Fellowships
The Feeney Fellowship provides a bursary of up to £5,000 to a Birmingham-based arts practitioner to broaden their expertise and develop their career in a self-tailored skills development and/or business development package.
The video below features previous Fellows Kaye Winwood and Nuala Clooney talking about the experience.
Kaye Winwood and Nuala Clooney talk about their experience of the Feeney Fellowship
'My time as a Feeney Fellow has been punctuated by the ructions of the pandemic. Throughout that time, when I have been able my Fellowship has supported me to feed my practice through online and, when possible, in person skill development and through the support of a mentor. During periods of intense isolation and distance from my usual collaborative practice, this kept me connected to my artistic process and growing. The Fellowship also provides a ray of hope: I have been able to carry over the funds intended for travel; that future adventure has been a source of comfort. The last year has certainly provided ample opportunity for reflection on purpose, aims and practice - and the Feeney Trust has enabled this to have focus and direction despite the maelstrom.'
Kate Deright, 2019 Fellow
Who can apply
Individual artists and creative practitioners living and working in Birmingham.
Applicants will be expected to have had a minimum of three years' professional practice in their field.
The deadline for applications is 5pm on 30th September annually.
Apply for a Fellowship
Applicants are required to submit a proposal telling us about their work as an artist to date and what they would like to achieve, through the award of a Fellowship, to further their artistic practice and career development.
This can be submitted in either of two ways:
a written proposal on no more than 2 sides of A4
a video or audio recording no more than 5 minutes in length
The proposal should be sent to Applications (or WeTransfer, if you are sending a video/audio file) along with the following:
a budget (showing anticipated income and expenditure for your proposed Fellowship activity)
an up-to-date CV
the names and addresses of two relevant referees
examples of previous work in whichever format is appropriate to your practice
The deadline for Fellowship applications is 5pm on 30th September annually. Applicants will receive an auto-response to confirm that their application has been safely received. If you do not receive an automated acknowledgement please contact the Trust Administrator for guidance.
Trustees meet in November to consider applications for Fellowships.
Shortlisted applicants will be invited to interview by a panel of Feeney Trustees, who will make awards based on the likely value of the proposal to the individual and its contribution to the development of the arts in Birmingham.
Getting the fellowship, gave me the confidence I needed to apply for other opportunities and off of this, I positively put together a proposal for the arts & heritage meeting point commission where I am working with Middleport Pottery. The project draws inspiration from Middleport Pottery’s archive of Victorian jelly moulds and examines the history of jelly, blancmange and the history of the moulds, drawing parallels between cooking and craft. The project culminates in a Victorian Tea Party held in the grounds of Middleport Pottery.
I have also been learning new skills, which will allow me to create new and different objects in my work. Gaining new skills in furniture restoration and upholstery has enabled me to rediscover my processes in my practice.
The Feeney fellowship has enabled me to extend my network and connect with other prominent artists, curators and thinkers.
What we’ll fund
The objective of this strand of funding is to enable individual artists to make progress in their practice, including finding new ways to make work and operate as an artist in the current pandemic context.
The proposal should allow exposure to inspiring, outside influences and/or expertise (even if within your own studio), rather than simply giving time for the applicant to develop a new body of work.
Proposals must include a budget, which demonstrates realistic costs of fees for relevant mentoring, coaching, training, travel, expenses and admission costs.
Some cost recovery for the Fellow's time may be included but you should demonstrate an equal commitment to personal development.
Where the cost of items of capital equipment is included, this needs to be demonstrably linked to the activity in question. While we appreciate that investment in equipment is often essential to the delivery of some activities, contribution to the costs of long-term assets (such as computers, projectors, lighting and sound equipment, or vehicles) should form no more than 10% of your overall budget.
We would not expect the bursary to be used to meet costs for international travel, unless it can be shown as vital to your development — if your proposal does include international activity, we would expect you to demonstrate why you could not achieve the same outcomes through virtual methods (such as Zoom), as well as demonstrating how it contributes to the development of the arts in Birmingham.
Fellowships will not be awarded to support higher education, business start-ups or production costs of an exhibition, performance or artwork.
Terms and Conditions
Bursaries should normally be completed within one year of the award.
Feeney Fellows will be required to write a full report on their project, and to agree that their report and any relevant photographs or other media can be published on the Feeney website, and elsewhere, with appropriate image crediting.
Awards will be disbursed in two instalments, with a final £100 held back until the report has been received.