who have advanced levels of career achievement are not eligible.

Applicants will be judged on the quality of their work samples, their artistic development and their creative contribution to the arts, as well as the potential of the fellowship to advance their career. Applications will be accepted from artists creating new original work in any genre.

Although the fellowships are unrestricted, recipients are expected to devote concentrated time to their art and to engage in activities that further their artistic growth. Examples include creating new work, training in technologies or techniques, purchasing equipment, travel, research and developing artistic endeavors. In addition to the three fellowships available, three finalists will be selected to participate in a one-month artist residency program.

The recipients will be selected by a panel of out-of-state jurors who are practicing artists, curators, educators, administrators, and other art professionals. For more information about applying for a MacColl Johnson Fellowship, click HERE.

Established in 2003, the annual MacColl Johnson fellowships rotate among writers, visual artists and composers on a three-year cycle. Over the years, the Foundation has awarded more than $1.5 million in fellowships.

Rhode Islanders Robert and Margaret MacColl Johnson were both dedicated to the arts all their lives. Mrs. Johnson, who died in 1990, earned a degree in creative writing from Roger Williams College when she was 70. Mr. Johnson invented a new process for mixing metals in jewelry-making and then retired to become a full-time painter. Before he died in 1999, Johnson began discussions with the Foundation that led to the creation of the fellowships.

The Rhode Island Foundation is the largest and most comprehensive funder of nonprofit organizations in Rhode Island. Through civic leadership, fundraising and grantmaking activities, together with neighbors and partners, the Foundation is helping to create progress that lasts.