The open call for the 2026-2028 Tulsa Artist Fellowship award will begin accepting applications on Wednesday, April 2, 2025, and close on Thursday, May 29, 2025.

Tulsa Artist Fellowship annually appoints arts experts working across the United States who represent a wide spectrum of artistic disciplines to join the application review process. Reviewers, including art world key players, visionary artists and arts workers, award alum, and essential Tulsa Artist Fellowship stakeholders, evaluate submissions independently and identify top candidates to interview.

Individuals with outreach-specific roles support the open call submission by leveraging their network of experienced creatives to help identify eligible candidates. This structure deepens the Tulsa Artist Fellowship’s connection to the expansive communities and practices that constitute the field of art.

A highly competitive application will exemplify the following criteria:

• Applicant has established a rigorous and innovative arts practice
• Making art in Tulsa feels meaningful to the applicant
• Proposed project is forward-thinking, demonstrates impactful community engagement, appears achievable, and will significantly contribute to Tulsa’s arts identity

Realizing George Kaiser Family Foundation’s vision, grounded in social change, Tulsa Artist Fellowship is committed to fostering an environment where community-invested artists and arts workers have the opportunity to thrive.

AWARD STRUCTURE → $150,000 stipend paid over three-years for awarded project deliverables and general artistic practice costs → $36,000 housing stipend over three-years → $1,500 one-time studio move-in stipend → Fully subsidized independent studio space with access to shared facilities including a ceramics studio with kilns, woodshop, metal shop, media lab, roof terrace, performance rehearsal space, podcast recording studio, and meeting rooms with video/audio capabilities – estimated resource value of $36,000 over 3 years → $3,600 studio assistant stipend over three years → $3,600 health and wellness stipend over three years → YMCA memberships to access fitness facilities → Facilitated cohort gatherings & meals → Open studio events → Childcare reimbursements coinciding with key Fellowship activities

QUALIFICATIONS

• National and local artists and/or arts workers of any medium and/or discipline with a minimum of five years of arts field experience.

• During the three-year award term, awardees must commit to residing and working in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Extended time living outside of Tulsa for personal and field-related reasons must be proposed in advance to allow time for approval consideration.
• Recognizing that groundbreaking art practices thrive within an intention-setting framework, awardees will commit to actualizing a proposed project during the three-year program term. Competitive project submissions will draw from the applicants’ artistic practice, be forward-thinking, demonstrate impactful community engagement, and make a significant contribution to Tulsa’s arts identity.
• Applicants must be at least 25 years old and a U.S. citizen, permanent legal resident, O-1 Visa holder, or Tribal ID holder.
• Previous Tulsa Artist Fellowship awardees are ineligible to reapply for additional award terms.
• Employees of the George Kaiser Family Foundation (GKFF), Tulsa Community Foundation (TCF), and GKFF Operating LLC are ineligible for this award.

Read more about the application materials here

APPLICATION

Tulsa Artist Fellowship makes the award process free and accessible to all applicants. To apply, visit taf.slideroom.com.