2025–2027 Vera List Center Focus Theme Matter of Intelligence and Open Call (Due Jan. 6)
2025–2027 Vera List Center Focus Theme Matter of Intelligence and Open Call
Deadline: January 6th, 2025
The Vera List Center for Art and Politics at The New School is pleased to announce its 2025–2027 Focus Theme, Matter of Intelligence, and Open Call. Our newly envisioned Open Call, now spanning two rounds, is designed to welcome ideas and project proposals that find support and advance across a range of VLC’s programs and initiatives, including our signature fellowship program.
As part of our sabbatical, a year of slowing down and recalibrating our institutional rhythms and programmatic reappraisals, the Open Call has been reimagined to better support and celebrate the richness and diversity of creative practice, scholarship, and knowledge of our extended communities, thus shaping our curatorial thinking, approaches, and programs throughout our two-year exploration of intelligence.
With Matter of Intelligence, and an emphasis on forms of collective intelligence, this cycle of the Open Call places artists and their ideas at the forefront of our exploration from the outset, continually highlighting these voices and perspectives throughout the two-year inquiry. This approach builds on a solid history of past fellowship project proposals that have been successfully supported and presented through the center’s programs and publications.
Projects submitted in the first round will be considered for the VLC Fellowship, as well as a range of other programs, including the center’s seminar series, exhibitions, annual VLC Forum, and digital or print publications. A limited number of applications will advance to the second round and be invited to submit full proposals for fellowship commission projects. This new open call approach is designed to minimize the labor involved in the fellowship application, while continuing to engage and develop ideas and projects from the first round within the center’s programs.
Fellowship project proposals creatively and rigorously approach the Focus Theme in content and form and make an intellectual and artistic contribution that advances the understanding of intelligence. Up to four two-year, non-residential fellowships will be awarded to commission and support scholarly and creative work that critically engages with the Vera List Center’s 2025–2027 Focus Theme: Matter of Intelligence. With support from the Mellon Foundation, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, The VLC Producers Council, Vera’s List, and other donors, the VLC Fellowship stipend for this cycle has been increased to $25,000.