Emerging Curator Program 2027

About this call

VisArts, a nonprofit arts center in Rockville, Maryland, United States, invites applications from emerging curators, or artists with an interest in exhibition-making or curating, to work for a year with the 2027 Mentoring Curator, Fabiola R. Delgado. The Emerging Curator develops and presents an exhibition in the Kaplan Gallery in fall 2027 and assists with the mentor's exhibition, and the two also develop tools for public programming. VisArts provides a $10,000 budget to cover exhibition costs and curatorial fees, with additional staff support for printing, promotions and exhibition programming. The program runs January 2027 to January 2028; the Emerging Curator exhibition runs October 15, 2027 to January 9, 2028. Applicants do not need a fully realized curatorial proposal.

Who can apply

• Open to applicants of any nationality
• Medium: Curatorial
• Free entry
• Open to emerging curators and to artists with an interest in exhibition-making or curating. International applicants must be eligible to work in the United States; VisArts is unable to provide or assist with visas. Free to apply. Apply online through Submittable (an account is required) with: the application form, a CV, evidence of past curatorial projects (up to 10 still images, up to five minutes of video and audio, a list of images with artist name, title, year, medium and description, supporting PDF documents), and a statement on why a nonprofit community arts center with a mentor suits you, what you hope to achieve, your curatorial interests, and how you would enrich the audience experience, engage the community and pair programming with exhibitions. A fully realized proposal is not needed. During the year the mentoring and emerging curators conduct curatorial research, develop the exhibition proposal, write catalog and other texts, develop budgets, communicate with artists and lending institutions on contracts and loans, design educational programming and outreach, develop sponsorship or fundraising if needed, oversee exhibition design and installation, and prepare marketing and press materials. Program schedule January 2027 to January 2028, detailed schedule to be determined. Deadline December 18, 2026, midnight. Finalists notified January 8, 2027; finalist interviews January 13 to 15, 2027; Emerging Curator notified January 20, 2027.