Utah Artist Fellowship Program

Utah Artist Fellowship Program is sponsored by Utah Division of Arts & Museums. Recognizes the careers of Utah artists demonstrating exceptional creativity in their fields, including culinary arts.

Utah Artist Fellowship Program | Utah Division of Arts & Museums Utah Artist Fellowship Program The Utah Artist Fellowships are $5,000 awards that recognize the careers of Utah artists demonstrating exceptional creativity in their fields. Fellows are chosen by out-of-state, nationally renowned arts professionals. Selections are based on evaluation of application narratives as well as work samples from the past five years.

Through these fellowships, Utah Arts & Museums seeks to support professional and committed individual artists reaching pivotal moments in their artistic practices, and encourage their career advancement and growth. Applicants are expected to demonstrate why now is the appropriate time in their careers for this one-time award. Candidates for the Utah Artist Fellowships are selected through an open application process.

All eligible applications receive equal consideration through a two-round review process: a prescreen staff review, and a juror review. The Utah Artist Fellowship is not an award to support a specific art project, recognition of lifetime achievement, or for artists just beginning their careers.

Fellowships will be awarded in each of these categories: Literary Arts – Five fellowships Performing Arts (Music 2026) – Five fellowships Visual Arts & Design Arts – Eight fellowships ▸ Professional Development Workshops All About Artist-in-Residencies Tues. May 19, 2026, 12 p. m.

- 1 p. m. Artist-residency curious?

Haven’t found the residency for you? In this virtual lunchtime lecture, we’ll hear from two artists who have found residencies to be deeply impactful on their careers and learn a little more about the variety of residency opportunities around the world.

Tune in to hear first-hand experiences from Utah artists Mitsu Salmon and Pablo Cruz-Ayala, as well as a general residency overview and context from Peter Hay, UA&M’s visual arts manager. Pablo Cruz-Ayala, a Mexican-born, Utah-raised artist and immigrant advocate, explores the impact of undocumented migration on cultural identity through urban and Chicano-inspired materials.

Pablo is an MFA graduate from the University of Utah, holding deep respect for the cultural heritage of Utah and Mexican ancestors to tell their stories of love and labor. Recently, they’ve concluded their art residency at the Springville Museum of Art. Material exploration and scientific principles guide their work to explore differences within personal identity and collective visibility.

Utilizing 3D resin printings, concrete, and traditional visual art materials, their work excavates a narrative of social connections in Utah. Engaging in art and community health praxis, Pablo focuses on intersections of displacement, belonging, and adaptation through storytelling and a community-focused approach. Mitsu Salmon is a multidisciplinary artist working in performance, sound, and visual art.

Her work moves between personal and familial histories to address questions of diaspora, labor, and environment.

She has pursued her practice internationally through residencies such as Taipei Artist Village (Taiwan), Incheon Art Platform (Korea), Guildhall (NY), Sitka (OR), and Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, and has presented work in places such as the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Indianapolis Museum of Art, and Chicago Cultural Center.

She holds an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a BFA from NYU, and has received grants and fellowships, including the Midwest Nexus Touring Grant, the Chicago Dancemakers Lab Grant, the Utah Performing Arts Fellowship, and the Wake the Great Salt Lake grant. Taxes for Artists, Freelancers, and Creative Businesses Wed. May 27, 12 p.

m. - 2 p. m.

Presented by Hannah Cole, Enrolled Agent, of Sunlight Tax What can I deduct? What do I do with my receipts? Do I really need to pay quarterly taxes?

What is a Schedule C? How do I deduct my home office/studio? Hannah Cole is a tax expert, artist, and small business owner who specializes in working with self-employed people, especially creative and mission-driven ones.

She’s helped tens of thousands of self-employed people skill up with accessible tax and money education, through her Money Bootcamp program, tax workshops from Florida to Alaska, and on the Sunlight Tax podcast. Her book “Taxes for Humans: Simplify Your Taxes and Change the World When You’re Self-Employed” is the funniest and most empowering tax guide you’ll ever read.

You can get the simple tax tips and the podcast each week on her Substack, “Taxes for Humans. ” Hannah is the founder of Sunlight Tax. Promoting Yourself and Your Work In this free series of professional training workshops, Robin Cembalest will share the essential tools and skills that every artist needs to get themselves out there.

In three sessions filled with examples, templates, best practices, and tips, Robin will explain how to craft your message, share it across various platforms, and build visibility, relationships, and careers. Please note: Virtual sessions will not be recorded. Slide presentations will not be shared.

Participants are welcome to take screen shots during the virtual sessions. Wed. May 20, 6:30 - 8:30 p.

m. Learn creative strategies and best practices for using your Instagram as a professional tool in this lively workshop. Robin, the former longtime editor of ARTnews and influential art-world Instagrammer, will explain how artists can use the platform to expand visibility and networks, find opportunity, and promote themselves and their work.

