2023 McKnight Fellowships for Fiber Artists

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS for all Artist Fellowships, per the McKnight Foundation

• Must have Minnesota residency for at least 1 year prior to the application deadline (in other words, you have been a resident of MN since November 21, 2021 or longer).
• Must maintain Minnesota residency for the duration of the fellowship period, March 1, 2023 – February 29, 2024.
• Fellows who travel for work outside of the state during the fellowship year should be in the state for at least six months (at least 183 days), and should have a plan to return to Minnesota.
• Awardees must have a Social Security Number or Tax ID (as needed to process payments).
• Must be midcareer (or beyond), with a body of work that demonstrates a sustained level of accomplishment, commitment, and artistic excellence.
• These fellowships are a recognition of the recipient’s significant body of work; creative achievement; and their sustained contribution to their artistic field and to Minnesota’s arts ecosystem.
• Applicants can only apply to one McKnight Artist Fellowship in ANY artistic discipline within a given fellowship year.
• Applicants to this fellowship program will NOT be eligible to apply for any other 2023 McKnight Artist Fellowship.
• Please carefully consider which program best fits your work. To view all of McKnight’s fellowship funding opportunities for the year, visit: mcknight.org/programs/arts/the-mcknight-artist-fellowships/#apply
• Must not have been a recipient of a McKnight Artist Fellowship within any artistic discipline in the last 5 award years. (All 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022 McKnight Fellows are ineligible.)
• Must demonstrate growth and ongoing artistry and creativity since their most recent McKnight Artist Fellowship, if they received one previously.
• Applicants must not be current staff, board, or immediate family of the McKnight Foundation, or McKnight’s fellowship administrative partner in the discipline for which you are applying.
• Independent contractors and faculty are not considered staff and are therefore eligible to apply.
• Must not be enrolled full-time in any academic program. (Low-Residency MFA programs and Ph.D. candidates who have completed all requirements except their dissertations are not considered “full-time” students.)

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS for Fiber Artist Fellowships, specifically

• Must be midcareer (or beyond) with an extensive, independent body of creative work created over a period of at least 8 years—not including work done during a degree seeking academic program–representing a sustained investigation and maturation of personal creativity, accomplishment, and commitment to the field of fiber art.
• Must currently be producing work that falls within an art or cultural context, related to the field of fiber and textiles through materials, process, history, tradition, or sensibilities.
• Must demonstrate a high aesthetic level of ability, strong consistency of expression, and an established personal voice over the course of a sustained career.
• Must have made a significant impact in the field of fiber art in the region, state, or nation as demonstrated by respect of peers and community, contributions to excellence, and public recognition of the art/creative form through exhibiting, teaching, preserving, and/or advocacy.

GUIDELINES & APPLICATION INFORMATION

The intent of the McKnight Fellowships for Fiber Artists is to recognize and support talented Minnesota fiber and textile artists whose work is of exceptional artistic and cultural merit, who have created a significant body of work over a period of at least 8 years, representing a sustained investigation and maturation of personal creativity and accomplishment in, and commitment to the field of fiber art and Minnesota’s arts ecosystem. These fellowships are in support of artists who are at a career stage beyond emerging. Fiber Artists, as defined for the purposes of this fellowship, are artists who use textile and fiber arts materials, processes, histories, traditions, and/or sensibilities in their artistic and creative practice throughout the conception, execution, and resolution of their work.

• PLEASE OPEN and READ THE PROGRAM GUIDELINES BEFORE PROCEEDING WITH THE FELLOWSHIP APPLICATION. THERE ARE NEW PORTFOLIO OPTIONS THIS YEAR. ALL NEW INFORMATION IS ON THE DOCUMENT IN RED. 

• INSTRUCTIONS FOR FILLING OUT THE APPLICATION and INFORMATION ABOUT THE JURY and SELECTION PROCESS ARE INCLUDED IN THE GUIDELINES.

CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE PROGRAM GUIDELINES

ACCESS THE APPLICATION ON SUBMITTABLE HERE, BEGINNING 9AM WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 24, 2022

A few important tips and reflections from former jurors and Fiber Art Fellows, from the GUIDELINES:

• The work samples are the single most important aspect of your application.
• Your work needs to be clearly conveyed through your images–use the best photographs possible.
• Portfolio work samples based in experimentation, sampling, or works in-process are not generally helpful as evidence of a solid, sustained practice.
• Your statement needs to be relevant to the work submitted, and needs to talk about an ACTIVE practice in the field of fiber art and textiles.

