The Clark Art Institute combines a public art museum with a complex of research and academic programs, including a major art history library. The Clark is an international center for discussion on the nature of art and its history.
The Clark offers between eleven and sixteen fellowships each year, ranging in duration from one to ten months, the majority awarded for one academic semester. National and international scholars, critics, curators, and museum professionals are welcome to propose projects that extend and enhance the understanding of the visual arts and their role in culture.
Scholars may propose topics that relate to the visual arts, their history, practice, theory, or interpretation. Any proposal that contributes to understanding the nature of artistic activity and the intellectual, social, and cultural worlds with which it is connected is welcome.
Subjects of investigation might come from any period, from prehistory to the present, and from anywhere in the world. Projects can be focused on works in any medium and can employ any methodological approach. Attention, however, will be given to proposals that promise to deepen, transform, or challenge those methods currently practiced within art history or that have the prospect of enhancing an understanding of the role of images in other disciplines in the humanities.
The Clark also offers a number of special fellowships: Curatorial Fellowship, Beinecke Fellowship, Clark/Oakley Humanities Fellowship, Michael Ann Holly Fellowship, Kress Fellowship in the Literature of Art (literature of art “before the era of art history”), and Mellon Network Fellowship (project addressing communication and technology—of all eras—across the visual humanities).
In addition to providing an opportunity for sustained research for fellows, outside of their usual professional obligations, the Clark encourages them to participate in a variety of collaborative and public discussions on diverse art historical topics as well as on larger questions and motivations that shape the practice of art history. Fellows are expected to reside in Williamstown, to have lunch and dinner with other fellows twice a month, and to participate in the intellectual life of the Clark, typically presenting one public lecture and/or a small individual seminar during their stay.
Applicants should hold a PhD or demonstrate equivalent professional experience. They may come from the academic or museum worlds, or from other professional backgrounds, and may be residents of any country. They may be employed, full- or part-time, or be independent scholars, curators, and/or critics.