Fellowship

Created to serve artists living in the Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area, the Inside/Outside Fellowship program is an opportunity for deep immersion in both studio practice and community engagement: Fellows explore materials and ideas to advance their creative practices while developing community art projects that contribute positively to this place we call home. Where in traditional residencies artists often work on their own in seclusion, Fellows at The Union are encouraged to be active participants in the civic life of North Omaha, recognizing the potential of art and artists to spark social change.

Every year, a jury comprising local and national voices selects five artists or artist collectives to participate in the Fellowship program. The successful applicants receive a free, 400 sq. ft. studio at The Union and a complimentary one-year pass to The Co-Op with equipment to support ceramic, textile, print, film photography, and digital media. Studio visits, peer-led critiques, public events, and a final project presentation serve to further support artists’ creative growth.

In addition to providing space in which to create new work and connect with a group of peer artists, the Fellowship program is a place for critical dialogue and reflection on community-engaged art practices. Central to the program are monthly dinner workshops facilitated by local and national arts and culture workers. The workshops provide avenues for thinking critically about how artists and communities can work together in mutually meaningful ways and how social issues, be they local or global, can inform an artist’s work for traditional gallery spaces or outside in public space.

Overall, the Inside/Outside Fellowship program seeks to inspire the creation of imaginative, socially conscious, and culturally sensitive work in, for, and with communities.

PROGRAM BENEFITS

• A free private studio
• $3,000 honorarium
  
• $500 professional development funds
  
• Complimentary one-year Co-Op pass (supplies not included)
  
• One-on-one technical assistance
  
• Catered dinner workshops
• Studio visits with arts and culture workers
  
• Experiential learning placement
• Critique sessions
• and more!

Visual arts programming at The Union for Contemporary Art (including our Fellowship, Exhibition, and Co-Op Studios programs) is generously supported by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and the VIA | Wagner Incubator Grant Fund.

To learn more about the Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and their work in advancing the visual arts, visit: warholfoundation.org.

To learn more about the VIA | Wagner Incubator Grant Fund visit viaartfund.org and wfound.org.