MEDIA: New
Media
Discipline-Specific Guidelines
2021 Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship
The Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship in Media: New Media supports Minnesota or New York City-based new media artists, early in their careers, creating bold, innovative and risk-taking new work that challenges conventional artistic forms. This program supports new media artists (work that is web-based, computational, virtual, interactive, data and/or technology-driven). Please note: visual artists using digital formats that are not web-based, computational, virtual, interactive, data- and/or technology-driven should apply in Visual Arts.
Please take the Eligibility Questionnaire to assess whether you meet the Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship eligibility criteria before reading through these further, discipline-specific requirements. You must meet all of the general eligibility requirements as well as those found in the Discipline-Specific Guidelines below, whether you are applying as an individual artist or as an ensemble/collective/collaborative.
Defining “Early Career”
Eligible applicants must have a sufficient body of completed work that a panel can use to assess your artistic development over time, dedication to the field and ongoing motivation to create new original work.
Early career artists:
- Have between 2 to 10 years of experience as a new media artist (excluding any time in a degree-granting program; as a web designer or coder doing work-for-hire on work created by others; or time away from working as an artist due to circumstances–e.g., having children, caring for family members, long-term illness, etc.).
New media artists who have been working in digital platforms for more than 10 years (excluding any time spent in a degree-granting program) are generally not eligible, even if they feel under-recognized. Artists beyond 10 years in the field who wish to discuss eligibility—based on circumstances (whether personal or geographic) or on specific creative practice considerations (i.e., the scale of work and/or extended creative cycles necessary to complete a single work)—should contact Jerome program staff before April 15, 2020 to discuss eligibility in advance of submitting an application.
- Have 2 completed and publicly presented/exhibited works. Works created and presented while in a degree-granting program are not eligible for meeting this requirement.
- Have at least 1 work on your resume/CV that has been supported by a presenting organization or funder (for a project grant from either a foundation or a federal, state or local arts agency). Self-presented work or work created and presented while in a degree-granting program is not eligible for meeting this requirement.
Panels rely on work samples and a resume/CV to assess the review criterion of artistic merit, impact and readiness. An artist’s application materials must demonstrate development over time, dedication to the field, craft and potential.
This is not an opportunity for beginning artists who have never completed their own media projects and whose work has yet to be publicly shared, or without a sufficient body of completed work that a panel can use to assess your artistic development over time.
Age is not a factor in determining eligibility.
Artists who are mid-career or established are not eligible.
Artists will be considered beyond early career and ineligible if they have:
- Received consistent significant financial support for your artistic work from foundations and/or federal, state or local arts agencies for multiple different projects.
- Considerable bodies of work and are consistently receiving solo exhibitions or commissions.
- Garnered significant regional or national prizes or awards in recognition or support of the creation and/or public presentation and/or distribution of multiple different works, including but not limited to:
- National festival grand juries or audience awards
- United States Artists Award, Creative Capital
Receipt of any one of these grants and awards does not make an artist ineligible—it is the receipt of multiple grants and awards for multiple projects that, taken as a whole, move an artist to mid-career or beyond.
- Received recognition in the form of awards, commissions, residencies or funding opportunities that are specifically categorized as mid-career.
- Achieved significant commercial success.
- Received awards or prizes in recognition of significant cumulative career achievement (including but not limited to Lumen Prize, Guggenheim Fellowship, Fulbright Scholar Program or the MacArthur Fellowship).
- Have a full-time tenured faculty position (or the equivalent).
Recognizing that different funders may define “mid-career” in different ways, artists who have received mid-career awards but consider themselves still in an early career stage should contact Jerome program staff before April 15, 2020, in advance of submitting an application.
Producers or those in other development or technical roles with substantial recognition and lengthy careers in developing new media platforms will generally be considered ineligible. Artists who want to discuss eligibility should contact Jerome program staff before April 15, 2020, in advance of submitting an application.
Mid-career or established artists from fields other than new media will not be considered early career. For example, a composer with a substantial career in music who is now moving into new mediums like VR or AR platforms will not be considered early career for the purposes of this Fellowship.
