The Menil Drawing Institute in Houston, Texas, is a unique institution housed in a landmark building specially designed for the collecting, study, display, conservation and storage of modern and contemporary drawing. As part of its ambitious plans to become a major research center, the Menil Drawing Institute established a Fellowship Program that fosters the highest level of scholarship and makes possible rich, interdisciplinary, object-based conversations on the drawing medium’s history, theory, criticism, and practice.

The Drawing Institute offers one Pre-Doctoral Fellowship per year. It is open by application to students whose research focuses on modern and/or contemporary drawing. The Fellowship is residential and supports individual research towards the Fellow’s doctoral dissertation. Applicants must have completed a master’s degree, completed their graduate coursework, and passed any required pre-doctoral exams (“orals”) before the term of the fellowship begins. Applicants with approved dissertation topics are preferred. The Fellow is expected to reside in Houston for the duration of the fellowship and to participate in the cultural and intellectual life of the Menil.

Terms of Appointment
- The Menil Drawing Institute Pre-Doctoral Fellowship is 9 months in length, and spans the academic year, lasting from September to June.
- The Fellow will receive a monthly stipend of $3,000 to cover living and other expense incurred during the Fellowship, will be housed in a fully-furnished apartment within a recently refurbished historic bungalow on the Menil campus.
- They will be assigned an office at the Menil Drawing Institute to use for the duration of the fellowship and will have access to the collections, archives, and staff at the Menil and to library collections throughout Houston.

Application Process
Applicants for the Pre-Doctoral Fellowship are required to provide a project proposal (not to exceed 1,000 words), a tentative schedule of work to be achieved during the fellowship period, a curriculum vitae, official undergraduate and graduate transcripts, a writing sample, and three letters of recommendation.

All application materials, including academic transcripts and letters of recommendation, must be sent via email to mdi@menil.org and received by December 11, 2020.

All applicants will be notified of the Menil’s decision by late January 2021.