(MONTCLAIR, NJ) -- The Montclair Art Museum (MAM) and the African American Cultural Committee (AACC) have announced the inauguration of the AACC Founders Fellowship, beginning in September of 2023.

The AACC was established in the 1980s with the mission to sustain and maintain the legacy of the artists of the African diaspora. To honor the legacy of the founding members of the AACC, the Founders Fellowship will be awarded to a recent African American graduate of master’s or doctoral programs in the visual arts and/or art history. Candidates must have graduated after December 31, 2019 and before June 30, 2023.

The Fellowship is designed to offer the selected Fellow an opportunity to expand their practice, learn about working broadly with a leading museum of American Art, engage with a museum’s audience and artist community and support the work of the AACC, in its role as a bridge between the Museum and the African American community and a supporter of emerging artists.

Over the course of nine months, the Fellow will engage with the Museum’s audience, staff and artist community in collaboration with the AACC. The activities will include attendance at AACC meetings, delivering a lecture on topics related to the Fellow’s art practice/research, teach a workshop at the Museum’s Yard School of Art, meeting with the Museum’s Chief Curator, and attendance at meetings of the Museum’s Art Committee.

The deadline to apply for the AACC Founders Fellowship is March 15, 2023. Please visit MAM’s website to learn more about the program and how to apply.

The Montclair Art Museum (MAM) boasts a renowned collection of American and Native American art that uniquely highlights art-making in the United States over the last 300 years. Works in MAM's Native American art collection span the period of ca. 1200 C.E. to the present day. The Vance Wall Art Education Center encompasses the Museum’s educational efforts, including award-winning Yard School of Art studio classes, lectures and talks, family events, tours, and the mobile MAM Art Truck. MAM exhibitions and programs serve a wide public of all ages, from families and seniors to artists, educators, and scholars.

All MAM programs are made possible, in part, by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, The Vance Wall Foundation, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, and Museum members.