VisArts invites applications from emerging curators to work with an experienced mentoring curator to develop and present an exhibition at VisArts in the Kaplan Gallery in the fall of 2025.

The VisArts Emerging Curator Program offers a unique opportunity for an emerging curator or artist with an interest in exhibition-making or curating to work with an experienced mentoring curator to develop and present an exhibition and to assist in the presentation of the mentor’s exhibition. To develop expanded education programming and enhanced visitor experiences, the 2025 Emerging Curator and the 2025 Mentoring Curator will also focus on developing tools to support public programming that promotes social interaction, creative exchange, and audience engagement.

**Curatorial Collaboration**

During the yearlong program, the curatorial team (mentoring curator and emerging curator) will:

* Conduct curatorial research
* Develop a cohesive and compelling exhibition proposal
* Develop writing skills for catalogs and other printed and online materials
* Develop budgets for executing exhibitions and exhibition programming
* Communicate with artists and lending institutions, developing contracts and loan information
* Research and develop a plan for incorporating technology upgrades to gallery programming through website enhancements, use of tablets and apps, and production of video and audio materials
* Design and implement educational exhibition programming and outreach activities that engage artists, curators, and public audience of all ages
* Develop sponsorship/fundraising initiatives to support the exhibition programming (if needed)
* Oversee exhibition design and installation
* Develop marketing and public relations materials in support of the exhibition, such as press releases, website + social media content, and print media

The VisArts Emerging Curator Program provides emerging curators with practical, hands-on experience at a community arts organization. It’s designed to support diverse exhibitions presenting a broad spectrum of ideas and curatorial approaches. In addition, it enhances the VisArts exhibition experience by developing educational opportunities, public programming, and opportunities for community engagement through expanded use of interactive interpretive media.

  
**Timeline:**

Program: January 2025 – January 2026 (detailed schedule TBD)

Emerging Curator exhibition: November 14, 2025 - January 18, 2026

Mentoring Curator exhibition: August 1 - September 28, 2025

Exhibition at VisArts in the Kaplan Gallery in the fall of 2025.

  
VisArts will provide the Emerging Curator with a $10,000 budget to cover exhibition costs and curatorial fees. Additional staff support for printing, promotions, and execution of exhibition programming is available. The program is one year and will begin in January 2025.

  

Emerging Curator Program 2025

These two-year benefit-eligible positions are for those interested in a public history or curatorial career.

Curatorial Fellows are integrated as members of Institute staff and benefit from professional development, portfolio building, networking, and mentorship opportunities. Project outcomes build fellows’ resumes in the museum and library fields while advancing the Institute’s strategic goals.

Curatorial fellowships are intended for individuals with advanced degrees who are interested in a professional trajectory outside the academy. Both early career and career-changing researchers are encouraged to apply. Scholars from any relevant field with a demonstrated interest in the history of science, broadly defined, will be considered.

As part of their professional development and networking, curatorial fellows participate in relevant seminars at the Institute (approximately ten percent of the fellows’ time), including the Beckman Center’s Work-in-Progress Workshops and Fellows’ Talks.

**2025–2027 Curatorial Fellow**

The Science History Institute seeks a Curatorial Fellow to serve as a content creator for a rich suite of digital products. The Institute reaches a diverse global audience by offering free resources that are both carefully researched and accessibly written. We seek a Curatorial Fellow with demonstrated interest in the public history of science, who is excited by the challenges and opportunities of communicating history to non-specialist audiences in ways that are engaging, surprising, and critical. Possible outputs include articles published in _Distillations_ magazine, entries in our Scientific Biographies web resource, or collaborations with our digital production teams on videos or digital exhibitions. Fellows interested in using our library and museum collections would also have opportunities to curate physical exhibitions. Those interested in learning how to conduct oral history interviews may also participate in the Oral History Training Institute and embark on a small guided project.

