The Visual Culture Program invites applications for 2022–23 short-term fellowships. Fellows have studied topics as varied as the relationship between text and images in American primers for children, the graphic arts in Philadelphia from 1780 to 1880, and the intersection of science and art in the production of daguerreotypes.

Searchable catalogs to our collections are available online at https://digital.librarycompany.org/discovery with a number of visual culture collections also searchable at https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/islandora%3Aroot

See individual fellowship descriptions below for more information and instructions on how to apply. For a complete listing of all LCP fellowship opportunities, visit https://librarycompany.org/academic-programs/fellowships/.


The William H. Helfand Fellowship for American Visual Culture
The fellowship is designed to promote scholarship in visual culture through the study of textual and graphic sources from the 16th through early 20th centuries held in the Library Company’s collections. Possible research topics include the production and consumerism of printed graphics; the histories of printing and photographic processes; popular iconography; ephemera; incunabula; the illustrated book trade; and historical depictions of gender, race, and class. Fellows will have the opportunity to attend the Library Company’s public programs and events, participate in the vibrant scholarly community of Philadelphia, and present a lecture about their research.

The stipend is $2500 for a one-month fellowship, which may be fulfilled between June 1, 2022, and May 31, 2023.

The Program in Visual Culture Terra Foundation Fellowships for Research on American Popular Graphic Arts
The Terra Foundation Fellowships support research in visual materials from the American popular graphic arts collections. The collection contains prints, photographs, drawings, and ephemera created between the 18th and 20th centuries in multiple aesthetic styles and by a wide range of artists, including Charles Willson Peale, John Sartain, Frederick De Bourg Richards, and Jessie Wilcox Smith. We welcome applicants from a range of disciplines, including, and not limited to scholars, studio artists, curators, conservators, and digital humanists.

The stipend is $2500 for a one-month fellowship. Two awards will be made for Terra Foundation Fellowships, which may be fulfilled between June 1, 2022, and December 31, 2022.

Application materials are due March 1, 2022, with a decision to be made by April 15. To apply, fill out the online application form and upload a single PDF file containing a brief CV and a two- to four-page description of your proposed research (single-spaced, not to exceed 1500 words. The proposal should make clear how Library Company collections will support your research.

Application files should be named using this format: Lastname_Firstname_application. In addition, one letter of recommendation in PDF format should be uploaded at https://librarycompany.org/academic-programs/fellowships/application/letters/; please ask your recommender to name files using this format: Lastname_Firstname_letter. Letters should be tailored to the application; we do not accept recommendation letters via Interfolio.

For more information about fellowships offered by the Library Company’s Visual Culture Program, contact program director Erika Piola (epiola@librarycompany.org).