2027 Fellowship Open Call
Applications Open August 31 - October 4, 2026
Amplify’s Fellowship program champions artists working outside conventional art spaces to investigate the layered civic histories, cultural traditions, and living ecologies that shape our region. Designed to support site-responsive installations, book and publishing projects, films, performances, and other publicly engaged project-based work, the Fellowship provides $10,000 in project support, individualized project mentorship, and feedback in a small cohort-based learning environment.
For the 2027 Fellowship, preference will be given to projects that engage with the theme of Migration by exploring how movement shapes our communities, environments, and collective futures. We welcome project-based work that examines migration not only as the movement of people, but also as the circulation of ideas, languages, labor, waterways, seeds, species, capital, and culture.
We especially encourage projects that invite public participation or engagement. This may take the form of site-responsive installations, performances, workshops, or other shared experiences, as well as the circulation of books, printed matter, films, digital media, archives, or other forms of knowledge. We value projects that create opportunities for people to encounter, contribute to, or engage with ideas in ways that foster dialogue, learning, and reflection outside conventional art spaces.
Applications are open August 31 - October 4, 2026. Follow the link below to apply in Submittable or keep reading to find answers to frequently asked questions.
Questions about the application process? Register below to attend a virtual Info Session on Zoom on September 9 at 6 pm.
Amplify staff will walk through the application process and offer advice and tips.
Looking for focused one-on-one support? Sign up for Virtual Office Hours to get feedback on your application materials. Virtual Office Hours are open:
Sept 15, 12 pm - 2 pm, Zoom
Sept 17, 6 pm - 8 pm, Zoom
Register in Eventbrite below for a 20-minute slot. You’ll get a confirmation email after registering that includes a link to join on Zoom.
Amplify staff members are happy to review your artist statement and/or work sample before your appointment. Just email them as attachments at least 24 hours before your office hours appointment to info@amplifyarts.org. Please include “2027 Fellowship Open Call” in the subject line.
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If you’re interested in developing project-based work with critical feedback from mentors and other artists, this could be the perfect opportunity for you.
The Fellowship aims to build artist communities grounded in generosity, curiosity, and critical dialogue beyond gallery and museum settings and highlight how artists engage directly with publics, landscapes, and civic systems. Fellows learn with and from one another and receive individualized project mentorship from arts professionals working in and outside of Omaha and critical feedback in a small cohort-based learning environment. -
Any artist, artist collective, or collaborative group maintaining a residence within the Omaha/Council Bluffs Metro Area, including Washington, Douglas, Cass, Sarpy, and Saunders counties in Nebraska, and Pottawattamie, Mills, and Harrison counties in Iowa, is eligible to apply.
Applicants must be at least 19 years old and submit a complete application, including an Artist Statement, Project Description, Project Budget, Work Sample, and Works Cited page to be considered. A formal education is not required to apply.
Collectives and collaborative groups with a significant history of working together are also eligible. -
The Fellowship is designed to support site-responsive installations, book and publishing projects, films, performances, and other publicly engaged project-based work.
For the 2027 Fellowship, preference will be given to projects that engage with the theme of Migration by exploring how movement shapes our communities, environments, and collective futures. Situated along the Missouri River and within the Central Flyway, Omaha is continually reshaped by circulation, displacement, adaptation, and encounter. We welcome project-based work that examines migration related to the movement of people and the circulation of ideas, languages, labor, waterways, seeds, species, capital, and culture.What does the movement of birds, waterways, seeds, languages, and people reveal about resilience, interdependence, and survival?
How do migration and displacement challenge fixed ideas of borders, citizenship, home, and permanence?
What new forms of civic imagination emerge when place is understood as dynamic, relational, and continually in motion?
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We define project-based work as an artistic or cultural initiative with a clear scope, timeline, and public outcome that can be realized over the course of the 12-month Fellowship. Projects should be rooted in sustained artistic inquiry and result in site-responsive installations, publications, performances, films, or other project-based work.
