Website City of Sacramento

Summary

The Office of Arts & Culture (OAC) is launching its Emerging Curators Fellowship program, a funded opportunity for emerging curators to develop and present two exhibitions at the Robert T. Matsui Gallery inside Sacramento City Hall.

The Emerging Curators Fellowship is a year-long program, where one fellow will produce and mount two exhibitions (each on view for 4 months) with the support of a curatorial mentor. The fellow will receive a stipend and funding for both exhibitions. A mentor will meet with the fellow on a regular basis (minimum of 30 hours) to help fine tune ideas and provide feedback and guidance on the development of both exhibitions. This program is intended to provide an opportunity to those interested in the visual arts curatorial field, but may not have easy access to funding, locations, or other resources.

Projected timeline (subject to change)

August 2026: Fellowship application opens
September 2026: Fellowship application closes
December 2026: Selected fellow notified
May 2027 – August 2027: First exhibition on view
September 2027 – December 2027: Second exhibition on view

Key Details

Selected fellow will receive:

$6,000 stipend for individual applicants; $8,000 for a team/collective
$6,000 exhibition budget total for two back-to-back shows, each lasting 4 months. This is
inclusive of all production costs, shipping, hiring of any other contractors, artists fees, marketing
materials etc.
Regular guidance and feedback from an OAC appointed local curator
Exhibition related marketing support from OAC

Term: 1 year

Deadline: September 9, 2026

Eligibility

The Emerging Curators Fellowship is open to curators in the Sacramento region with limited experience,
but strong interest in further exploring a curatorial practice. This includes, but is not limited to: artists,
art historians, arts organizers or administrators, community organizers, self-taught practitioners.

Must be 18 years or older at the time of application
Must live and work within a 50 mile radius of the City of Sacramento
Cannot have curated or co-curated more than 6 exhibitions
Cannot be enrolled in a full-time degree program
Cannot be working full time in a curatorial capacity at an arts or cultural organization, museum,
nonprofit organization, or gallery
Cannot be currently employed by the City of Sacramento or have been contracted for
administrative services by OAC within the past 12 months. This includes anyone sitting on the
Arts, Culture and Creative Economy Commission, or any City commission or board.
Curatorial teams/collectives may apply. Each person on the team must be working together to
curate both shows and be credited as a unit and not individually. Proposals that split the labor
and credit between individuals who are applying under the claim or guise of a team will be
disqualified.

About

The Emerging Curators Fellowship program is a funded opportunity for emerging curators to develop and present two exhibitions at the Robert T. Matsui Gallery inside Sacramento City Hall.

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Tagged as: Curatorial

To apply for this job please visit www.cityofsacramento.gov.