Deadline: Ongoing Opportunity

The Institute of International Education is seeking applications for the Artist Protection Fund (APF) to support threatened artists from any field of practice, and places them at host institutions in safe countries where they can continue their work and plan for their futures.

The Artist Protection Fund (APF) is an initiative of the Institute of International Education, sponsored by the Mellon and Ford Foundations.

What types of threat qualify?

• Any threat of persecution or violence due to an artist’s practice, identity, or beliefs would qualify. This includes intimidation, harassment, repression, censorship, unjust punishment and violence arising out of an artist’s work, and/or exercise of their fundamental human rights. APF may also make a limited number of awards to artists facing general insecurity, instability, or civil conflict that affects the whole population of a country or region.

Duration:  APF Fellowships are for up to one year.

Eligibility Criteria

• Artists from any country and artistic discipline may qualify. Applications are reviewed for artistic merit, the quality/potential of the applicant’s work, and the severity of the threats that the applicant faces. Preference is given to artists who:
  • Are facing or have recently fled from immediate, severe, and targeted threats to their lives and/or artistic practice in their home countries or countries of residence;
  • Demonstrate accomplishment and promise in their artistic practice;
  • Will benefit their home and/or host communities.
  • They encourage applications from women and members of ethnic, racial, cultural, or religious minority groups, or those otherwise underrepresented in their fields.
  • Please note that APF does not grant fellowships to students seeking to continue their academic studies. In addition, APF gives priority to individuals still living in their home country or who have recently fled. APF typically does not consider applications from individuals who have been displaced or in exile for more than two years, or who hold citizenship or other permanent status in a second country.

For more information, visit Institute of International Education.