Visiting Senior Fellowships — Fellowship

The Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts is the research center of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. Its visiting senior fellowships give established scholars two months of full-time research in residence at the Center.

Each cycle offers up to two Leonard A. Lauder Visiting Senior Fellowships and up to five Paul Mellon and Beinecke Visiting Senior Fellowships. Projects can cover the history, theory, or criticism of the visual arts from any period or part of the world. Scholars from other disciplines whose work examines art, artifacts, or visual culture are welcome.

The current call covers two-month stays between 1 March and 15 August 2027. Applications close on 21 September 2026.

Benefits & funding

Paul Mellon and Beinecke fellows: a stipend of US$7,000 or US$8,000, depending on relocation requirements.
Leonard A. Lauder fellows: up to US$12,500, which includes a US$2,500 supplement for future research and publication costs.
An office in the National Gallery’s East Building for the two months.
Housing, subject to availability.

Eligibility

A PhD held for five years or more by the application deadline, or an equivalent record of professional accomplishment.
Without a terminal degree, the equivalent record means at least five years of professional experience in a university or museum setting, including significant scholarly publications or a comparable record of achievement in the field.
Research on the history, theory, or criticism of the visual arts, any period or region. Applicants from any discipline whose work examines art, artifacts, or visual culture qualify.
Open to all nationalities and ages.
People currently affiliated with the National Gallery are not eligible.
You may not apply for another Center fellowship while this application is pending or after an award. Past visiting senior fellows may reapply three years after their fellowship ends.
The application must be in English.

Can you apply?

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Experience required
≥ 5 yrs

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Application process

1
Create an account on the Center’s Online Application Portal (casva.onlineapplicationportal.com), which opened for this cycle by 15 July 2026. The form can be saved and finished over several sessions.
2
Upload a proposal of two to four double-spaced pages and one publication, either an article or a book chapter (PDF, DOC, DOCX, RTF, or TXT; up to 5 MB per file).
3
Add two recommenders in the portal. Each receives an email and must submit a letter through the Online Reference Portal by the deadline.
4
Submit by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on 21 September 2026. A submitted application cannot be revised.
5
An external selection committee of scholars in the history of art and related disciplines reviews the applications. All decisions arrive by email, and no feedback is given.

Program timeline

Online Application Portal open for the cycle (by this date)
Jul 15, 2026
Application deadline, 5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time
Sep 21, 2026
Decisions
date not published; results sent by email
Award period opens (each fellow’s two-month stay falls within it)
Mar 1, 2027
Award period ends
Aug 15, 2027