The Tyson Scholars of
American Art Program

Deadline for 2013-2014 Academic year is January 15, 2013

The Tyson Scholars of American Art Program is a residential program that supports full-time scholarship in the history of American art, visual and material culture from the colonial period to the present. The program was established in 2012 through a $5 million commitment from the Tyson family and Tyson Foods, Inc.

To support their research, Tyson Scholars have access to the art and library collections of Crystal Bridges as well as the library at the University of Arkansas in nearby Fayetteville. Scholars will have the opportunity to interact with Crystal Bridges' curatorial and research staff, as well as the community, through lectures, symposia, and collaborations with the University of Arkansas.

Up to three Scholars may be in residence at a time, with terms ranging from six weeks to nine months. Housing is provided at the Crystal Bridges Farmhouse, within easy walking distance from the Museum via wooded trails and approximately 1.5 miles from downtown Bentonville. It features comfortable indoor and outdoor common spaces including an expansive yard, patio and swimming pool; scholars have private bed and bath rooms.

In addition to housing, Scholars are provided office or carrel space in the curatorial wing of Crystal Bridges' library. Stipends are variable depending on the duration of residency, need, and professional rank, ranging from $30,000 to $60,000 for a nine month term. Additional funds for research travel during the residency period are available upon application. Bicycles, donated by Phat Tire Bike Shop of downtown Bentonville, are provided for use by Tyson Scholars during their residency.

Read the Tyson Scholars FAQ

Who is Eligible?

The program is open to scholars holding a Ph.D. (or equivalent) as well as to Ph.D. candidates. Applicants may be affiliated with a university, museum, or independent. Scholars will be selected on the basis of their potential to advance understanding of American art and to intersect meaningfully with aspects of Crystal Bridges' collections, architecture, or landscape. Projects with a synthetic, interdisciplinary focus and that seek to expand boundaries of research or traditional categories of investigation are particularly encouraged.

To apply, candidates should fill out the application form and submit it along with the following additional materials.

Deadline for application for the 2013-2014 academic year is January 15, 2013.

• A statement of purpose (limited to 1,000 words) outlining the aspects of the work to be accomplished during the residency period and the specific benefits that the residency program would provide.  If you plan to use objects from the Museum collection and/or materials from the Museum archives in your research, please provide a brief listing. 

Note: Pre-doctoral applicants should also include a detailed statement of their dissertation project outlining its contribution to the field, methodologies, and overview of relevant literature (limited to 1,000 words).

• Curriculum vitae (limited to 10 pages).
• Two letters of recommendation, to be sent directly to Crystal Bridges. 
• For pre-doctoral applicants, one of these letters must be from the applicant's dissertation advisor or professor.

Download Tyson Scholar of American Art Application Form

2012-2013 Tyson Scholars

Matthew Bailey, Washington University in St. Louis

Matthew Bailey is a PhD candidate in the Department of Art History and Archaeology and a Lynn Cooper Harvey Fellow in American Culture Studies at Washington University in St. Louis. He has also held dissertation fellowships from the Henry Luce Foundation/American Council of Learned Societies and the Winterthur Museum, Garden, and Library.

As a Tyson Scholar at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Matthew Bailey will continue work on his dissertation, which examines the way artists conceptually and physically interacted with paint in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Susan Rather, University of Texas at Austin

Dr. Rather is a tenured member of the art history faculty in the Department of Art and Art History at the University of Texas, Austin. There since 1986, she has taught and supervised students ranging from beginning undergraduates to doctoral candidates. As a scholar, Rather first published Archaism, Modernism and the Art of Paul Manship. Her work then began to focus on artists during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, with resulting articles on John Singleton Copley, Benjamin West, Gilbert Stuart and others appearing in such leading journals as Art Bulletin, American Art, William and Mary Quarterly, and Eighteenth-Century Studies.

As a Tyson Scholar at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Susan Rather will complete her manuscript for a book examining in depth what it meant to be an American artist during the colonial and early national era.

Jason Weems, University of California, Riverside

Dr. Weems is an assistant professor at the University of California, Riverside where he specializes in American art and visual culture from the colonial period to the present. He's held fellowships from the Huntington Library, the College Art Association/Terra Foundation for American Art, Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the Henry Luce Foundation/American Council of Learned Societies.

As a Tyson Scholar at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Jason Weems will complete work on his current book manuscript, which examines the development of modern aerial vision and its effect on visual expression during the interwar years.