She’ll share tips on crafting your profile, chronicling your process, what to post and write, photo and video editing, and how to build an audience for exhibitions and events, along with the latest updates on Reels, Stories, Notes, hashtags, and other Instagram features. She’ll also share advice for managing your content and time. After her presentation, she’ll review the Instagram of all participants and offer action steps.

“She gives artists and curators plenty of immediate, individualized feedback, and guidance that gets them to keep thinking about how to best communicate about what they do long after the workshop has ended. ” — Alison Kuo, Director of Programs, International Studio & Curatorial Program + Crafting Your Artist Statement Tues. May 26, 6:30 - 8:30 p.

m. Every creative professional needs that foundational text that sums up who they are, what they do, and why they do it. Learn how to describe yourself and your artwork, position your practice, and explain the deeper meaning of your art in this intensive writing workshop.

Drawing on her deep expertise in contemporary art and knowledge of the art industry, Robin helps each participant define and position their practice. Using her experience as an editor, she demystifies the writing process and helps every student communicate more effectively. In her presentation, Robin will share templates for artist bios and statements, as well as examples from a wide range of artists.

Then she’ll answer questions and offer one-on-one feedback on the bio of each participant. “We all learned so much! I've never seen our students writing down notes so furiously for such a sustained amount of time.

” — Josephine Halvorson, Professor of Art and Chair of Graduate Studies in Painting, The 2022 University Lecturer, School of Visual Arts, College of Fine Arts, Boston University + Promoting Yourself and Your Art Wed. May 27, 6:30 - 8:30 p. m.

For many artists, the idea of promoting their work can seem like a burden and a chore. They’d rather be in the studio making art than producing the stream of sound bites, blurbs, Instagram posts, proposals, and submissions that seem required to bring their work to the attention of art professionals and the public. This class empowers artists to build their careers with best practices and creative strategies to get their work out there.

Robin will share tools and skills to help you discover – and make the most of – every opportunity. She’ll show you how to craft your digital presence, define your message, find and submit to open calls and other exhibition opportunities, attract media attention, and expand long-term visibility and connections.

With a mix of practical tips and professional wisdom from Robin’s long career in the art industry, this workshop offers invaluable advice for any artist. ▸ Eligibility Applicants must meet all of the following requirements to apply. Must be 25 years of age or older at the time of the deadline.

Artists must be originators of work submitted. Performing arts applicants may submit their interpretation of others' work. Must be a Utah resident, and living primarily in Utah, for two consecutive years immediately prior to the application deadline.

Previous fellowship recipients may not apply. Must have a U.S. Tax ID Number ( SSN , EIN , ITIN , or other). Note: Fellowship recipients are responsible for all applicable federal taxes.

Recipients will receive a Form 1099 from the State of Utah. We urge that you keep all receipts and other appropriate records for tax filing purposes. Please consult a tax accountant with questions; we cannot advise on tax matters.

Individuals enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate degree in the arts, or a degree in a field related to their art form, are not eligible to apply. Artist teams/groups are not eligible to apply. Immediate family members, board members, or employees of the Utah Division of Arts & Museums are not eligible to apply.

Literary Arts: Writers working in the areas of fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, screenwriting, playwriting, or other literary uses of the written word are eligible to apply. Performing Arts: Disciplines rotate every three years between music, dance, and theatre. The 2026 focus is music .

Artists practicing in a variety of music-related performing arts — such as composing, songwriting, singing, conducting, traditional arts, and new genres — are eligible. Artists practicing in mediums such as clay, drawing, fiber, glass, illustration, installation, mixed media, painting, photography, plastic, printmaking, sculpture, three-dimensional art, two-dimensional art, and works on paper are eligible.

Other eligible fields include experimental/new genres, such as new technology, certain digital arts, multisensory works, and other artforms that don’t fit neatly within traditional categories. Narrative and documentary filmmakers aren’t eligible.

Designers working in the fields of 4D design, architecture, exhibition design, furniture design, graphic design, industrial design, interior design, landscape design, packaging design, product design, textile and fashion design, theatrical/stage design (costume, lighting, prop, set, sound), and urban design are eligible to apply.

▸ Selection Criteria To be considered, applicants must: Have created a substantial, independent body of work over at least a five-year professional arts career. Note: Work produced while pursuing an accredited degree is not applicable toward the five-year period of professional accomplishment. Have made a recognized contribution to their discipline through public presentation of their work.

Demonstrate a consistent level of artistic ability throughout their professional arts career. Provide evidence of continued commitment to serious exploration of their artistic form. Applications are prescreened by staff for completion, eligibility, and adherence to published guidelines.

