Creative Arts Fellowship

Cross boundaries of form, medium, and genre. 

Deadline: Applications for spring are due Nov. 15
$4,000 for part-time work and workshops in spring, then full-time project focus in summer. 

Broaden your artistic scope as you bring your own idea to life (under the guidance of a faculty mentor). Join a diverse group of creative scholars from different specialties for intensive workshops and discussions throughout the spring. Then, spend the summer creating full-time. 

Film, writing, studio works, theatre, music — all creative projects are welcome, especially interdisciplinary concepts. Open to all majors. 

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Creative Arts Fellowship details

Overview - Who can apply - Selection criteria
 

Overview

The Honors College Creative Arts Fellowship supports students producing a piece of creative work under the mentorship of a faculty member or experienced graduate student. Fellows get the opportunity to engage with other artists and methods across disciplines. 

The fellowship lasts 2 terms, spring and summer (January - August):

  • Spring - work part-time (~5 hours/week) on your individual project, while enrolled in a weekly for-credit seminar of interactive workshops that cover a variety creative disciplines (about 3 weeks per topic.) 
  • Summer - work on your creative projects full-time (~30 hours/week), while meeting bi-weekly to discuss your work with your Fellow group.
  • Fall - After the Fellowship, you will present your finished product at a public event.

Fellows will be awarded a stipend of $4,000: $500 dispersed in the spring, and $3,500 in the summer. Work you produce during the fellowship will remain your property.

The workshops

Tuesdays from 3:00 - 4:15 p.m. (1 credit.) 
The exact fellowship curriculum is tailored to each fellow group, but spring sessions will explore 3 broad creative themes, led by an interdisciplinary faculty team from various backgrounds. Guest speakers and Pitt faculty from across creative disciplines will join these sessions to discuss their own work with you, and provide guidance.

Who can apply

Applicants must: 

  • Have completed at least 24 credits, and be registered as a full-time undergraduate student on Pitt's Oakland campus during the spring semester of the fellowship. Please note, students graduating in April are not eligible for the fellowship. Students must be enrolled through at least fall 2020. In some cases, students graduating in summer 2020 may be eligible.
  • Identify a Fellowship mentor — either a faculty member or experienced graduate student
  • Live in Pittsburgh during the summer term. Some work may require time outside the city, but it should be limited and explained in your proposal. If your work requires time outside the city, please speak with the fellowship director before applying.

Students from any discipline are encouraged to apply, but students not majoring or minoring in a creative discipline should seek out a mentor (or an additional mentor) in a creative field. 

Selection Criteria

You must produce something as a result of your work, even if it's still a work in progress at the end of the summer session. You must also be willing to share your work with audiences within and outside of the Honors College. 

Fellows are selected based on: 

  • Academic record
  • Quality of the proposal
  • Originality and promise of your proposed project
  • Previous creative work that demonstrates promise in your ability to carry out your proposed project
  • Your interest in participating in creative workshops outside your own discipline
  • A letter of recommendation from your mentor

We are interested in a a variety of proposals, and interdisciplinary projects will get special consideration. 

Creative Arts Fellows share about their work with peers from different backgrounds. You should write your proposal for a broad, non-expert audience (plain language, with minimal jargon.)
 

Apply now »

You will be notified about the decision within about 30 days of the application deadline.