Individual Fellowship

The Individual Fellowship Program supports individuals (and up to one additional collaborator) pursuing research projects or other forms of creative inquiries across cultures. This may take the form of observation tours, specialized training, dissertation fieldwork, or other non-commercial creative, scholarly, or professional activity. As in all ACC programs, the emphasis is on process-driven a  ctivities that enable and promote cultural immersion, dialogue, relationship-building, collaboration, and/or the exchange of knowledge among peers. The project should foster mutual cultural exchange through learning, interacting, and observing. 

The Individual Fellowship does not support production-based proposals. Rather, it provides precious freedom for applicants to explore the proposed topic without the need to produce a final project or end product . Examples of common activities include:

• Observing contemporary trends in an art practice or best practices in a professional field
• Exploring across fields or disciplines
• Seeking creative inspiration by attending performances, exhibitions, or other cultural events
• Participating in specialized workshops or training
• Meeting peers to exchange knowledge and ideas

Support services are intended to enhance a proposed plan of activity, give increased access to artistic communities and cultural resources in the destination country, and deepen the cultural exchange experience. However, proposals should be feasible with or without additional guidance from ACC. 

Support may include:

• Recommending sites to visit or activities to participate in, especially in Hong Kong, Japan, the Philippines, Taiwan, and the U.S.
• Connecting grantees to ACC’s broader community of fellows and alumni, with particular support for grantees based in New York City.
• Administering J-1 visa sponsorship and health insurance for travel to the U.S.

As the Individual Fellowship intends to support open-ended cross-cultural inquiries, applicants must:

• Articulate what kind of cultural exchange they plan to create during the fellowship, why the cultural exchange experience is important at this  specific timing of their career, and how they plan to share their experience or outcomes with a larger community or field after the fellowship ends. 
• Show artistic, scholarly, or professional excellence and potential for continued growth.
• Be independent, resourceful, and open to cultural exchange experiences beyond the specific goals of the fellowship activities.
• Demonstrate the feasibility of their proposal, including consideration of the accessibility of communities or cultural resources of interest, and the logistics of transportation, accommodations, language barriers, and budget.

If selected, fellows are expected to:

• Begin their fellowship travel within the funding period described above
• Notify ACC of any changes to their fellowship plans

Please note the following restrictions: 

• If an applicant plans to include collaborators, the maximum number of  collaborators eligible to be awarded under a single grant is 2 people. Collaborators must submit a single application to ACC and must plan to travel together; separate trips by each individual are not permitted. Financial support for a collaborative fellowship is not likely to be larger than an individual fellowship, so successful applications tend to propose a shorter period of travel.
• All fellowships should be completed in a single trip. ACC funding may not be used for multiple international airfares to the same region or country, except in rare cases with prior written approval from ACC.
• U.S. bound travel cannot begin prior to September 1, 2023, as additional time is required to administer the visa application. 
• This program is not intended for creating new work, exhibiting, performing, presenting, or other public activities.
• Funding amounts are calculated based on the proposed destination country(ies) and length of travel. Amounts are also subject to revision if plans change significantly after the fellowship is awarded.
• For dissertation field research longer than six months, applicants must indicate additional prospective funding sources.