We especially encourage projects that invite public participation or engagement. This may take the form of site-responsive installations, performances, workshops, or other shared experiences, as well as the circulation of books, printed matter, films, digital media, archives, or other forms of knowledge. We value projects that create opportunities for people to encounter, contribute to, or engage with ideas in ways that foster dialogue, learning, and reflection outside conventional art spaces.
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The Fellowship is one year beginning in January of 2027 and ending in January of 2028. Fellows are expected to actively participate in all regularly scheduled cohort meetings and contribute to a culture of generosity, curiosity, and shared learning. Prospective applicants should approach this program willing to expand their practice with curiosity and critical feedback from other Fellows and mentors.
Fellows will be paired with mentors from outside the Omaha area early in the program in a matchmaking process that responds to each artist’s questions, methods, and ambitions. Mentors will be selected from a pool of curators, artists, and arts professionals with substantial experience in developing project-based work.
Click here for an outline of the 12-month Fellowship schedule.
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Applications are accepted and reviewed in Submittable, an online application submission platform. Applicants will be asked to submit 5 components:
An Artist Statement describing their practice and the ideas that drive it forward.
A Project Description that describes their project and how it will be realized during the year-long Fellowship period.
A Project Budget that outlines costs associated with realizing their project.
A Work Sample that includes examples of recent and past work.
A Works Cited page with more information about the individual works, or bodies of work, in their sample.
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Applications will be reviewed in a four-phase review process:
Amplify Arts staff will review to ensure applicants meet eligibility requirements and have submitted a complete application.
All eligible applications will be reviewed and scored by a panel of arts professionals.
Panel members will recommend up to five applicants to interview with Amplify staff.
Amplify staff will conduct interviews and select up to three applicants to participate in the Fellowship, based on panelists’ recommendations.
Applications will be evaluated based on the following criteria:
The project is public-facing and speaks to the theme of Migration.
The project can be fully realized with the $10,000 project budget.
The work sample demonstrates an active practice and a history of thoughtful, compelling work.
Overall, the application sparks an interest in learning more.
If invited to interview, applicants will receive prep questions in advance and have the opportunity to interview in person or on Zoom.
Amplify Arts staff participate in the application scoring and review process. Amplify staff will also conduct interviews and make final selections based on selection panelists’ recommendations.
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August 31: Applications Open
September 8, 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm: Virtual Application Information Session
September 15, 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm: Virtual Application Office Hours
September 17, 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm: Virtual Application Office Hours
October 4, 11:59 pm: Application Closes
October 5 - October 18: Application Review
October 19 - October 23: Applicant Interviews
October 30: Application Status Updates Delivered
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Register to attend a virtual info session on September 9 at 6 pm. Amplify staff will walk through the application process and offer advice and tips. Register here.
Looking for focused one-on-one support? Sign up for virtual office hours to get feedback on your application materials, like your artist statement or work sample.
Office hours are open:
September 15, 12 pm - 2 pm
September 17, 6 pm - 8 pm
Click below to register on Eventbrite for a 20-minute slot. You’ll get a confirmation email after registering that includes a link to join on Zoom. Register here.
Amplify staff members are happy to review your artist statement and/or work sample before your appointment. Just email them as attachments at least 24 hours before your office hours appointment to info@amplifyarts.org. Please include “Fellowship” in the subject line.
Don’t forget to visit Amplify’s Resources page for guides designed to help you put together a strong application.
This application is available in:
Email info@amplifyarts.org with questions, or if you need:
Help navigating Submittable, the application submission software.
Access to a reliable wireless connection.
A quiet space to work on your application.
About the Fellowship
Amplify Arts works to build communities where arts and culture are valued as essential to how we belong, relate, and collectively imagine what’s possible.
Our Fellowship supports artists working outside conventional art spaces to investigate the layered civic histories, cultural traditions, and living ecologies that shape our region. Rooted in an understanding of place as dynamic and contested, the fellowship positions artistic inquiry as a vital method for examining the intersection of social, political, and environmental systems.