Research Opportunities

We offer fellowships for curators, artists, designers, and faculty to pursue research, develop new work, and make important contributions to their fields, the RISD Museum, and our communities.

Artist Fellowship

The year-long artist fellowship offers a local artist the opportunity to explore new ideas and ways of working that challenge conventional methodologies. Learn more about artistic research at the Museum and about this year’s fellowship focus.

Faculty Fellowships

The Faculty Research Fellowships are designed to engage faculty members from across disciplines in research, teaching, and public engagement through the RISD Museum’s collection. Learn more and apply.

Past faculty fellows:

Prints, Drawings and Photographs

Costume and Textiles

Decorative Arts and Design

Fellowships for emerging professionals

 

The Mellon Curatorial Fellow is a three-year position for an outstanding junior scholar who wishes to pursue a curatorial career. The Mellon Fellow is fully integrated into the Museum’s Department of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs and participates in strengthening the Museum’s engagement with the academic curricula at Brown University and RISD. The fellow supervises the department’s active study room and acts as the primary liaison between the department and faculty teaching from the collections, including making regular presentations to classes. They undertake research in area of expertise, leading to an exhibition to be presented in the third year.

The Nancy Prophet Fellowship is a two-year, full-time position for artists and scholars embarking on careers in the arts and considering the museum profession and the roles museums play in an increasingly diverse society. Named in honor of the Nancy Prophet, an artist of Narragansett and African heritage and RISD's first graduate of color in 1918, this program provides significant professional-practice opportunities to high-achieving college and graduate school alumni up to three years post-graduation. Fellows will have the opportunity to participate in all aspects of the Museum's curatorial and programming work. Through mentorship and professional-development support, they will develop the knowledge, skills, and experience necessary to make important contributions to the museum field. Applicants should demonstrate a commitment to fostering the understanding of works of art in a museum context; excellent organizational, interpersonal, and communication skills; and the ability to work independently as well as collegially.

The Digital Media Fellowship is a two-year, full-time position for artists, designers, or filmmakers embarking on careers in the arts and seeking an opportunity to work in a professional studio environment. The fellowship provides significant professional-practice opportunities to high-achieving college and graduate school alumni up to three years post-graduation. The fellow will have the opportunity to participate in all aspects of the RISD Museum's creative production process. Through project-based learning, mentorship, and professional-development support, the individual will develop the knowledge, skills, and experience necessary to make important contributions to the RISD Museum's mission of access and learning.

Learn more about open positions for employment at RISD. 

Internships, fellowships, and other student positions Undergraduate and graduate students contribute to timely projects and long-term research in all areas of the Museum’s work -- curatorial, education, conservation, registration, preparation, and external affairs -- through paid positions. These include part-time and full-time summer internships, RISD Theory and History of Art and Design Fellowships, graduate assistantships, Spalter Fellowships, the Museum Guild, and work/study positions.