The salary for the Curatorial Fellowship is $55,000\. The application deadline is January 15, 2025\. Offers will be made by May 2025, with a start date of September 2025\. Curatorial fellows who meet the criteria of the Institute’s Relocation Assistance Program receive a $1,500 payment upon moving to the Philadelphia area. Funds may also be available to support conference, research, or professional development travel.

This is a two-year, limited-duration staff position that will end in August 2027.

The salary for the Curatorial Fellowship is $55,000\. 

  
Curatorial fellows who meet the criteria of the Institute’s Relocation Assistance Program receive a $1,500 payment upon moving to the Philadelphia area. Funds may also be available to support conference, research, or professional development travel.

2025–2027 Curatorial Fellowship

State of Fashion is launching an Open Call for Curators for its 2026 Biennale, taking place in Arnhem, The Netherlands. We’re looking for visionary thinkers and makers with an outspoken view on the challenges the world faces at the moment, the necessity for fundamental change, and the role that fashion has in the ability to transform and reframe social and cultural contexts. Our leading question is: how can fashion & textile contribute to a better world?

  
**THE OPEN CALL**

For our fourth edition, State of Fashion asks prospective curators to build upon the main outcomes from our previous editions. Our goal is to focus on collaborative and collective action, where the global is connected to the local. We urge the curators to respond to the themes from an intersectional approach.

We invite the new curators to ….

  
→ unpack the politics of dress

→ forge community

→ honour unseen labour(s)

→ move beyond the binary

→ amplify voices from the global majority

  
The above mentioned thematic Calls to Action serve as food for thought, not as a fixed framework.

As a platform we continuously research the format of the Biennale and therefore entrust the new curators to challenge and reinterpret ways of presenting and programming their proposal, beyond the format of the exhibition. Examples could be a commission based approach where makers get the chance to create new work. Furthermore, the emphasis is often on the end result, we actively want to make space for the work in process.

The selected curator(s) will receive a fee in the range of €30,000–€40,000, depending on the scope and details of the proposal.

2026 State of Fashion Biennale

**The Gardiner Museum in Toronto is seeking proposals for its annual Gardiner Museum Curatorial Residency.**

  
The Gardiner Museum Curatorial Residency provides the successful applicant with a paid opportunity to conceive, research, and produce a small-scale museum exhibition and gain experience in a professional environment. The aims of the Residency are to support a new and diverse generation of aspiring and emerging curators by offering them an opportunity to communicate their ideas to a broad public; to promote new approaches to the study and presentation of ceramics; and to encourage innovative research on the Gardiner’s permanent collection in an international context. The Curatorial Residency is an annual program, launched in 2022\. Unsuccessful applicants from previous years are encouraged to apply again.

**About the Residency:**

The Curatorial Residency program is typically about 20 weeks long and its main outcome is an exhibition presented at the Museum. The exhibition should focus on clay or ceramic works, works that are primarily ceramic, or ceramic works in context with other objects or artworks. The theme should be of contemporary relevance and informed by the latest scholarship, whether the actual objects are historical or contemporary. As one of the objectives of the Residency is to advance knowledge and interpretation of the Gardiner’s collection, the exhibition should draw from or directly relate to the Museum’s holdings.

There are two components within the residency to achieve this goal. The first is a travel component (typically 2 – 4 weeks), with financial support for the selected applicant’s travel outside of Canada to research their exhibition, including visiting other museums. This invaluable experience will enhance the exhibition, deepen its scholarship, and provide a unique opportunity for professional and personal growth. The second component is full-time work at the Gardiner Museum (typically 16 – 18 weeks). This portion of the residency focuses on the research, development, writing, and realization phases of the exhibition, along with participation in the regular curatorial operations of the Museum, through which the selected applicant gains broader exposure to Museum practice.

The Curatorial Resident will also give at least one public presentation about their exhibition and contribute to the Gardiner’s digital platforms with content about their project. The Resident may include additional programs or a publication as part of their proposal; any element must be reflected within the project budget.

