Jobs & Opportunities » Opportunities

Cherryhurst House Fellowship

Type: Awards, Grants, Fellowships [View all]
Posted by: Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Deadline: Tue, June 1st, 2021

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston is now home to the Barbara Levine and Paige Ramey Photography Collection, an exceptional cache of vernacular prints and photographic objects that together call attention to the significance of photography in our everyday lives. Among all the visual arts, photography has the widest embrace; it is present in a thousand different forms—from the medium’s humble snapshots, to pinnacles of high art. As a museum that aims to represent the entire history of photography, we are proud to become the first institution to acquire more than limited examples of this democratic form, but an extraordinary vernacular collection in its entirety.

In celebration of this history-making acquisition, the Cherryhurst House Fellowship at MFAH has been established to provide access to this exceptional collection.

About the Fellowship

While some might call it “vernacular,” Barbara Levine and Paige Ramey affectionately refer to their collection as “Photo Mania,” a nickname that better conveys the joy viewers find in the material, and the passion with which they built their collection. The collection digs deep into various, interwoven themes with examples of material rarely found elsewhere: African-American Studio Portraits, LGBTQ Life, Mexico and the Border, Altered and Manipulated Photos, Gun Culture, Science and Industry, Sideshow Stars and Superheroes, and more. Objects in the collection include amateur snapshots, photo booth strips, real-photo postcards, fotoescultura, photo ID badges, photographic jewelry, embroidered photographs, comic books, and more.  Altogether, the 5,000 object collection tells a unique and complicated story of photography’s history, one that encompasses a broad range of objects, invites a dialogue between high and low art, and speaks to our shared photo-mania.

Takings its cues from the collection it celebrates, the Cherryhurst House Fellowship is unique in the field. It invites a collaborative application from one artist (not limited to photographers) and one scholar (historian, art historian, writer, etc.) for a week-long fellowship at MFAH’s Anne Wilkes Tucker Photography Study Center. A fellowship provides access for both applicants to the Barbara Levine and Paige Ramey collection, along with other works of art in MFAH’s extensive collection; accommodations; and a stipend of $1000 per person.

Collaborators are not asked to apply with a joint project, but rather with a similar interest in vernacular material. We believe that the dialog between artist and scholar furthers analysis and opens new paths of discovery. We encourage applications from emerging and established artists and scholars representing the widest possible range of perspectives and demographics.

Fellowship recipients will be asked to engage in informal conversation with Photography Department staff and guests during their period in residence and may be asked to participate in a more formal, public conversation about their work and interests.

Application Overview

Fellowships are NOT project grants. You do not need to outline a specific project (but may do so if appropriate), but must explain how access to the Barbara Levine and Paige Ramey Collection will inform your current work or practice.

Eligibility Requirements

Practicing artists in any medium; museum curators; professors of art history, visual culture, history, anthropology, and related fields; and independent historians, art historians, and writers are eligible.

Application Process

Applications must be joint applications from one artist (not limited to photographers) and one scholar (historian, art historian, writer, etc.). The application is available here: https://static.mfah.com/documents/mfah-cherryhurst-house-fellowship-application.17657822090824416376.pdf

The following materials should be submitted in Word or PDF format by June 1, 2021, emailed to CherryhurstHouseFellowship@mfah.org: 

•    Full contact information for each applicant.

•    A brief statement (maximum 250 words) of how the applicants know one another or have found one another.

•    A brief biographical statement (maximum 500 words) from each applicant outlining past achievements and describing why this fellowship opportunity is of interest.

•    Proposed dates when both applicants are able to be in Houston for a one-week period prior to March 1, 2022.  Please provide as wide a window of proposed dates as possible since the fellowship must be coordinated with availability of the Study Center and accommodations.

Information on the progress of an application will not be given before the final decisions are announced. Applicants will be notified of admission status via e-mail by June 15, 2021.

To browse the collection, visit our online collections page: https://emuseum.mfah.org/groups/levine-ramey-collection/results

Or email CherryhurstHouseFellowship@mfah.org with specific questions about the collection or fellowship application.

Posted on Thu, February 11th, 2021
Expires on Tue, June 1st, 2021

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