Eligibility Questionnaire

Jerome Hill Artist Fellowships support Minnesota or New York City-based artists, early in their careers, who generate and create bold, innovative and risk-taking new work that explores and/or challenges conventional artistic forms.

Artists who are applying as part of an ensemble/collective/collaborative should skip ahead to the next section, titled ENSEMBLE/COLLECTIVE/COLLABORATIVE ELIGIBILITY.

INDIVIDUAL ARTIST ELIGIBILITY

In order to determine your eligibility as an individual artist, please answer the following questions under each of the eligibility criteria:

1. Are residents of either Minnesota or the 5 boroughs of New York City:

Did (or will) you file your US federal taxes as a resident of either Minnesota or one of the five boroughs of New York City in 2019? 2020? 2021? 2022?

Jerome does not require citizenship, just residency and a social security number or ITIN for tax purposes.

2. Are not enrolled as a full-time student in a degree-granting education program:

If you have chosen to pursue formal education in any degree-granting program, arts-related or non-arts related (e.g., BA, BFA, MA, MFA), have you completed your coursework and graduated (or terminated your enrollment), if applicable?
If you have chosen to pursue a PhD, have you completed all course requirements except your dissertation?

There is no formal education requirement, but applicants cannot be enrolled in a degree program.

**3. Are a generative artist* who creates and maintains control over new original work†:**

Are you generating and creating entirely new work (rather than interpreting, translating, arranging, copying, remounting pre-existing work or the work of others) as one or more of the following:
- choreographer (in the field of dance)
- director of film/video or new media artist creating computational, interactive, digitally distributed work (in the fields of film/video or new media)
- fiction writer, poet, or creative nonfiction writer (in the field of literature)
- composer, sound artist, vocal composers, creators of new original music (in the field of music)
- playwright, primary creator of devised work, performance artist or spoken word artist (in the fields of theater, performance art or spoken word)
- painter, sculptor, drawer, printmaker, public installation artist, social practice, conceptual, installation, graffiti, textile, ceramics, glass, bead, metal, paper, and photography and digital video or film that is presented in exhibition or installation context (in the field of visual arts)

As a reminder, the Foundation defines generative artists as those who conceive and create new original work and does not fund artists who solely interpret or perform or develop/produce the work of others.

The Foundation supports new original artistic work that has been created and developed by the artist from concept to completion and is not a remount, revival or interpretation of previously existing material.

Jerome Foundation recognizes that many artists today are working across disciplines. Though each applicant must apply in one of the six specified disciplines, there will be the opportunity to identify any additional disciplines in which the artist is working. Additionally, artists are asked in the application to share in their own words how they categorize their genre of work.

The following are not eligible to apply:

artists whose primary goals and practice are to interpret the works of others
artists whose primary goals and practice have been and will be as accompanists, lyricists (or song-writers or librettists who write the words but not the music), actors, cinematographers, dancers, editors, screen writers, journalists, business or self-help writers, translators, critics, scholars, musical arrangers, singers (of non-original work who are not also composers), supporting puppeteers, architects or designers
arts administrators
producers
managers
technical crew
dramaturgs
artist representatives/agents
full-time tenured faculty at any college, university or institution of higher learning
previous Jerome Hill Artists Fellows

4. Are artists early in their career, not beginning artists, with completed and publicly delivered new original work:

Is generating such new work your primary career goal for the future?
Have you been generating and creating this new work (as defined above) as a professional/vocational artist in your respective field for at least 2 years but less than 10 years (excluding time you may have spent in formal degree-granting programs or time away from working as an artist due to circumstances– i.e., having children, caring for family members, long-term illness, etc.)?
Has any of your work been supported by a presenting organization or funder (for a project grant from either a foundation or a federal, state or local arts agency)?
Do you have work samples of at least 2 different completed and publicly presented works (i.e., beyond staged readings, drafts, rough cuts, work in progress, showcases, etc.)? Ideally this is recent work, preferably within the last 3 years though older work may be. Work created and presented while in a degree-granting program is not eligible.

5. Are artists early in their career, not mid-career or established artists:

Have you yet to receive major prizes, awards or consistent institutional support for multiple projects in any field—either as a generator of new work or as an interpreter of the work of others?
Have you been generating and creating new work for less than a decade?

6. Are currently active in creating new work:

Are you currently (at the time of application) working on a new project?

7. Are creating bold, innovative and risk-taking new work that explores and/or challenges conventional artistic forms:

Does your work push beyond conventional mainstream aesthetics and strive to be bold, innovative and risk taking?

Innovation and risk-taking are Jerome Foundation values that reflect our interest in supporting artists from diverse backgrounds and experiences who are expanding ways of working, asking questions, and inspiring new ways of imagining.

If you are working within a specific artistic tradition, does your work expand or challenge, not merely preserve, that tradition?

8. Are ready for and have the time for a two-year fellowship:

Does your schedule over the two-year fellowship period (mid 2021 to mid 2023) allow time for you to pursue your self-defined fellowship related activities?

Applicants are urged to think carefully about their schedules before applying. Jerome Hill Artist Fellowships are awarded to artists only once, and Fellows may not delay or defer participation in the program or receipt of funds if awarded a Fellowship. The Foundation’s intention is that Fellowship funds will provide artists with more time and resources for their creative pursuits, but all schedule and work arrangements are determined by the artist (i.e., there is no expectation that anyone will take a leave of absence from their job/s).

Do you have at least $50,000 in unsupported artistic expenses over the two-year fellowship period in 2021-2023?

Please note that Jerome funds cannot support costs already funded by another organization.

9. Have completed current Jerome grantee requirements (if applicable):

If you are a past or current grantee in the Film, Video and Digital Production Grant and/or the Travel and Study Grant programs, are you up-to-date and have completed the grant or are compliant on all reporting requirements?

Jerome Hill Artist Fellow Darrius Strong. Photo by Alice Gebura.

If you answered “Yes” to these questions:

Your next step is to consult the discipline specific eligibility guidelines to make sure that you can meet all work sample requirements before proceeding to create an application.

If you answered “No” to any of these questions, you are not eligible to apply for the Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship.

Artists with questions must consult Jerome staff by telephone before applying. See Eligibility Check Phone Appointments below for details on how to schedule such a call.

ENSEMBLE/COLLECTIVE/COLLABORATIVE ELIGIBILITY

Ensembles/collectives/collaboratives may submit a single application requesting support for 2–5 members who will share the Fellowship funds equally. In order to submit an eligible application, the ensemble/collective/collaborative must:

have a majority of members that meet all of the Fellowship eligibility requirements listed below
have a demonstrated history of creating new work as part of an ensemble, collectively or collaboratively

If rather than working as an individual artist, you work primarily within an ensemble/collective/collaborative as well as other collaborators, you should apply with your primary ensemble/collective/collaborative.

In order to determine your eligibility ensemble/collective/collaborative, please answer the following questions under each of the eligibility criteria below.