Red Bull Arts Detroit Curatorial Fellowship

Red Bull Arts Detroit is committed to holistically supporting the arts locally and nationally. As such, we seek to provide alternative exhibition platforms to the vast network of independent curators who offer new ways of seeing, understanding, and experiencing artists and their works. The program creates an opportunity for a curator to realize an exhibition concept and bring it to the public in Detroit. The selected curator will demonstrate in their proposal a level of engagement and thoughtfulness about how their exhibition engages with the local city and community, and why it should take place in Detroit. Red Bull Arts Detroit will support the curator in the execution of the exhibition and it’s public programming. The exhibition will open in July of 2020, during the annual Detroit Art Week.

The Curator receives access to our 12,000 square foot gallery for their exhibition as well as financial, production, and marketing support to execute their vision. For Detroit-based curators, the fellowship will provide travel and accommodation for five trips for planning purposes outside of the city in advance of the exhibition. For non-Detroit based curators, Red Bull Arts Detroit will provide travel for three trips to Detroit in advance of the exhibition for planning purposes, three-trips to Detroit during the exhibition for programming purposes, and accommodations in Detroit during visits. The selected curator will receive a $5000 fee. The budget for the production of the exhibition is $15,000 along with funding for three-to-four public programs. Outside of the $15,000, Red Bull Arts Detroit will provide in-kind support that includes local installation staff, staffing for gallery hours, access to technology for use in exhibition (list of available technology is here), printing wall texts (labels and vinyl) as well as gallery guides, and installation documentation of the exhibition. The curator should plan for the $15,000 exhibition budget to cover any artist fees, production fees for works or installation materials, artist travel, shipping and handling of art works, commissioning of new writing or texts, and any other materials or labor otherwise required for the production of their exhibition concept.

Curatorial Fellowship Details

• $5,000 stipend
• $15,000 exhibition budget for the production of the exhibition
• Budget for 3-4 public programs as agreed with Red Bull Arts Detroit.
• Funding for travel and accommodations for planning trips in Detroit if based elsewhere. For Detroit based curators travel budget can be used for travel elsewhere as needed for the exhibition as agreed with Red Bull Arts Detroit based on the needs of the project.
• Connections to Detroit’s creative community
• Planning and production support
• Documentation and media outreach for final presentation of curated exhibition

Eligibility and Expectations

• Open to professional curators aged 21+
• Applicants must be US citizens or residents
• Detroit-based curators will need to be regularly available in Detroit during the period of planning and presenting the exhibition, and may include travel plans to locations outside of the city as a component of their proposal.
• Non-Detroit based applicants must be able to travel to Detroit approximately six-times over the course of planning and presenting the exhibition.
• Applicants must propose and execute a contemporary art exhibition or similar public project in Detroit

Application Guidelines

• The Red Bull Arts Detroit Curatorial Fellowship takes place once a year
• Applications are open August 12th – September 27th, 2019, with selected projects presented in the late-summer or early fall of 2020.
• Applicants should regularly curate contemporary art exhibitions, drawing from the disciplines of visual, sound, or performance art.
• Applicants must submit a CV, Statement of Purpose, and project proposal. The project proposal should detail the curatorial project the applicant hopes to realize with Red Bull Arts Detroit with as much detail as possible, including the exhibition concept, a budget proposal, considerations related to the planning, production, and presentation of the exhibition, and at least one example of public programming on the occasion of the exhibition. Proposals should be a maximum of four-pages in length. The selected curator’s proposal is subject to feasibility review with the Red Bull Arts Detroit staff once selected and does not guarantee that all aspects of the selected project will be delivered.
• While the Program is open to all professional curators from disparate backgrounds, successful applicants will demonstrate exceptional talent in their field, and a demonstrated dedication to the issues surrounding contemporary art.
• Curators are able to apply once per calendar year