Ensemble/Collective/Collaborative Eligibility
Ensembles/collectives/collaboratives may submit a single application requesting support request 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 for artists applying individually and have a demonstrated history of creating new work collectively or as part of an ensemble. Only eligible ensemble/collective/collaborative artists may be included in the application.
Please take the Eligibility Questionnaire to assess whether your group meets the Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship eligibility criteria for ensembles/collectives/collaboratives.
In the application, you must provide:
- 2 work samples, each from a different completed and publicly presented work that you have conceived, generated and publicly delivered as a generative artist. Eligible samples can include work that has been featured in online-only platforms as long as there is a competitive selection process that selectively curates work. Use your most recent and strongest work. Panels prefer work created within the last 3 years. Older samples may be submitted with an explanation in the “work sample context” field. Work created and presented while in a degree-granting program is not eligible.
- Provide two video work samples documenting your new media work. For online experiences, a video of the site in action is preferred, in addition to the site link. In addition to video documentation, you may provide URL links to corresponding websites allowing panelists to navigate the experience of your work if the work is still online.
- You may submit a third work sample of a work-in-progress, especially if this is a project you would be pursuing during your Fellowship.
Work sample time maximum:
- 10 minutes for 2 publicly presented works
- 3 minutes for 1 work-in-progress
- 13 minutes total maximum
For example, you may submit a 5-minute video demonstration of a completed and publicly presented work, a 5-minute video demonstration of a second completed, publicly presented work plus a URL link to the website, and a 3-minute section of a work-in-progress that you are developing over the next couple of years.
Submit your works in the order in which you would like them to be viewed, starting with your strongest sample. Panelists want to see a range of work demonstrating development over time, dedication to the field, craft and potential.
The applicant must be the primary creator of all submitted samples. If applying as an ensemble/collective/collaborative, all of the work samples must be the creative work created by the members of the group who are applying.
Do not submit promotional videos, proofs of concept, trailers, reels, or interviews. Panels prefer to see real-time sequences of work representative of the live experience. The preference is that you submit links to the full-length work and provide a single cue point within the work for the panel to watch.
Jerome staff will assess whether your work samples are eligible for the panel to view.
Ineligible work samples include:
- projects created for contests;
- commercial or non-commercial work-for-hire that you created at the direction of a client or producer, even if this is commissioned work;
- work for which you do not have primary creative control, such as community-based projects that rely on content that you did not create;
- any work created and presented/exhibited while in a degree-granting program.
For each work sample in the application, you will provide the following required information:
- Video Documentation URL and (optionally) a URL link to view the online experience: artists are encouraged to provide links using Vimeo or YouTube to the full-length documentation. This provides panelists the opportunity to view more of the work if they so choose. If you do not have video documentation, you can provide a URL allowing panelists to navigate the experience.
- Vimeo or website password, if applicable
- Work Sample Description, listing:
- Name of the Work
- Date Completed
- Where the work has been presented/performed/exhibited (if it is presented online, is this a website that you are hosting or is your content being presented by an organization?)
- If you appear in the work, identify yourself (e.g., “I am the artist in the red shirt”)
- Your Role in the Work Sample
- If you were solely responsible for the artistic direction and creation of the work, list yourself as “sole creator”
- If you played multiple roles, list all of the roles you played in the creation of the work. For example, “creator and director, performer, composer” or “creator and director, coder, web designer”
- Cue point/navigation instructions for the Work Sample
- For video documentation:
- Indicate your start and stop time for the excerpt (e.g., “Start at 3:30 and end at 8:00”). If no start and stop time is provided, panelists will begin watching at the beginning of the video.
- Do not submit more than one timecode range per sample (e.g., Do not “Start at 1:00 to 1:30 then jump to 2:45 to 3:45”—panelists want to see uninterrupted sequences of work in real time).
- The total time of your excerpts for all samples combined is 13 minutes (not 13 minutes per work).
- For website URLs:
- Please specify if there is a specific platform (Chrome, Safari or Firefox, etc.) that should be used as well as if there is specific navigation or path you want panelists to follow.