Applicants meeting eligibility requirements whose applications are found to have an issue will be contacted and given the opportunity to correct the issue. No late applications will be accepted. Following the application prescreen, the fellowship jurors will review all eligible applications and make final fellow selections.

The Utah Division of Arts & Museums is a state agency involved in public funding for arts and museums. As a public entity, it reserves the right to make final decisions on the use of public funds for projects, programs, acquisitions, commissions, or other activities as deemed appropriate by the division and/or board. ▸ Application Content Applicants will be asked to provide the following information.

NOTE : Please pay attention to word count requirements. Bio: Minimum of 200 words, maximum of 300 words. A professional bio written in the third person.

May include the medium you work in, key themes found in your art practice, art-related education, awards, significant past or current projects, where you are from, and where you live and work. Artist’s statement: Minimum of 300 words, maximum of 500 words. A statement written in the first person describing your artistic practice and the overarching concepts behind it.

Description of intent: Maximum of 300 words. Please describe why this fellowship award is important to your artistic practice and development. Professional CV or résumé: Maximum of six pages.

It may include the following items as they relate to your discipline: Documentation of exhibition/performance history Gallery/agent representation Work samples: View specific work sample requirements for each discipline below. Literary Arts Required Work Samples Prose samples: Up to five work samples, double-spaced, up to 10 pages per sample; excerpts are allowed.

Poetry samples: Up to five work samples, up to 10 pages per sample; single-spacing allowed. Must be works created in the past five years. You may submit all poetry, all prose, or a combination of both, but the total number of work samples must equal five.

There is an individual attachment limit of 400 MB and a cumulative attachment limit of 800 MB per application on Submittable. All work must be original and not AI-assisted. Performing Arts Required Work Samples Must provide five work samples (no more, no fewer).

Must be works created in the past five years. There is an individual attachment limit of 400 MB and a cumulative attachment limit of 800 MB per application on Submittable. May include a mixture of video, audio, images, or other documentation of work.

Video samples must be submitted via a link to a platform such as Vimeo or YouTube. Please make sure you grant public access to your platform so the juror may view your work. For audio platforms, files are accepted in these formats: .

mp3, . wav, . wma Video and audio samples should be no more than three minutes in length.

If your work sample is longer, please identify the three-minute timestamp you wish the juror to review. If you submit a work sample as a performer, it should be easy to identify the applicant. If more than one person is seen in the work sample, the applicant must make clear how to identify themselves for the juror.

Composers: If you submit a written composition as a work sample, please upload only up to five pages per work sample. Teachers/professors: You may include information about teaching but must also include information about work outside of your teaching role. In the Submittable form, you will be required to list the title, year completed, identifying information, and timestamp (if applicable).

Artificial Intelligence Note: Acknowledgement must be made of any artwork created with AI assistance. Artists must include AI in the medium description of the submitted artwork. Neglecting to acknowledge AI use in the making of a submitted artwork is grounds for disqualification.

Visual Arts & Design Required Work Samples Must provide 10 work samples (no more, no fewer). Works must have been created in the past five years. Each work sample must be unique.

Do not submit multiple work samples of the same project. Each individual work sample can include multiple images of the same project saved as one portfolio file. There is an individual attachment limit of 400 MB and a cumulative attachment limit of 800 MB per application.

In the Submittable form, you will be required to list the title, medium, year completed, and dimensions of images/videos. May include a mixture of video, audio, images, or other documentation of work. Video or audio samples must be submitted via a link to a platform such as Vimeo or YouTube.

Please make sure you grant public access to your platform so the juror may view your work. Teachers/professors: You may include information about teaching but must also include information about work outside of your teaching role. Artificial Intelligence Note: Acknowledgement must be made of any artwork created with AI assistance.

Artists must include AI in the medium description of the submitted artwork. Neglecting to acknowledge AI use in the making of a submitted artwork is grounds for disqualification. ▸ Information Sessions On February 11, UA&M staff facilitated an online information session about applying for the Utah Artist Fellowship.

A recording of this session can be accessed by clicking here . ▸ Timeline Application opens: Jan. 29 Information sessions: Feb.

11 Application closes: March 6 at 5 p. m. No late applications will be accepted, so please plan accordingly.

Artists notified of results via Submittable: May 6 ▸ Accessibility If you require assistance or accommodations, please use our accessibility form by clicking this link . We ask that you submit the accessibility form at least two weeks before the fellowship application deadline. For our fellowship information sessions, please contact us two weeks in advance of the information sessions for accessibility assistance.

▸ Frequently Asked Questions Question: Can I apply in more than one category? Answer: Yes, but individuals can only receive the fellowship in one category, and the fellowship is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. You must create a separate application for each fellowship category in which you are applying.

