OPEN CALL:Richard Diebenkorn Teaching Fellowship

San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) is currently seeking applications for the fall 2020 Richard Diebenkorn Teaching Fellowship. Established in 1998 by the generosity of the family of painter Richard Diebenkorn—both an alumnus and longtime faculty member of SFAI—the semester-long fellowship provides an opportunity for artists to teach at SFAI and have sufficient time and financial support to pursue their own practice. Through its semester-long structure, the Fellowship not only offers each participating artist an invaluable opportunity to further their own practice, it also leaves a deep, lasting impression on SFAI’s students. This prestigious award has been given to 21 artists since 1998, including Brad Brown, Shaun O’Dell, Iona Rozeal Brown, Josephine Taylor, Monica Majoli, Polly Apfelbaum, and Liam Everett. See a complete list of recipients here.

This year’s Fellowship is open only to artists who reside in the United States and outside of the nine Bay Area counties.

Artists must apply by the deadline of Monday, December 2, 2019. Please see details below about important dates, application fees, eligibility, and process.

Eligibility
Applications are sought from early- to mid-career artists who have an established body of work and exemplary exhibition record in the media of painting and drawing. Applicants must reside in the United States and outside the Bay Area. (In alternate years, the Richard Diebenkorn Teaching Fellowship is awarded to artists from the Bay Area.) The review committee will consider the applicant’s experience and appropriateness to the SFAI mission and curriculum, as well as the quality of their work and written statements.

Fellowship award
The Richard Diebenkorn Teaching Fellow will receive 25,000 USD in compensation to teach two courses in the fall 2020 semester, give a public lecture in the Visiting Artists and Scholars Lecture Series (VAS), and engage with the SFAI community through individual student critiques, academic programs, and activities.

Integral to the Fellowship is a residency at Headlands Center for the Arts. The residency includes housing, an 800-square-foot studio, five chef-prepared meals each week, and access to shared vehicles. Artists in Residence are encouraged to engage with other residents and participate in the dynamic creative community of the Center, and are asked to participate in the seasonal Open House where resident artists share their work with the visiting public. Fellows are expected to be in residence full-time at Headlands during the fellowship, August 31 to December 11, 2020.

How to apply
Only electronic submissions will be accepted: sfaicalls.slideroom.com. Applications must include a letter of interest and artist statement, ten images, CV, and contact information for three references.

Application deadline: December 2

Application fee: 25 USD
Fellow announced: February 2020

About Headlands Center for the Arts
Founded in 1982, Headlands Center for the Arts operates a multi-disciplinary, international art center best known for its dynamic public programs and highly lauded artist residency. Located in the coastal wilderness of the Marin Headlands, 15 minutes outside of San Francisco in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Headlands’ historic nine-building campus is dedicated to process-driven exploration and risk-taking contemporary art in all disciplines. Its year-round programs provide visual artists, performers, musicians, and writers with opportunities for research, professional development, and peer-to-peer exchange at critical times in their careers. In addition, Headlands presents public programs including artist talks, exhibitions, community dinners, performances, and Open Houses, all toward the goal of facilitating meaningful interaction between artists and the public. The Artist in Residence (AIR) program awards residencies to artists from across the globe, working in nearly every artistic discipline. More information is available at headlands.org.

About San Francisco Art Institute
San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI), founded in 1871, is one of the country’s oldest and most prestigious institutions in the practice and study of contemporary art. As a diverse community of working artists and scholars, SFAI provides students with a rigorous education in the arts and preparation for a life in the arts through an immersive studio environment, an integrated liberal arts and art history curriculum, and critical engagement with the world. Committed to educating artists who will shape the future of art, culture, and society, SFAI fosters creativity and original thinking in an open, experimental, and interdisciplinary context.

SFAI offers BFA, BA, MFA, and MA degrees, a dual MA/MFA degree, a Post-Baccalaureate Certificate, and a range of exhibitions, public programs, and public education courses. Notable past faculty and alumni include Lance Acord, Ansel Adams, Kathryn Bigelow, Enrique Chagoya, Angela Davis, Richard Diebenkorn, Paul Kos, George Kuchar, Annie Leibovitz, Barry McGee, Manuel Neri, Catherine Opie, Peter Pau, Laura Poitras, Clyfford Still, and Kehinde Wiley.