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Visual AIDS announces the fourth year of our research fellowship program, which supports original writing and scholarship about artists who have been lost to AIDS.
Deadline: October 5, 2025
Apply here
Research fellows will work with Visual AIDS to develop a piece of original writing for the Visual AIDS website, illuminating the life and work of an artist lost to AIDS.
The Visual AIDS Research Fellowship will provide four fellows with a $1000 research stipend and editorial support. Fellows will conduct research on artists who have been lost to AIDS, drawing on primary sources in the Visual AIDS Archive Project and other archival collections, as well as interviews with estates, families, and friends.
This year we will award one fellowship focused specifically on Garland Eliason-French (1942–1996), a painter who was one of the first ten artists to join the Visual AIDS Archive in 1994. Three other fellowships will be awarded for research proposals about other artists lost to AIDS.
About the Visual AIDS Archive
The Visual AIDS Archive collects artwork documentation, personal papers, and records pertaining to the lives and work of artists living with HIV and AIDS, as well as those who have passed. The archive was started in 1994 by Frank Moore and David Hirsh as a response to losing not only friends in the AIDS crisis but also the loss of art and materials that often followed. The archive currently exists as 555 artist folders that are made up of artwork documentation (mainly in the form of slide photographs taken by Visual AIDS volunteers during the 1990s), personal papers such as artist statements, CVs, press clippings, exhibition announcements, correspondence with Visual AIDS, and other objects related to the lives and work of these artists. The files also contain a small number of artists' books, artworks on paper, personal photographs, and personal writing. In the spirit of community archives, our donations have come from artist members, estates, friends, and family members.
The Visual AIDS Archive is always open to researchers and the general public by appointment. For more information about our archival holdings and how to schedule a research visit, see here.
Since 2012, the archive has also existed online as the Visual AIDS Artist Registry. The online registry currently features digitized images and biographical information related to 347 artists from the physical archive, along with 418 other artists who have joined or been added digitally. The registry can be browsed at visualaids.org/artists
Eligibility
Research Subjects
We welcome research proposals that focus on artists lost to AIDS. Priority will be given to research on artists that have been historically excluded from cultural histories and those who have received little or no scholarly attention.
Research proposals should fall into one of the following categories:
- Research on Garland Eliason-French (One fellowship will be awarded)
- Garland Eliason-French (1942–1996) was a painter who was one of the first ten artists to join the Visual AIDS Archive in 1994. Her paintings often incorporate images of the natural world and femininity. Our archival holdings include correspondence, journals, family photographs, exhibition catalogs, and artwork documentation donated by the artist’s family. Visual AIDS is also in contact with family members who can be resources for the fellow’s project.
- Research on an artist represented in the Visual AIDS Archive (1–2 fellowships will be awarded)
- We suggest consulting the finding aid to the Visual AIDS Artist Files to get a sense of what materials are available.
- Research on an artist who is not represented in the Visual AIDS Archive (1–2 fellowships will be awarded)
- If you are interested in researching an artist not represented in our collection, your proposal should indicate the archival resources and primary sources your research will draw on.
Applicants: Anyone conducting original, primary source-based research on a deceased HIV-positive artist is encouraged to apply. Enrollment or affiliation with a university is not required. Fellows should be comfortable communicating in English for the purposes of the fellowship and the final published text must be in English.
Travel: We will work with research fellows both in-person and remotely. Visual AIDS will work with researchers outside of New York by sharing scans of relevant materials or coordinating virtual research visits over Zoom.
How to Apply
To apply, please submit the application form along with a writing sample and CV by October 5, 2025.
A competitive proposal will do the following:
- Clearly state the artist or artists you will research
- Indicate the primary sources and archival resources you plan to draw on to conduct your research
- Contextualize your research in relation to existing writing on the artist
- If you are applying to write about Garland Eliason-French, explain what question will guide your research on Garland Eliason-French. What aspect of her work or life will you focus on and why?
- Introduce yourself and any previous work around AIDS cultural histories
Key Dates: The deadline for application is October 5, 2025. All applicants will be notified within one month of the deadline. Research should be conducted from December to May 2026, with writing published from September to October 2026.
Questions: If you have any questions about the application process, contact archive@visualaids.org
