Smithsonian American Art Museum Research Fellowships
The Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM) and its Renwick Gallery invite applications to its premier fellowship program, the oldest and largest in the world for the study of American art. Scholars from any discipline whose research engages the art, craft, and visual culture of the United States are encouraged to apply, as are those who foreground new perspectives, materials, and methodologies. Fellowships are residential and support full-time research in the Smithsonian collections. SAAM is devoted to advancing excellence in art history and encourages candidates from all backgrounds to apply.
How To Apply
The museum hosts a number of fellows each year through Smithsonian-sponsored fellowship programs and awards its own named fellowships.
Smithsonian Institution Fellowship Program (SIFP)
The Betsy James Wyeth Fellowship in Native American Art
The Audrey Flack Short-Term Fellowship
Applicants must identify a member of SAAM’s research staff to serve as primary fellowship advisor in order to hold a residency at this museum. They are encouraged to notify the potential advisor in advance of their application. To find a potential advisor whose research interests match yours, browse the museum’s staff listings in the Smithsonian Opportunities for Research and Study guide or search our Staff Bios.
Applicants whose native language is not English are expected to have the ability to write and converse fluently in English. All application materials must be presented in English (foreign transcripts may be translated).
Smithsonian Institution Fellowship Program (SIFP)
Apply to the SIFP (Opens around August 15)
Deadline: October 15, 2025
Level: Graduate student, predoctoral, postdoctoral, or senior
Duration: 10 weeks for graduate student fellows; 3-12 months for predoctoral, postdoctoral, and senior fellows. Tenures must take place between June 1, 2026, and August 31, 2027.
Stipend: $10,000/for 10-week graduate student fellows; $45,000/year for predoctoral fellows and $57,000/year for postdoctoral and senior fellows (prorated if less than 12 months)
Allowances: Predoctoral, postdoctoral, and senior fellows may apply for a research allowance of up to $5,000 for short research trips. A travel allowance of $100-$1,000 supports relocation. Fellows in residence longer than three months are eligible for an allowance of $100/month if enrolling in a Smithsonian health insurance plan.
Applicants to the SIFP who propose a primary advisor at this museum will automatically be considered for the following named SAAM fellowships:
- The Will Barnet Foundation Fellowship is awarded biennially and funds a full year of research on a topic related to American modern art, including its influence on later generations.
- The Joe and Wanda Corn Fellowship is endowed by their former students Mike Wilkins and Sheila Duignan and supports scholars whose research interests span American art and American history. The recipient is jointly appointed at SAAM and the National Museum of American History and draws on the resources of both museums.
- The Douglass Foundation Fellowship in American Art provides for a full year of dissertation research at the museum.
- The Helen Frankenthaler Foundation Fellowship advances research on modern and contemporary art. Residency is available for twelve months at the predoctoral level or nine months at the postdoctoral or senior level.
- The Patricia and Phillip Frost Fellowship supports a year of research in American art and visual culture.
- The George Gurney Fellowship funds a six-month research appointment in American sculpture in honor of SAAM’s late curator emeritus of sculpture. Residencies should take place June–December 2026 or January–August 2027. Contribute to this fund
- The Joshua C. Taylor Fellowship is intermittently awarded and is supported by alumni and friends in memory of the museum’s former director and founder of the fellowship program. Contribute to this fund
- The William H. Truettner Fellowship provides for six months of research in honor of SAAM’s late curator emeritus whose career at the museum spanned nearly fifty years. Residencies should take place June–December 2026 or January–August 2027. Contribute to this fund
- The Windgate Foundation supports a yearlong fellowship for the study of American craft.
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The Wyeth Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship is awarded for the advancement and completion of a doctoral dissertation that concerns the study, appreciation, and recognition of excellence in all aspects of American art. The Wyeth Foundation for American Art provides publishing grants of up to $5,000 for first-time authors who have held a Wyeth Fellowship.
The Betsy James Wyeth Fellowship in Native American Art
This one-year fellowship seeks to foster new scholarship on Native art of the United States that centers and elevates Indigenous methodologies, knowledges, and communities. The fellowship is jointly hosted by SAAM and the National Museum of the American Indian and provides scholars with access to the resources of both museums. The Wyeth Foundation for American Art provides publishing grants of up to $5,000 for first-time authors who have held a Betsy James Wyeth Fellowship in Native American Art.
