The Center for Art & Advocacy

Mission

The Center for Art and Advocacy believes there is an abundance of uncultivated talent and exceptional creativity among individuals who share the lived experience of incarceration. At a time when our country leads the world in the criminalization of its most vulnerable populations, often made up of people with marginalized identities, we find that justice-impacted artists within the U.S. are especially at risk of being under-funded, under-mentored, under-resourced, and under-connected within the traditional institutions and arts communities.

Vision

This is why The Center aims to improve these outcomes for our most vulnerable creatives by providing financial and community support via our catalytic flagship, the Right of Return Fellowship, mentoring and professional development through our capacity-building Academy and Arts Incubator program, and the opportunity for industry-wide recognition and dedicated time to develop their projects through our premiere Residency and Retreat in rural Pennsylvania.

Action

Their distinctive perspective makes this community specially equipped to advance change throughout the United States by reframing our society’s criminal legal narrative and advocacy for racial justice and equity, using the vehicle of art to build, organize, and support local and national movements.

Right of Return Fellowship x Frieze Impact Prize 2025 Application

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GENERAL OVERVIEW

The Center for Art & Advocacy will accept applications from creatives working in visual art, film, music, creative writing, performance, design, and multidisciplinary practices for the 2025 Right of Return Fellowship from September 1, 2024, through October 11, 2024. For the second year in a row, Right of Return is partnering with Frieze and Endeavor Impact to present the Frieze Los Angeles 2025 Impact Prize, which will recognize a visual artist who contributes their talents towards issues of social justice and mass incarceration.

The Right of Return Fellowship is open to directly impacted creatives from every discipline. For the 7th annual cohort, a panel of external reviewers will select six new 2025 Right of Return Fellows from our open-call applicant pool to receive a $20,000 grant, mentorship, and community building.

The 2025 Frieze Impact Prize will be awarded to a visual artist or experimental filmmaker who is either a Right of Return alumnus or one of the six new fellows. One artist will be selected to receive the Prize, which will award them $25,000 and the opportunity to showcase their work at Frieze Los Angeles, which takes place February 20 - 23, 2025, at Santa Monica Airport.

Only one application must be completed to be considered for both the Right of Return Fellowship and the Frieze Impact Prize.

ELIGIBILITY

For All Applicants to the 2025 Right of Return Fellowship

Through the Right of Return Fellowship, The Center for Art &Advocacy seeks to support directly impacted artists with a demonstrated capacity to advance social change and a clear vision for utilizing their creative practice to end mass incarceration.

More specifically:

Directly impacted artists of all creative disciplines, age 18 or older at the time of the application. We do not fundorganizations or non-profits, only individual artists.
We define the word “artist” in broad terms to include creatives who work in visual art, film, music, creative writing, performance, and multidisciplinary practices.
In the context of this Fellowship, “directly impacted” includes those who have themselves been incarcerated and people who were detained in migrant detention centers but who have now attained U.S. citizenship by the time of this application’s open.
Artists must collaborate with an advocacy organization during the development and/or execution of their proposed project (collaborating organizations do not need to be secured at the time of application and The Center for Art & Advocacy can help connect fellows to advocates).
Artists may be at any stage of their career, with or without formal training.
Projects and applicants must be U.S. based. This includes all 50 states, Washington DC, and Puerto Rico.
The Center for Art & Advocacy seeks a diverse cohort of fellows with regard to race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, and experience.

For Applicants Who Want To Be Considered For The 2025 Frieze Impact Prize

Only artists working in the visual arts or experimental film will be considered for the Frieze Impact Prize.
The Frieze Impact Prize is for an applicant's existing work, or works that are in progress but can be completed before February 1st, 2025.

Timeline

Application Open Date September 1, 2024, 8:00 A.M. EST

Application Close Date October 11, 2024, 11:59 P.M. EST

Fellows Notified Mid-December 2024

Frieze Impact Prize Awardee Notified *May be notified in advance of December 2024.

Cohort 7 Fellowship Year January 2025—December 2025

Frieze Los Angeles February 20, 2025—February 23, 2025

Cohort 7 Fellowship Retreat May 2025

F.A.Q.

For more information about our selection process, the expectations for Right of Return Fellows and the Frieze Impact Prize Awardee, and more, please download our 2025 Right of Return Fellowship Application Guide HERE.

2025 Right of Return Alumni x Frieze Impact Prize Application