Please note that the position requires the Resident to work mostly on site.

The total Residency budget is $45,000 CAD.

The Curatorial Resident will receive $25,000 CAD, which will be directly managed by the Curatorial Resident, with distribution and accountability guidelines specified at the time of acceptance. The Gardiner Museum recommends the Curatorial Resident allot $18,000 CAD to cover all costs of living, salary, and outside research costs for the time spent in Toronto at the Gardiner Museum for a period of approximately 16 – 18 weeks, with the remaining $7,000 CAD directed towards the travel component of the Residency (typically 2 – 4 weeks).

An additional $20,000 CAD is available for the exhibition and will be managed by the Gardiner Museum. These funds will cover any exhibition-related expenses, including but not limited to: loan fees (charged by institutions to borrow works), artist commission fees (cost to create new artwork), exhibition rights fees (CARFAC – The Gardiner is a Category III institution), transportation of artworks, packing/crating costs, conservation, installation, image permissions, production costs associated with graphics and publication, additional equipment, programming etc.

Curatorial Residency

Ortega y Gasset Projects is pleased to announce our ALL NEW Curatorial Open Call in the Main gallery! OyG co-directors may select multiple curatorial proposals with exhibitions opening between October-December of 2025\. 

  
OyG Co-Directors will work with the selected curator leading up to the opening of the exhibitions, if possible. The curator is required to fully participate in the exhibitions' installation and deinstallation. The curator will be selected by a panel of OyG Co-Directors based on the quality of their proposal and demonstrated ability to mount a successful exhibition. 

  

Exhibition project realised in Ortega y Gasset Projects Main Gallery.

  
Perks of this opportunity include an opening event, public programming (an artist/curator talk or a closing event), promotion on all OyG social media outlets, professional exhibition photography, and a total budget/honorarium of $1000 ($500 exhibition budget + $500 curator honorarium). 

2025 Curatorial Open Call 

Grants of up to $150,000 support public-facing contemporary visual art projects by US-based curators. Single project grants may fund group exhibitions, single-artist surveys, participatory or community- engaged art projects, digital exhibitions, curated series of live or virtual performances, and more.

  
This grant category supports projects in the implementation phase, which can include auxiliaries such as live events and publications in a range of media. (For projects at an earlier stage, consider applying for a curatorial research and development grant.) Projects can be led by one curator at one institution or can be collaborative efforts linking different curators and organizations. If the latter, please identify one partner as the lead applicant.

  
Projects must open to the public between September 1, 2025, and August 31, 2027.

  
Teiger Foundation is dedicated to supporting curatorial learning and experimentation. Successful proposals will demonstrate not just the merit of the artists involved, but a clearly defined and compelling curatorial vision. What guiding principles shape your approach to working with artists and partners? How do you engage with communities and contexts in your curatorial practice? What urgent curatorial issues do you seek to address, and how do you approach them?

  

2025 Call for Proposals: Single Project

Grants of up to $50,000 support the early stages of a project. Every curator begins differently: Some start in archives and collections, others in artists’ studios, and some develop ideas alongside programmatic partners. This grant is meant to offer support for these critical exploratory phases of curatorial work, independent of a public-facing component of the future project. We do not require that research and development grants lead to an exhibition or public-facing project.

  
Eligible research and development expenses can include costs directly related to travel, archival research, pilot projects, prototyping, and other exploratory activities, including convenings of colleagues, scholars, practitioners, and community members. In addition to funds for their own work, curators may apply for assistance for collaborators such as artists, programmatic partners, or catalogue contributors to create work that further informs the curatorial process. This grant can also cover personnel costs related to research assistance. Finally, it can provide institutional support to cover administrative or other needs while curators take leave to conduct their research. This use can comprise up to 60% of the requested award.

