An abstract painting using blue, white and yellow.

Xiaohua Zhang

About the Graduate Program

Graduate Fellowship Awards

Divisional Awards

The following opportunities are available for students post graduation. Looking for current student opportunities and awards? Visit our Graduate Opportunities and Grants page.

James Nelson Raymond Fellowships

Two $10,000 fellowships will be awarded to graduating masters degree students of exceptional promise. These awards are to support the artist’s career and travel in the year following graduation.

Municipal Art League Fellowship

The Municipal Art League of Chicago Award for Excellence provides three $2,000 awards to graduating MFA students whose work is concentrated in drawing, illustration, painting or sculpture on the basis of merit.

Clay Morrison Scholarship

The Clay Morrison Scholarship for graduate students was established in 2011 to support continuing SAIC graduate students from any department or program who are studying art created independently from the academic mainstream, including self-taught or non-mainstream art, popular culture, and/or folk art from any culture(s). Two winning students receive a $1,500 scholarship toward tuition in the fall of their final year of study.

Institut für Alles Mögliche Residency in Berlin, Germany

The SAIC Berlin Residency is awarded to two graduating graduate students annually through an open competition. One award is reserved for an MFA student in the Photography department, one is Open to All Programs. Awarded MFA students spend two months in Berlin at the Institut für Alles Mögliche. SAIC pays for the awarded student's residency fee only. Basic accommodations and studio space are included in the residency. The residency will be August 1-September 30 for the Photography residency and October 1-November 30 for the Open Program residency. International students are responsible for any necessary visa arrangements.

For more information about the residency program visit www.i-a-m.tk/.

Gallery MOMO Residency in Johannesburg, South Africa

The SAIC Gallery MOMO Residency is awarded to one graduating graduate student annually through an open competition. The award is available to students in all programs. The awarded student will spend one month in Johannesburg at Gallery MOMO. SAIC pays for the awarded student's residency fee only. Basic accommodations, studio space, networking opportunities, and a space for a final exhibition are included in the residency. The residency will begin in September, exact dates to be determined by the recipient. International students are responsible for any necessary visa arrangements.

For more information about the residency program visit: gallerymomo.com/ and facebook.com/GalleryMOMOSA/.

AICAD Post-Graduate Teaching Fellowship

As a member of the Associated Independent Colleges of Art and Design (AICAD), SAIC participates in the AICAD Post-Graduate Teaching Fellowship, which provides significant professional practice opportunities to high-achieving recent graduate alumni who are underrepresented in higher education. The fellowship consists of a one-year full-time (or near full-time) teaching load at an AICAD institution, salary commensurate with starting salary for full-time faculty, mentorship, and professional development support.

Graduating MFA students and recent alumni are nominated in the fall semester by the departments and will be notified of eligibility to apply.

SAIC x ACRE Alumni Scholarship

Fun ACRE has partnered with The School of the Art Institute of Chicago to create a scholarship opportunity to accepted residents are also Master's level graduates from SAIC. Eligibility for the SAIC Alumni Scholarship will be based on successful completion of an SAIC Graduate Program within 12 months of the start date of the summer residency. Both traditional and Low Residency MFA candidates are eligible. Questions can be directed to info@acreresidency.org.

Department Award Highlights

2025 Hilgos Awards for SAIC Students

Awarded for arts projects designed to engage people living with memory impairment 

The Hilgos Award was established 25 years ago at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago by Berna Huebner, with support from her family and friends, in memory of her late mother Hilda Goldblatt Gorenstein. Hilda Goldblatt Gorenstein. Hilda Gorenstein attended SAIC and graduated with a BFA in 1920. She became a well-known maritime painter, working under the name Hilgos. In her nineties, after acquiring dementia, Gorenstein returned to painting with assistance from several SAIC students. 

Gornstein’s return to painting later in life inspired Hubner to establish the Hilgos Awards, granted to SAIC students who have developed original and creative projects to stimulate people with memory impairment. 

Berna Huebner also produced the documentary film, I Remember Better When I Paint: Treating Alzheimer's through the creative arts. Together these two initiatives were designed with the goal of communicating about the positive impact that the arts can have on people living with memory impairment. 

Requirements for Applicants: 

Degree seeking students at SAIC are invited to submit proposals for multiple available Hilgos Awards of up to $2500. The proposal should detail an arts-based project (product-based outcome) or an arts-based engagement (an on-going group) designed to support people living with a dementia diagnosis. 

Projects eligible for consideration will be carried out during the Spring 2025 semester. A final report about the completed project will be due on April 30, 2025.

Proposals should be submitted by November 20, 2024. The Art Therapy and Counseling Department will announce the 2025 awardees by December 11, 2024.

