Mortimer Hays-Brandeis Traveling Fellowship Program

The Mortimer Hays-Brandeis Traveling Fellowship Program awards fellowships to students in the visual and fine arts, including art history, conservation, studio art, and photography. The Fellowships are supported by income from the Mortimer and Sara Hays Endowment Fund at Brandeis University and provide support for living expenses and travel outside the United States. Each award provides a stipend of $19,000, and is not intended to be renewable. The fellowship year runs from July 1 to June 30; awards are usually expected to be offered by early May.

Yale is one of a limited group of institutions invited to nominate up to four candidates annually to the national competition. The campus nomination process is organized through Fellowship Programs at the Yale Center for International & Professional Experience.

Application Information: Interested Yale applicants should first carefully read all the information given in the official instructions, as well as the Yale application information here. After doing so, applicants may refer questions to Fellowship Programs at the Yale Center for International and Professional Experience (meetings by appointment).

A complete application includes the following items (most materials must be submitted via the Yale Student Grants Database prior to 1pm on the day of the application deadline; portfolios, when applicable, may be shared via Box at Yale or by sharing a link to a website where your portfolio may be viewed by the Yale committee):

• A completed application in this portal.
• A proposal of five to seven pages (approximately 1,500 to 2,000 words) describing clearly the project and/or activities to be undertaken during the fellowship year, the goals and objectives of the project, and how it relates to the candidate's professional or other interests. the requirement for travel abroad should be clearly evident. (Follow the instructions on the official website; upload a copy for the Yale committee via the Yale Database).
• A projected budget for the fellowship year, including estimated travel and living expenses, as well as any special expenses related to the proposed project, such as art supplies and the like. The budget should include all funds that the candidate expects to use during the fellowship year. Any unusual categories of expenditure should be carefully explained. (upload a copy for the Yale committee via the Yale Database)
• Two letters of recommendation from individuals who know the candidate well and are in a position to discuss the merit and viability of the project and the candidate's ability successfully to complete the project proposed. (Be sure to give your recommenders copies of the official letter of recommendation form found on the Hays-Brandeis website; but enter your recommenders and their email addresses into the Yale Database, so that your recommenders may submit their letters via upload to the Database.)
• Transcripts: for the initial campus competition, unofficial Yale College transcripts will suffice. However, for the ensuing national competition, nominees must request official transcripts from the Yale Registrar. An official transcript must also be requested from any institution other than Yale attended for post-secondary study. Only one official copy of each transcript is required. (For the campus nomination process, scanned/digital copies of transcripts may be uploaded via the Yale Database.)
• And, for candidates in the visual arts and art conservation ONLY, a portfolio, according to the official instructions. (Portfolios may be submitted by sharing them via Yale's electronic File Transfer system, or by sharing a link to a website where your portfolio may be viewed by the Yale committee, or by submitting a CD/DVD to the Fellowships office.)

Restrictions to Use of Award: This award does NOT normally support formal graduate study. (See the official website for full details.)

Please note that for the Mortimer Hays-Brandeis Traveling Fellowship, proposals in the "visual and fine arts, including art history, conservation, studio art, and photography" should primarily involve visual arts.

Eligible are graduating seniors and recent graduates of Yale College (in 2023: Classes of 2020, 2021, and 2022). Preference will be given to graduating seniors. (US citizenship is not required for this fellowship.)

Awards are made on the basis of merit; financial need is not a consideration.

Selection criteria include the merit of the project and its proposed outcomes; the adequacy of the candidate’s preparation and foreign language proficiency for the project; the necessity of travel abroad to meet the goals and objectives of the project; the relationship of the project to the candidate’s prior work, preparation, and professional or creative goals; awareness of resources such as libraries or archives that should be consulted in connection with the candidate's project; the clarity of the project goals and the means by which they will be achieved; and the appropriateness of one year as the time period for the project.