- For video documentation:
- Work Sample Excerpt Context
- Provide up to 150 words (recommended length) to give panelists a precise context for what they are watching. This can include a brief description of the entire piece, any important information about sections of the work occurring either before or after your clip that you want them to know, or your intentions and goals in creating the piece. If your work is challenging to experience in short clips, you can share that here. If you are sharing a multi-channel project and submitting a single-channel video as documentation, explain to the panel how the viewing experience is different. If you’d like panelists to pay attention to specific elements of your work, this is also where you might instruct them to do so. Given the panelist preference for recent work, if you are submitting work samples that are older than 3 years, please explain why.
Applicants who cannot provide the minimum amount of requested work samples leave the panel without enough information to gauge whether the applicant is truly competitive. Applicants who cannot meet the minimum requirement will be eliminated from consideration.
Panels rely on the resume/CV to evaluate how your artistic background demonstrates development over time, dedication to the field, ongoing motivation in the creation of new, original work in your artistic field over a multi-year period and your readiness for a two-year fellowship.
To meet eligibility requirements, you must have at least 1 work on your resume/CV that has been supported by a presenter (an organization or online platform as there is a competitive selection process that selectively curates work) or funder (for a project grant from either a foundation or a federal, state or local arts agency). Work that has been self-presented or work created and presented while in a degree-granting program is not eligible for this requirement.
Staff will assess your resume/CV to make sure you are eligible for the panel to review. Any applicant whose resume does not clearly establish eligibility will be eliminated for further consideration at the prescreening stage.
Resume/CVs should be current and complete. Bios are not acceptable. The Jerome staff and panel will not do research to determine your role(s), completion date, exhibitions or presentations, dates in degree programs, etc.
The resume is your chance to present and confirm your status as an early career new media artist with a history of ultimate creative control over projects, artistic development over time, dedication to the field, and ongoing motivation in the creation of new, original work. For that reason, applicants need to be specific about clearly listing your new media work separate from other work and opportunities.
A sample individual new media artist resume is available for your reference.
Individual Artist Resumes/CVs should include the following:
- Completed Exhibited/Presented Work: listing of publicly presented work, include all presented, commissioned and self-produced work.
- Name of the work and running time (if applicable)
- Date completed
- Where the work has been presented/exhibited and length of exhibition (please list 3 or 4 representative locations (live or virtual)—see example below).
- If you played multiple roles beyond sole creator, list all of the roles you played in the creation of the work. For example, “creator and director, performer, composer” or “creator and director, coder, web designer.”
- Provide a short, (1–3 sentence) summary of the work.
Example: Light and Vision was developed and exhibited (8 weeks) as part of Festival A at Venue A (City) in 2018. This installation in an interactive homage to 20th-century surrealism. The browser-based experience combines layered visual vocabulary with photographic elements and a variety of synthetic digital imaging techniques allowing viewer to choose their own adventure. I conceived and created this project with support of a web developer for the technical functionality of the site.
Skeptical was developed as part of residency at Venue A (City) in 2019 and part of a group exhibition (one month) at Venue B (City) for in 2020. This work exists as a website that can also be expanded into an installation with live participation. The site tracks the skepticism of viewers to new ideas, foods, people, travel, etc. The installation includes data visualization of viewers by demographics. I conceived and created this work with support of a web programmer.
- Work In Development: provide the work, date, short description
Example: Received a commission from Venue A (City) to develop a collaborative web-based project working with the Venue A Youth Arts Team.
- Other Professional Artistic Work: list role, name of project and creator, date
Example: Interact, exhibited at Museum A, Minnesota, 2018. Web design for an interactive project by Jaime Rodriguez.
Voice, online exhibition through Organization A, 2017. Programmed data collection function for interactive website by Jessie Kingsley, 2011.
