The CARA Fellowship, one of our core programmatic initiatives, recognizes mid-to-late-career artists and artists' legacies across disciplines, uplifting knowledges and voices from different geographic contexts and making alternate historical perspectives visible. In recognition of sustained commitment to their practices and profound cultural impact, awardees receive unrestricted $75,000 grants and individually tailored support over a two-year term.

Throughout the course of the two-year fellowship period, the CARA team works closely with fellows and those caring for their legacies to create and strengthen support structures. CARA takes a holistic, relational approach to this work, seeking to center artists' needs and desires through open dialogue and resource sharing. Support services vary depending on individual needs; past offerings have included archival assistance, debt counseling, legal advisory, connection to social services, and relationship building with scholars, curators, and institutions. This responsive way of working prioritizes process over a specific set of outcomes.

The Fellowship—in dialogue with CARA’s other initiatives—is informed by CARA’s guiding question, which draws from the thinking of Yanomami philosopher Davi Kopenawa: How can we dream not only about ourselves? Inspired by this question, CARA’s exhibitions, publications, and public programs form an ecology of research in material, intangible, and embodied practices.

The CARA Fellowship was developed with support from United States Artists and is generously funded by the Karsh Family Foundation.