2 Delaware Division of the Arts Opportunities for Artists and Writers

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The Delaware Division of the Arts opens two opportunities for artists this year: the 2023 Artist Fellowship grants and the 2022 Writers’ Retreat.

2023 Artist Fellowship Applications Are Open

If you’re an artist in Delaware, don’t miss the 2023 Artist Fellowship application in smARTDE. Applications are due August 1 by the end of the day. 

Fellowships provide resources to local artists so they can buy equipment and materials, dedicate more time to their art, or fulfill other career needs. Artists compete for Fellowships by proving their creativity and skill in one of 20 categories. Covered art fields include choreography, folk art, jazz, literature, media arts, music and visual arts.

The Division of Arts will offer a Fellowship in a new category this year. The “Visual Arts: Interdisciplinary” category is for work that combines two or more of the Fellowship arts disciplines. The categories include Media Arts, Crafts, Painting, Photography, Sculpture and Works on Paper. Artists who received Established Fellowships before January 2016 can also apply for Masters Fellowships this year in Visual Arts or Folk Arts.

Applicants select between Emerging or Established categories to keep the competition fair. Fellowship recipients then have to present examples of their work to the public during their Fellowship year. 

2022 Writers’ Retreat

The Fellowship applications aren’t the only big opportunity for Delaware artists this year. The Division of the Arts will also host the 2022 Writers Retreat in person from November 3-6. Delaware creative writers can attend this low-cost retreat at the University of Delaware’s Virden Center in Lewes. Tara Campbell and Chet’la Sebree will lead the workshops. The deadline to apply is Friday, July 15.

The application process is competitive. Participants will submit poetry or prose samples with their applications. An anonymous review process will select up to 20 writers from the pool of applicants, split between poetry and prose. The $325 fee to attend the retreat includes a private room and most meals. 

To apply for the fellowship or retreat, the artist has to be 18 or older, a Delaware resident for at least a year, and not enrolled in any other art degree or certificate granting program.

All other information and guidelines are available online. To learn more, check out the Fellowship guidelines or Writers’ Retreat webpage. Interested artists can register or log into smARTDE as an individual artist to fill out and submit applications.

The Delaware Division of the Arts is the agency of the State of Delaware that supports arts programming, education and awareness. The Division aims to integrate the arts into all facets of Delaware life. Funding for Division programs is provided by the Delaware General Assembly as well as grants from the Federal National Endowment for the Arts.

For updates about opportunities for artists in the future, visit the Grants for Artists homepage.

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