- Fellowships & Awards: list name of award, date, amount and the project
Example: [name of fellowship or award], [year], [amount of award or fellowship stipend], [length of fellowship], [name of project, if relevant]
- Grants: list name of grant, date, amount and the project
Example: [name of grant], [year], [amount of grant], [name of project, if relevant]
- Residencies: list name of residency, date, length of residency
Example: [name of residency], [year], [length of residency], [name of project, if relevant]
- Education: list any dates when you were enrolled in degree program/s
Example: University A, MFA, 2010-2013
College A, BFA in Photography, 2003-2007
- Teaching: list name of class, venue, city, year, length of class
Example: [name of class], Venue A (city), [year], [length of class, e.g. “1-week intensive” or “12 weeks”]
- Additional relevant categories: Please include any additional categories, including curatorial experience, selected critical reviews, artistic training programs, press and publications, etc., that you usually include on your resume.
Ensemble/Collective/Collaborative Resumes/CVs:
Artists applying as an ensemble/collective/collaborative should submit a resume of the collaborative work in addition to individual resumes of the artists applying. The collaborative information is the same format as that requested from individual artist applicants, just specific to the co-creators applying.
A sample collaborative resume is available for your reference.
The collaborative resume should include:
- Completed Exhibited/Presented Work: listing of publicly presented work, include all presented, commissioned and self-produced work.
- Name of the work and running time (if applicable)
- Date completed
- When and where the work was documented (if applicable)
- Where the work has been presented/exhibited and length of exhibition (please list 3 or 4 representative locations (live or virtual).
- List the roles of the collective members. If collective members applying play multiple generative roles, list all of the roles applicants played in the creation of the work. See example below.
- Provide a short, (1–3 sentence) summary of the work.
Example: Light and Vision was developed and exhibited (8 weeks) as part of Festival A at Venue A (City) in 2018. This installation in an interactive homage to 20th-century surrealism. The browser-based experience combines layered visual vocabulary with photographic elements and a variety of synthetic digital imaging techniques allowing viewer to choose their own adventure. The collaborative team, Jahni Marks and Marni Salvador, conceived and created the project with support of a web developer for the technical functionality of the site.
Memory was exhibited (one month) at Venue A (City) in 2014. It is an experimental and interdisciplinary digital system generating both sound and image. The evocative audio-visual environment is multi-sensory and immersive. This work was conceived and created by Marks and Salvador during a fellowship at Venue B (City).
- Work In Development: provide the work, date, short description
Example: Received a commission from Venue A (City) to develop a collaborative web-based project working with the Venue A Youth Arts Team.
- Other Professional Artistic Work: list role, name of project and creator, date
Example: Interact, exhibited at Museum A, Minnesota, 2018. Web design for an interactive project by Jaime Rodriguez.
Voice, online exhibition through Organization A, 2017. Programmed data collection function for interactive website by Jessie Kingsley, 2011.
- Fellowships & Awards: list name of award, date, amount and the project
Example: [name of fellowship or award], [year], [amount of award or fellowship stipend], [length of fellowship], [name of project, if relevant]
- Grants: list name of grant, date, amount and the project
Example: [name of grant], [year], [amount of grant], [name of project, if relevant]
- Residencies: list name of residency, date, length of residency
Example: [name of residency], [year], [length of residency], [name of project, if relevant]
- Teaching: list name of class, venue, city, year, length of class
Example: [name of class], Venue A (city), [year], [length of class, e.g. “1-week intensive” or “12 weeks”]
- Additional relevant categories: Please include any additional categories, including curatorial experience, selected critical reviews, press, artistic training programs, etc., that you usually include on your collaborative resume.
Note: if the ensemble/collective/collaborative includes members that are not Jerome-eligible or not included in the application, but those artists were involved in the creation of the works included on the collaborative resume, please note this on the collaborative resume.
Example: Render was exhibited (6-weeks) at Venue A (City) in 2013. It is a New media immersive piece with a website and mobile app interface exploring historical narratives, expression and joy. Incubator Collective conceived and created this work. The website and mobile app were developed by Marks and Alex Watson (with support from a web developer for the technical functionality of the mobile app), and Salvador created the soundscape. Alex Watson is not Jerome-eligible but is a regular member of Incubator Collective.