2025 Call for Proposals: Curatorial Research & Development

Founded in 2012, the Middlebrook Prize for Young Canadian Curators is awarded annually to an emerging Canadian curator under 30 with the aim to foster social innovation and curatorial excellence in Canada. Hosted and administered by the Art Gallery of Guelph, the winner is selected by a jury of arts leaders and receives a $5,000 honorarium as well as mentorship in the development of an exhibition at the Art Gallery of Guelph.

Submissions are assessed based on artistic quality as well as conceptual strength of the proposed exhibition. The successful applicant’s exhibition will be presented as part of the Art Gallery of Guelph’s Fall 2025 season. By supporting and mobilizing Canadian creative talent, the Middlebrook Prize aims to inspire positive social change through creativity in an era of ongoing and unprecedented economic, environmental, social, and cultural upheaval. Proposals should emphasize contemporary Canadian art with attention to audience, community, and social relevance.

Winner receives a **$5,000 honorarium** as well as mentorship in the development of an exhibition at the Art Gallery of Guelph.

Funding **exhibition** at the Art Gallery of Guelph: exhibition budget up to $10,000 including: artist fees (per 2025 CARFAC fee schedule for Category II institutions), estimated shipping via an accredited art transportation company, any special equipment requirements for the exhibition, a description of unique or unusual installation requirements, and projected travel/accommodation expenses for artist(s)/curator

Middlebrook Prize for Young Canadian Curators

The K11 Art Foundation is pleased to announce the launch of the inaugural K11 Curator Prize, which aims to recognise Asian curators or curator collectives whose curatorial content best demonstrates originality and contemporary relevance. The inaugural edition will focus on original curatorial content in digital art, including generative art. 

  
The K11 Curator Prize was initiated by the K11 ArtFoundation International Council, established in 2023 by Dr. Adrian Cheng, the founder of the K11 Art Foundation, and chaired by Dr. Alia Al-Senussi. The Prize demonstrates the Foundation’s dedication to supporting the development of Asian contemporary art.

  
The selected awardee will be given an exceptional opportunity to curate an exhibition or educational programme between 2026 and 2028 and participate in projects and initiatives that the K11 Art Foundation organises. By providing an environment that encourages cross-collaboration, these activities support the curators in developing their professional connections and broaden their breadth of knowledge.

  
The K11 Curator Prize builds on the inaugural K11 Artist Prize's tremendous popularity, attracting over 1,000 applications from over 50 countries and regions. Xin Liu, the recipient of the K11 Artist Prize 2024, benefited from numerous networking opportunities, valuable mentorships, and the chance to hold a solo exhibition in collaboration with an established curator. This exhibition is scheduled for 2026 and will take place at a globally renowned international non-profit institution.The K11 Curator Prize is designed to alternate yearly with the K11 Artist Prize.

The selected awardee will be given an exceptional opportunity to curate an exhibition or educational programme between 2026 and 2028 and participate in projects and initiatives that the K11 Art Foundation organises. By providing an environment that encourages cross-collaboration, these activities support the curators in developing their professional connections and broaden their breadth of knowledge.

K11 Curator Prize—Open Call 2025

The Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation is excited to announce the fourth in a series of open calls, giving curators, academics, and art historians a platform to stage an exhibition at The 8th Floor, our gallery and event space, at 17 West 17th St. near Union Square, NYC. 

We are searching for emerging researchers and cultural presenters to work with us to realize their pre-existing, and as-yet unrealized exhibition concept. Proposals with an experimental and/or pedagogical approach are sought for thematic group presentations. Applicants should be engaged in research which addresses themes relating to the Foundation's mission of art and social justice, championing equity, education, access, and underrepresented narratives and practices. 

The selected curator will be given an honorarium of $3000 for their work on the exhibition and $2000 for their essay in the accompanying catalogue. In addition to an exhibition budget, they will be guided and supported in their administrative, planning, and promotional endeavors by the curatorial team at the Rubin Foundation. 

Curatorial Open Call

Find your next curatorial opportunity from trusted art and cultural organizations around the world. Keep up with current calls & apply on ArtConnect.