(1) State Residency 

Applicants must be Rhode Island residents 12 months prior to the application deadline, at the time of submitting the application, and during the period of the fellowship. If recommended for a Fellowship, applicants will be required to provide two (2) documents as proof of residency.

(2) Disciplines / Genres

Applications are accepted for original work in fiction, non-fiction, poetry (including spoken-word), playwriting, screenwriting, and other experimental/new-genre written forms.

(3) Career Stage 

Though the Fellowships are not awarded by career stage categories, applicants must demonstrate that they are within the range of an emerging to mid-career stage in their artistic profession, regardless of age. To assist applicants in determining if they are within this range, The Foundation defines the eligible career stages as follows:

Emerging Artists are considered to be in the early years of their professional careers, which may include having recently undertaken a career change to a significant artistic practice. 

An emerging artist:

• demonstrates at least 3 years of professional practice and currently is creating independent work;

• demonstrates promising artistic development and may have attracted some early critical notice, but does not yet have an extensive record of recognition;

• has produced an elemental yet substantive body of work and has an accruing record of publication, public readings, and other presentations of work.

Mid-Career Artists are those who have created an independent body of work over a number of years and have received some regional or national recognition. 

A mid-career artist:

• demonstrates at least 7 years of sustained professional practice and is currently producing work;

• has produced an accruing body of work that demonstrates artistic exploration and development;

• has received some regional and/or national recognition, but is not substantially established in the field, or has had substantial professional recognition at an earlier career stage.  

(1) Established Artists

Established artists are not eligible. They are defined as having reached the mature stage of their careers and advanced levels of achievement. 

An established artist:

• has a record of at least 15 years of continuous and sustained professional artistic practice;

• demonstrates a history of regional, national, and/or international professional recognition through commissions, critical reviews, performances, grant awards, residencies, fellowships, and/or productions; and

• produces work that is regarded to have measurable critical and/or commercial value.

(2) Previous Awardees

Previous awardees of the fellowship are not eligible; however, previous finalists/runners-up may apply again. 

(3) Students

Applicants who are high-school students or who are undergraduate or graduate college students enrolled in a degree-granting program, at the time of application or during the period of the fellowship, are not eligible.  

QUESTIONS? Application and selection are managed by the Artist Communities Alliance. Questions about eligibility, guidelines, applications, and other details should be directed to the Alliance at grants [at] artistcommunities.org.

Learn more about the Rhode Island Foundation's MacColl Johnson Fellowships and past Fellowship winners at rifoundation.org