Advance your practice  through critical engagement with prominent artists and curators, form significant relationships in the arts and culture ecosystem, and introduce your work to new and meaningful spaces.

​Small School’s Fellowhip Program

 We offer exceptional individual attention, substantial growth-oriented challenges, and enriching connections of the highest quality.
​Beginning Fall 2026.

Deepen the criticality of your work
​​through individual in-person studio visits with accomplished visiting artists, curators, and scholars

Travel to visit influential art spaces and meet with thought-provoking artists and curators

Produce and present a body of work or performance ​individually or collaboratively for a venue or setting currently beyond your reach

Strengthen your rhetoric ​through group critique

Explore contemporary topics in art
​through visiting artist seminars.

Details of The Fellowship Program

Who is the program for?

Eight early-, mid-, or returning-to-career artists who are:

• Ready for a demanding and supportive experience in a program designed for significant professional and personal growth;
• Committed to making work, constructive critical dialogue, and public engagement; and
• Willing to take risks in exploring ideas, methods of making, and deepening/cultivating audience connection.

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Questions? Email [email protected] with the subject heading “Fellowship Program.”

Ethos

• ​Relationships are fundamental to the Small School experience; a core goal of Small School is to support and sustain a socially active and diverse art culture that is central to the Triangle’s identity.

Collaborative Community-Focused Art Project

• Each year Small School Fellows collaborate with a Visiting Artist on a community-focused art project. 

​Travel

Each year, Small School travels to a national/international art center to establish or strengthen connections and opportunities within the larger arts and culture ecosystem by:

• Meeting with artists, curators, and scholars
• Visiting art centers
• Attending exhibitions and performances
  ​

Small School organizes travel, but the cost is not included in the Fellowship Program. Participation in Small School travel is encouraged but not required. 

Public Work

• ​Fellows are expected to organize and/or significantly participate in a public exhibition, performance, or other community engagement (within six months of completion of the Fellowship). 

Artist Residencies

• ​Small School will help identify and connect students to artist residency opportunities.

Calendar

• End of August – End of June
• The Small School calendar attempts to accommodate the schedules of Fellows with work and or family commitments.

Facilities

Small School values resourcefulness, strong relationships, and cooperative creativity. Our public talks, seminars and workshops are held at various Partner venues:

• North Carolina Museum of Art
• Dix Park
• Artspace
• CAM (Contemporary Art Museum – Raleigh)
• Lump Gallery
• Anchorlight
• City of Raleigh – Raleigh Arts

If Fellows are in search of studio space, Small School helps identify options; Fellows are responsible for their own studio arrangements.

Housing

• Small School does not provide housing, but will direct Fellows to resources to locate housing if needed.

Cost - it's free

• Small School’s Fellowship Program is free, although the cost of travel is not included, and Fellows are expected to contribute a Public Work. 

In Summary

​The Small School Fellowship Program is designed to help the early-, mid-, or returning-to-career artist to improve their:

Skills in making the work;
Ability to articulate the ideas and issues their work is about; and
Strategies for connecting with an audience and sustaining their practice.

Through in-depth individual and small group engagement with prominent visiting artists, scholars, and curators, Small School provides opportunities to significantly develop the strength of your practice.