To apply, please submit the following information:

  • Your contact information 
  • A one- to two-page proposal outlining your arts project designed for people living with memory impairment 
  • A cover letter introducing yourself and the relevance of the project to your art practice and / or art therapy practice
  • A signed letter of consent from the organization, if the project will take place at an institution or organizational facility
  • Other supplemental material (as needed) to clarify your project
  • All materials need to be collated into a single pdf, no larger than 10 MB. Links to external websites may be included

Application submission deadline: November 20, 2024 by 5 p.m.

Submit proposals to: arttherapy@saic.edu, with "Hilgos Award Application 2025" as the subject line. 

Important Dates: 

  • Proposal submission deadline: November 20, 2024
  • Award announcement: December 11, 2024 
  • Final report deadline: April 30, 2025 
  • Award distribution: Following submission of your tax forms, the first half of your award will be paid. After providing a written report of the project you will receive your final payment. 
  • Lunch with Berna Huebner: Summer 2025 (prior to the start of Fall 2025)

Carrie Ellen Tuttle Fellowship in Painting

Established in 2001 in memory of Carrie Ellen Tuttle, who received her MFA in Painting and Drawing from SAIC. This $1,900 fellowship is awarded to a graduate student of exceptional merit working in the discipline of painting.

Weinstein Memorial Fellowship in Photography

The James Weinstein Memorial Fund for Photographic Artists was established in 1994 to honor photographer James Weinstein. This $8,000 fellowship is awarded each year to a MFA candidate in the Department of Photography.

Eldon Danhausen Fellowship in Sculpture

Established in 2010 in memory of former SAIC faculty member Eldon Danhausen, this $9,000 award is given to a graduate student of exceptional merit studying in the Department of Sculpture.

Alba Sonic Arts Artist-in-Residence at Experimental Sound Studio

The Alba Residency includes a $1,000 stipend. All of ESS's resources and platforms are made available to a graduating MFA student from the Sound Department of the School of the Art Institute, with the goal of creating an immediate outlet for the skills and ideas the student has developed at SAIC, and helping to launch them into the next phase of their artistic career. It is the only post-graduate sonic arts residency of its kind in the US.

Want to go abroad for a year?

SAIC supports applications to the U.S. Student Fulbright Program for up to five years after you graduate. Learn more here.

UC Berkeley South Asia Art Artist Prize

The South Asia Art Initiative at UC Berkeley invites submissions from Master of Fine Arts (MFA) students for the annual UC Berkeley South Asia Artist Prize. The prize will be awarded for an outstanding body of work by an artist of the South Asian diaspora or by those whose work addresses the politics and cultures of South Asia.

The prize comes with a $1,500 award. All inquiries regarding the UC Berkeley South Asia Artist Prize should be directed to: Puneeta Kala at the Institute for South Asia Studies, University of California, Berkeley.

The Chataqua School of Art Residency Program

The Chautauqua School of Art Residency Program welcomes artists ages 21 and older who have yet to receive wide recognition of their work. College enrollment is not a requirement to attend our program. Artists who engage in all media are encouraged to apply. This is an environment that promotes intergenerational collaboration, exchange, research and an openness to other art forms at Chautauqua, including dance, theater, music, literature and more. It is meant to be a safe, brave space to share, experiment and freely express. Learn more at art.chq.org/school/.

The Core Residency Program

The Core Residency Program awards residencies to exceptional, highly motivated visual artists and critical writers who have completed their undergraduate or graduate training and are working to develop a sustainable practice. Residents engage with a wide range of leading artists, critics, curators, and art historians who are invited to meet individually with the residents, lead seminars, and deliver public lectures.

Fellows are expected to be active in their own creative and/or critical practice, whatever form that takes. Core fellows come together as a community of thinkers and makers to engage in an ongoing dialogue, the content of which is driven by contemporary concerns, the interests and work of the fellows, and the Core lecture series and visitors.

Residents receive a $20,000 stipend, 24-hour access to a private studio or office, and borrowing privileges at the MFAH Hirsch Library and Rice University Fondren Library. Limited administrative and financial support is available for successful international applicants seeking J-1 visas through the program’s partner organization, International Arts & Artists. No support is provided for other visas.

For more information contact Mary Leclère, associate director at mleclere@mfah.org.

Frankenthaler Climate Art Awards

Presented by Asia Society and the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, the Frankenthaler Climate Art Awards aim to foster climate change awareness through the imagination and insights of an upcoming generation of visual artists. Click here for more Information.

