Our Research Fellowship Program encourages new research on the work, ideas, and creative legacies of Nancy Holt and Robert Smithson.

Our Fellowship Program is open to graduate students, recent college graduates, doctoral and post-doctoral researchers, artists, early career museum professionals, and Holt and Smithson scholars working towards a specific publication, exhibition, or project.

Fellows will research from their home base and are supported by a stipend, travel allowance, and open dialogue with Holt/Smithson Foundation. Research Fellowships take place over a four-week time period between May 1 and September 30th annually.

Each year Holt/Smithson Foundation identifies two key subject areas of research, from which applicants create a specific research proposal. The open call for applications to this annual program is announced in late December, with applications due in February.

person reading a book titled "franjo" while resting the book on their knees.
a slidesheet of color images

2023 Call for Applications

We are calling for applications to our 2023 Research Fellowships. Our third Fellowship season focuses on two topics: Exhibition Histories and Local Narratives, with each Fellowship based around a specific research project. Applications are now open and will close on February 1, 2023.
two figures walking through a sand quarry

Rory O'Dea

Rory O'Dea's Research Fellowship focuses on Robert Smithson and Nancy Holt's time and work in the Pine Barrens, NJ.
A drawing of Lake Edge Crescents by Robert Smithson

Margo Handwerker

Margo Handwerker's Research Fellowship expands on her doctoral dissertation “Art/Work: The Systems-Oriented Artist Expert, 1968–1984” by focusing on Robert Smithson’s 1972 proposal for Lake Edge Crescents in Ohio.