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.
Clark Fellowships are awarded every year to established and promising scholars with the aim of fostering a critical commitment to inquiry in the theory, history, and interpretation of art and visual 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: Clark Fellowship in Digital Art History, Beinecke Fellowship, Clark/Oakley Humanities Fellowship, Clark Summer Fellowship, Curatorial Fellowship, and Michael Ann Holly Fellowship.
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.