Apply to the Betsy James Wyeth Fellowship
Deadline: October 15, 2025
Level: Predoctoral, postdoctoral, or senior
Duration: 12 months, tenure must take place between June 1, 2026, and August 31, 2027
Stipend: $53,000
Allowances: Up to $5,000 for short research trips; travel allowance of $100-$1,000 for relocation; and $100/month to assist with health insurance costs
The Audrey Flack Short-Term Fellowship
This one-month fellowship facilitates onsite research at SAAM for scholars whose personal circumstances (i.e., financial constraints, employment conditions, care-giving responsibilities, or other limitations) preclude them from participating in longer-term residencies.
Apply to the Audrey Flack Fellowship (Opens December 1)
Deadline: February 1, 2026
Level: Predoctoral, postdoctoral, or senior
Duration: 1 month, tenure must take place between June 1, 2026, and May 31, 2027
Stipend: $5,000
Allowances: Travel allowance of $100-$1,000 for relocation
Other Smithsonian Programs
SAAM also hosts fellows appointed through the following Smithsonian programs:
Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) - Smithsonian Fellowship Program
Big Ten Academic Alliance Smithsonian Fellowship
James Smithson Fellowship Program
Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship (SARF)
Smithsonian Postgraduate/Postdoctoral Fellowships in Conservation of Museum Collections Program
Eligibility
Scholars from any discipline who are pursuing research on topics that engage with American art, craft, and visual culture may apply at one of the following levels:
- Graduate student fellowships support independent research by MA and PhD students who have not yet advanced to candidacy. Students must be formally enrolled in a graduate program of study at a degree-granting institution at the time they apply. They must have completed at least one full-time semester or its equivalent before the fellowship begins.
- Predoctoral fellowships are for those who have completed coursework and preliminary examinations for their doctoral degree and are engaged in university-approved dissertation research.
- Postdoctoral fellowships support independent research projects by scholars who earned a PhD in the last five years.
- Senior fellowships are intended for scholars with a distinguished publication record who have held their doctoral degree for at least five years or who possess a commensurate record of professional accomplishment. If you have taken a “leave of absence” from research and wish to apply under the postdoctoral fellowship application instead of the senior fellowship application, you will need to provide justification in the additional information section at the end of the application.
- No employee or contractor of the Smithsonian Institution may hold a Smithsonian fellowship during the time of their employment or contract, nor may an award be offered to any person who has been employed by or under contract to the Smithsonian in the previous year, without prior approval.
- The Smithsonian Office of International Relations will assist with arranging J-1 exchange visas for all fellowship recipients who require them.
Selection
Applications will be evaluated on the originality and quality of the proposed research project; the applicant’s academic standing, scholarly qualifications, and experience; the project’s contribution to expanding broad perspectives of American art; and the extent to which the Smithsonian, through its research staff and resources, can contribute to the stated research goals. For named fellowships, additional selection criteria may apply.
SAAM welcomes submissions from applicants from all backgrounds and lived experiences. The Smithsonian does not discriminate on grounds of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age (40 or older), disability, genetic information, parental status, or marital status.
Resources and Facilities
The holdings of the Smithsonian American Art Museum reveal the United States’ rich artistic and cultural history from the colonial period to today. This unparalleled collection of over 46,500 works includes special strengths in nineteenth- and twentieth-century sculpture, nineteenth-century landscape painting and imagery of the American West, Gilded Age and American Impressionist painting, twentieth-century realism, New Deal art, photography and graphic art, self-taught art, work by Latinx and African American artists, and time-based media, with growing holdings of artworks by Asian American and Native American artists. The collection is housed in a National Historic Landmark building—shared with the National Portrait Gallery (NPG) and the Archives of American Art—where the expansive holdings of the Luce Foundation Center, a three-story visible art storage facility, can be accessed daily. Contemporary American craft and decorative art are featured in the Renwick Gallery, a branch of the museum located across from the White House.
Each scholar is provided a study carrel in SAAM’s Research and Scholars Center, situated across the street from the museum. There, fellows have access to a 180,000-volume library that specializes in American art, history, and biography; the Archives of American Art; the graphics collections of SAAM and NPG; the Joseph Cornell Study Center; and the Nam June Paik Archive, as well as a variety of image collections and research databases. Located in downtown Washington, D.C., SAAM’s Research and Scholars Center is a short walk from other Smithsonian museums and libraries, the Library of Congress, the National Archives, and the National Gallery of Art.
Regular lunchtime seminars, gallery talks, public lectures, and symposia provide a forum for lively scholarly exchange. Publishing guidance is provided by the staff of SAAM’s peer-reviewed journal American Art. Additional professional development resources are made possible by the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation Endowment.
For More Information
Amelia Goerlitz, deputy head, Research and Scholars Center
Telephone (202)633-8353
Email SAAMFellowships@si.edu
For Other Smithsonian Opportunities
Office of Academic Appointments and Internships