Galveston Artist Residency

GAR awards three artist-in-residence fellowships a year. For ten months, from October through July, each artist receives 24/7 access to a 500 sq/ft studio space, an apartment a couple blocks away, and a monthly stipend of $1,000. This ten months is viewed as a gift of time for artists to make their work.

The GAR Project Grant is awarded on a nomination basis for artists to work on a project specifically for the GAR Gallery. GAR is located in Galveston TX, a barrier island about one hour away from Houston, on the east Texas coast. Galveston is an eclectic mixture of tourism & industry with a rich history.

If you are interested in being considered for the Residency program please fill out an application online.

For questions, please do not hesitate to contact call 409.974.4446 or email. For more info, visit their website.

Headlands Center for the Arts

The Artist in Residence (AIR) program awards fully sponsored residencies to approximately 45 local, national, and international artists each year. Residencies of four to ten weeks include studio space, chef-prepared meals, comfortable housing, and travel and living stipends. AIRs become part of a dynamic community of artists participating in Headlands’ other programs, allowing for exchange and collaborative relationships to develop within the artist community on campus. Artists selected for this program are at all stages in their careers and work in all media, including drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, film, video, new media, installation, fiction and nonfiction writing, poetry, dance, music, interdisciplinary, social practice, and architecture. Click here to view their website.

Kala Art Institute

Artists working in various printmaking techniques, photo-processes, book arts and digital media including video production can apply to become an Artist-in-Residence. Residency applications are accepted online three times per year. Artists who apply for a residency should be familiar with at least one of the media offered at Kala. Considerations for acceptance are conceptual creativity and technical knowledge.

Resident artists receive year-round 24-hour access to the printmaking workshop and/or electronic media center, individual storage space, possible exposure on Kala’s website and in other exhibitions at Kala or outside exhibition spaces, and participation in a vital, international artistic community. Artists also receive a 20 percent discount on classes and private tutoring offered by Kala. Please note that this is a studio residency only; housing is not included. Artists are responsible for finding their own housing.

Vermont Studio Center‌

Vermont Studio Center (VSC) was founded by artists in 1984. We welcome writers and artists for residencies in Johnson, Vermont, and host online programs and events. Our mission is to provide studio residencies in an inclusive, international community, honoring creative work as the communication of spirit through form. Our buildings, many of them historic Vermont landmarks, overlook the Gihon River in the northern Green Mountains. Keep an eye on their website and social media for updated information. You can also subscribe to their newsletter. Please email if you have questions. More information can be found here on their website.

VCUarts Fountainhead Fellowship

The VCUarts Fountainhead Fellowship program offers three 9-month residencies: one in each of the departments of Sculpture + Extended Media, Painting + Printmaking, and Craft/Material Studies. The fellowship is designed for recent MFA graduates who are offered the chance to concentrate on their work, build their community, and gain valuable teaching experience with high-quality students in a world-class program. Stipends of $15,000 or more are awarded with the fellowship.

The residency is sited in a renovated complex built to eco-friendly, EarthCraft standards. This mixed-use community includes artists’ studios, apartments, a café, an outdoor swimming pool, a dog park and other amenities in addition to being near campus. In exchange, fellows are responsible for teaching two classes per semester, and giving a public lecture on their work.

Application processes and deadlines vary. See the departments of Sculpture + Extended Media, Painting + Printmaking, and Craft/Material Studies for more information and to apply.

Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture

Skowhegan seeks to bring together a gifted and diverse group of individuals who have demonstrated a commitment to artmaking and inquiry. An academic background in art is not required. Financial status is not a consideration in the admissions process, and financial need should not deter artists from applying for admission. You must be at least 21 years of age at the start of the program and have a working knowledge of English. Application fees are non-refundable. Please check the Skowhegan Art website for updates on the status of the program.

Windgate Museum Internship Program

The Windgate Museum Internship program provides $5,000 stipends to four undergraduate or graduate students who work under the direction of curators or directors in contemporary craft collections, exhibitions, and programs in museums or organizations nationally.

Previous Windgate Museum Internship Host Institutions include: Corning Museum of Glass, The Museum of Arts and Design, and The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. This is subject to change to future years.

Interested applicants may visit the host institution’s website for more information.

Wonsook Kim College of Fine Arts Visiting Artist Program

Founded in 1996, Illinois State’s Visiting Artist Program brings diverse artistic practices and voices to the Wonsook Kim School of Art. The Visiting Artist Committee seeks artists of all ethnic backgrounds, gender expressions, geographic locations, viewpoints, and practices. We welcome applicants who work in any medium. Click here for more information.

Additional Opportunities


Residencies (No Deadline)


Proposals/Submissions Accepted (No Deadline)


Registries (US)