Question: If late applications are not accepted, how do I correct an issue with my application? Answer : If you have submitted a complete application (before the deadline) and are then contacted by a UA&M staff member and asked to fix an issue with your application (e.g., a broken web link), you will be allowed to do so. Literary Arts Juror: Lia Purpura Lia Purpura is the author of nine collections of essays, poems, and translations.

A finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for On Looking (essays, Sarabande Books), her awards include Guggenheim, NEA, and Fulbright fellowships, as well as five Pushcart Prizes, the Associated Writing Programs Award in Nonfiction, and others. Her work appears in The New Yorker, The New Republic, Poetry, Orion, The Paris Review, The Georgia Review, Agni, Emergence, and elsewhere.

Lia lives in Baltimore, MD, where she served as Writer in Residence at The University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and Loyola University. She has taught in the Rainier Writing Workshop’s MFA program, at Breadloaf Writers Conference, The University of Iowa’s Nonfiction MFA program, and at conferences, workshops, and graduate programs throughout the country.

Her newest collection of poems is It Shouldn’t Have Been Beautiful (Penguin) and her latest collection of essays is All the Fierce Tethers (Sarabande Books). Performing Arts Juror (Music): Dr. Kristin Tjornehoj Kristin Tjornehoj is a conductor who has positively influenced musicians, students, composers, and audiences across the globe. A Wisconsin native, Kris has earned several degrees in music, including her Ph.

D. in music education from the University of Minnesota. She has taught tens of thousands of students, from Hudson High School to the University of Wisconsin at River Falls, plus the Shell Lake Wisconsin Arts Camp, Honors Bands, and school and community bands and orchestras here and abroad.

In addition to teaching at the University of Wisconsin for over 30 years, Kris has been a musician, conductor, collaborator, and speaker throughout the U.S., Canada, China, the Czech Republic, Great Britain, France, Germany, Iceland, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, Scotland, Spain, and Switzerland. Kris will tell you that music energizes her, that having a purpose-filled life guides her actions.

Her passion is collaboration with new composers throughout the world, and thanks to Kris, these international composers have had their works premiered and recorded by her former UW River Falls ensembles, St. Croix Valley Symphony, and the St. Croix Sounds Wind Orchestra.

Kris welcomes international and local guest conductors and soloists, annually commissions new works, and enhances the appeal of music here and abroad. She firmly believes in embracing all cultures and improving life through music. She loves to share her passion, time, and energy in helping people find the enjoyment and value music provides for all people.

Kris launched the Stillwater, MN-based St. Croix Sounds Music Society, which supports and forms regional ensembles and concerts in the Midwest region. The Three Rivers Concert Band will tour Greece and Turkey in 2026.

Visual Arts & Design Juror: Rachel Adams Rachel Adams has served as Chief Curator and Director of Programs at the Bemis Center for Contemporary Art since 2018. Previously, she held curatorial positions at the University at Buffalo Art Galleries, Disjecta Contemporary Art Center (now Oregon Contemporary), and Arthouse at the Jones Center (now The Contemporary Austin).

She holds an MA in exhibition and museum studies from the San Francisco Art Institute and a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Adams’s practice is centered on fostering meaningful relationships with artists and advancing projects at the intersections of contemporary art, architecture, sound, performance, video, and new media.

At Bemis, she has organized exhibitions including From the Great Lakes to the Great Plains: The Visible Current of Climate Change ; Synchronicities ; Carmen Winant: The last safe abortion ; Jennifer Ling Datchuk: Eat Bitterness ; Raven Halfmoon: Flags of Our Mothers (co-curated); Paul Stephen Benjamin: Black of Night ; Maya Dunietz: Root of Two ; Paul Mpagi Sepuya: Drop Scene ; and Claudia Wieser: Generations (co-curated), among many others.

She also directs programming for LOW END, the Bemis Center’s Mellon Foundation-supported sound venue, which has presented a wide range of experimental performers. Forthcoming exhibitions include projects with Miatta Kawinzi and Ezra Masch. Adams has worked with artists such as Ekene Ijeoma, Amie Siegel, Ragnar Kjartansson, Stephanie Syjuco, Kambui Olujimi, Jordan Weber, and Julia Rose Sutherland.

Her writing has appeared in numerous catalogues and in publications including Afterimage , artforum. com , Art Papers , and Modern Painters . An alumna of the 2016 ICI Curatorial Intensive and the Artis Curatorial Research Trip to Israel, she has lectured widely at universities and arts institutions across the United States.

The views and opinions expressed in linked content and sites do not necessarily reflect the views of the Utah Division of Arts & Museums. Please review the guidelines thoroughly. If you still have questions, feel free to reach out to our staff members.

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