As in year’s past, we are using SUBMITTABLE as the application platform. Info sessions provide help navigating the platform and understanding the changes in this year’s application process. (See INFO SESSION tab above for information on times and dates of sessions.)

** CHROME BROWSER IS RECOMMENDED.  DO NOT USE A TABLET or IPAD for your application, as an error message may occur.

You should be able to access the complete program guidelines and the application portal from the links above. If you cannot, we are here to help!  Links to everything can be emailed to you if you are having trouble opening them. If you have any questions or issues, please email tkrumm@textilecentermn.org.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

• If you need assistance writing a statement or preparing a resume or images, please click the link below for resources for assistance.
• We recommend contacting Springboard for the Arts for in-depth assistance, with either their paid consultations or their free workshops.
• 30-60 minute consultations with Tracy Krumm at Textile Center, by phone, or on Zoom, are available, for questions, clarification, and portfolio reviews. However, Textile Center staff are unable to assist you with the actual writing of your documents or final preparation of your application. Let us know if you would like us to try and find a volunteer to assist you. We can however, provide feedback and help you upload your application when you are ready, if you need assistance!
• Individual consultations will not be available after November 14.  Your questions will need to be communicated through email after this, sent to tkrumm@textilecentermn.org.

CLICK HERE FOR A RESOURCE GUIDE TO ADDITIONAL ARTIST SERVICES

QUESTIONS?

If you have questions regarding eligibility, guidelines, and application process for the 2021 fellowship process, please email Tracy Krumm, Director for Artistic Advancement
tkrumm@textilecentermn.org

McKnight Fellowships for Fiber Artists FAQ’s

• What is the age limit for the fellowships?

There is no age limit for the fellowships; this is not asked for as part of the juried part of the application process.  The only reason, as stated on the application, that we ask for your age is to provide data for me on who we are reaching through recruitment.

• Who is eligible to apply, what is mid-career, and what does my experience in the discipline of Fiber Art need to be?

Since all of these details are entwined, they are explained together:

These mid-career fellowships are for mid-career and beyond.  The only requirement is to show at least 8 years of invested creative practice, documented in your resume or list of accomplishments.  There is no limit to a time period for midcareer, and McKnight program partners uphold the belief that mid-career could be the rest of your life!

Mid-career, for the purposes of our program is eight (8) years of creative practice, at a high enough level that you would consider yourself MID career, and not emerging.  Your resume or list of accomplishments needs to include at least eight years of activities in your practice that have garnered some sort of recognition–exhibitions, studio art teaching, other awards–something that can be documented.  We check your resume when your application comes in to be sure you are qualified.

There are no specific requirements as to calling yourself a “fiber artist” for eight years, as artists tend to use whatever means are most appropriate to communicate their message.  However, your work does have to recognize fiber art on a high level–particularly in work done recently, over the last 2-3 years, so you can show excellence, breadth, and depth in this field. Here are the criteria, form our guidelines, and a link to detailed program guidelines: https://textilecentermn.org/2023mcknightappinfo/

The intent of the McKnight Fellowships for Fiber Artists is to recognize and support talented Minnesota fiber and textile artists whose work is of exceptional artistic and cultural merit, who have created a significant body of work over a period of at least 8 years, representing a sustained investigation and maturation of personal creativity and accomplishment in, and commitment to the field of fiber art and Minnesota’s arts ecosystem. These fellowships are in support of artists who are at a career stage beyond emerging.  

Fiber Artists, as defined for the purposes of this fellowship, are artists who use textile and fiber arts materials, processes, histories, traditions, and/or sensibilities in their artistic and creative practice throughout the conception, execution, and resolution of their work. 

• What are the awards based on?

The awards are based on portfolio excellence, as exemplified by your images and your writing (or recorded speaking) about your work.  There is NO proposal involved and the application does not include request for a budget.  The intent of this program is to recognize and support midcareer artists living and working in Minnesota who demonstrate a sustained level of accomplishment, commitment, and excellence.  The award is not based on what you plan to do or what you think you are going to do.  It is about what you have done so far in your career.

• How does the jury process work?

The jury process is blind, at least until they meet you on Zoom if you become a finalist.  Jurors focus on the images in the portfolio and the accompanying statement about the work, along with an image list that you provide that includes the title, year, processes and materials in each work you submit. They also refer to your resume if they have questions about your accomplishments thus far in your career, and how these might relate to how they see the caliber of your portfolio.

There is nowhere on the application where your identity is divulged to the jury, unless someone includes something about themselves in their statement.  However, please note that as you write about yourself in the statement, what you say should connect as an influence on or provide context for your ideas and the work presented.  The statement needs to relate to the work–especially the images the jurors are looking at.

This year, applicants can include a brief separate statement (250 characters) to be shared with the jurors about their demographics or personal info–it could be about your history, family, illness, disability, religion, parenthood, sexual orientation, place of origin or residence, race, ethnicity, binary/non-binary, etc.

• What does the McKnight Foundation stand for and how does this impact the program?

Please take a look at what McKnight Foundation’s Arts and Culture program stands for, because that is the lens we use for our work with the jurors:

https://www.mcknight.org/programs/arts-culture/

The jurors are asked to look at all of the SAME links as you are, in the detailed application information, so they understand the agenda of the foundation and see everything that every applicant has access to.

When they agree to jury, they agree to use a lens of equity, diversity, and inclusion.  This is broad–nowhere in either ours or McKnight’s materials is the interpretation of any of these three values predicated solely on race.  Please see specific links, particularly in the introductory section of the detailed application information, attached, or on the various info tabs on the McKnight section of our website:

https://textilecentermn.org/2023mcknightappinfo/

• What if I decide I don’t fit into the fiber art category?

If you feel your work is less specific to fiber art, and can’t talk about it in your statement from the context of the definition above, you can apply in the general visual art category through MCAD, or one of the other mid-career fellowship programs for the 2023 fellowships.  All of our deadlines are different.  Typically, work done in higher education programs does not count toward the 8 years, as it is seen as supported by a cohort environment, research, professional and networking resources, mentorship, and often financial assistance—much like the funding and program benefits provided by these fellowships beyond the unrestricted gift of $25,000.

• All of the McKnight Artist Fellowships award categories and links to the specific program partners are available here:

https://www.mcknight.org/programs/arts-culture/the-mcknight-artist-fellowships/

IMPORTANT DATES

• Application Close Date: Monday, November 21, 2022, 5 pm CT
• Applicant Selection & Notification: Early February, 2023
• Fellowship Dates: March 1, 2023 – February 29, 2023

INFO SESSIONS

Please attend an info session before making an individual appointment for a consultation with Tracy Krumm.

• UPCOMING INFO SESSION on ZOOM, Thursday, November 3, 6 – 7 pm; Register HERE to receive the meeting link!

To watch a prerecorded Info session, click this link to view: INFO SESSION

Individual consultations are available through November 14. Email Tracy at tkrumm@textilecentermn.org if you would like to make an appointment, have submission-related questions, or need help with filling out your application.

The McKnight Fellowships for Fiber Artists program is funded by the McKnight Arts & Culture Program, and administered by Textile Center. For more complete information, please see:  https://www.mcknight.org/programs/arts-culture/

Established in 1981, the McKnight Artist Fellowships provide annual, unrestricted cash awards to outstanding mid-career Minnesota artists in 15 different creative disciplines. Program partner organizations administer the fellowships and structure them to respond to the unique challenges of different disciplines.

Program Goal: Catalyze the creativity, power, and leadership of Minnesota working artists and culture bearers.

“Minnesota artists and culture bearers help the McKnight Foundation accomplish our mission to advance a more just, creative, and abundant future where people and planet thrive. McKnight has a legacy of leadership in the arts in Minnesota, and support for working artists has always been a mainstay of our arts grantmaking…The addition of culture bearer to our goal acknowledges that our program provides support to creative leaders in Minnesota from cultures that don’t use the word artist (such as Native American and Hmong), as well as those who center the transmission and preservation of cultural lifeways.”

McKnight’s Arts & Culture grantees do the following:

• Support and advance the distinctive practices of Minnesota’s working artists and culture bearers
• Enable unique developmental and leadership opportunities for artists and culture bearers
• Facilitate meaningful relationships between artists, culture bearers, and their communities
• Demonstrate a deep understanding of their field
• Work to eliminate deep and persistent social, economic, and racial barriers

The strategy of McKnight’s Arts & Culture program is to fund organizations, programs, and projects that provide support structures for working artists and culture bearers to develop and share their work, and to lead in movements and communities. This includes artists and culture bearers working in a broad continuum of activities and approaches across disciplines and fields.

Please see more about McKnight’s new program approach at: mcknight.org/programs/arts-culture/our-approach/