Oct 24, 2024 Prestigious program champions interdisciplinary research, driving fresh inquiries into the rich landscape of American art Amy Kahng Angela Pastorelli-Sosa Fletcher Coleman, PhD Julie L. McGee, PhD Lexington Davis Download high-resolution images. BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art is accepting applications for the 2025-2026 cohort of the Tyson Scholars of American Art Program. The residential research and writing-focused fellowship for interdisciplinary scholars has been expanding the boundaries of investigation into American art since its inception in 2012. Through a $5 million commitment from the Tyson Family Foundation and Tyson Foods, Inc., the Tyson Scholars Program has supported the work of 76 scholars, attracting academic professionals in a variety of disciplines nationally and internationally who have worked on books, articles, and exhibition projects while in residence. Crystal Bridges and the Tyson Scholars Program invite scholars focused on visual art, architecture, craft, visual and material culture, performance art, or new media. The program also invites applications from scholars approaching US art transregionally and looking at the broader geographical context of the Americas, especially Latinx and Indigenous art. Crystal Bridges invites anyone holding or pursuing a terminal degree in their field to apply. The program offers fellowships proportionate to experience, including pre-doctoral (or equivalent), post-graduate, and senior scholars. Fellowships are residential and support full-time writing and research for terms that range from six weeks to nine months. Stipends vary depending on the duration of residency and experience, and range from $17,000 to $34,000 per semester, plus provided housing. The residency includes $1,500 for relocation expenses and additional research funds upon application. Scholars are provided workspace in the curatorial wing of the Crystal Bridges Library and while in residence, Tyson Scholars have access to the art and library collections of Crystal Bridges, as well as the library and archives at the University of Arkansas in nearby Fayetteville. During their residency, Tyson Scholars will intersect meaningfully with the dynamic arts ecosystem in Northwest Arkansas. Applications for the 2025-2026 academic year are open now and close December 16, 2024. Prospective scholars can apply online through Crystal Bridges’ website. Current Cohort While accepting new applications, the work of the 2024-2025 Tyson Scholars residency cohort continues to bring critical perspectives and understanding to American art. The 2024-2025 Tyson Scholars residency cohort includes: Fletcher Coleman, PhD Dr. Fletcher Coleman is an Assistant Professor of Art History at the University of Texas at Arlington, where he also serves as coordinator for the Art History and Museum Studies programs. Coleman is a specialist on the religious arts and art historiography of China, whose research spans the medieval through early modern periods. Coleman also regularly curates exhibitions of twentieth century Asian and Asian American art. His work has been published in international journals such as Ars Orientalis, Orientations, and 典藏古美術 Diancang gumeishu. Lexington Davis Lexington Davis is an AHRC-funded PhD candidate at the University of St Andrews, where her research explores 1970s feminist art and domestic labor politics across the United States, United Kingdom, France, and Mexico. She has previously held curatorial positions at the New Museum, New York; the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. She has taught at Leiden University and has written for publications including Feminist Media Histories, Sculpture Journal, and Flash Art. Her work has been supported by a Fulbright Fellowship, the Harvard Radcliffe Institute, the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art, the Association for Art History, and Het Cultuurfonds. Amy Kahng Amy Kahng is a PhD candidate in Art History and Criticism at Stony Brook University. Her dissertation project examines twentieth century Asian American artists and their relationship to land and landscape. Other research interests include global contemporary art, modern and contemporary art in Korea, and transnational feminist art practices. Amy was a 2022-23 Patricia and Phillip Frost Predoctoral Fellow at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and her research has been supported by the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, the Graduate Council Fellowship (Stony Brook), and the Center for Korean Studies (Stony Brook). Amy is an independent curator and has contributed to projects at MoMA, MFA Boston, J. Paul Getty Museum, Kukje Gallery, and the Weisman Museum of Art. Her exhibition Mis/Communication: Language and Power in Contemporary Art is currently touring five SUNY campuses. Julie L. McGee, PhD Julie L. McGee is Associate Professor of Africana Studies and Art History and Director of the Interdisciplinary Humanities Research Center at the University of Delaware. An independent curator, she developed David Driskell: Icons of Nature and History (2021) in collaboration with the High Museum of Art and the Portland Museum of Art. Among her past fellowships are the Dorothy Kayser Hohenberg Chair of Excellence in Art History at the University of Memphis, a Paul Mellon Visiting Senior Fellowship at the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and a Rockefeller Foundation Humanities Fellowship at the Smithsonian. Angela Pastorelli-Sosa Angela Pastorelli-Sosa is a PhD candidate at the University of California, Berkeley. She specializes in modern and contemporary art of the Americas and the Caribbean. Her dissertation examines four Latinx artists whose works mobilize historical objects to explore how spaces–such as borders, commonwealths, and urban environments–continue to be contested via racialized, gendered bodies. She is a past recipient of the Luce/ACLS Dissertation Fellowship in American Art and has also participated in the Center for Curatorial Leadership’s Mellon Foundation Seminar. Tyson Think Tank In addition to the Tyson Scholars of American Art Program, Crystal Bridges also continued its Tyson Think Tank in 2024. The Tyson Think Tank is a short-term fellowship opportunity for scholars of American art. The 2024 program took place in August and focused on the career and life of the nineteenth-century sculptor Edmonia Lewis (ca. 1844-1907), whose work The Old Arrow Maker is in the Crystal Bridges permanent collection. Edmonia Lewis broke international, racial, and gender barriers when she traveled to Rome in 1866 to join the leading American sculptors of her generation. The exceptional story of her career and her success as an African American and Indigenous (Mississauga) female sculptor intrigued supporters and complicated critical reception during her lifetime and up to the present day. The Think Tank was led by co-curators of an upcoming exhibition, Dr. Shawnya L. Harris, the Larry D. and Brenda A. Thompson curator of African American and African Diasporic Art at the Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia, and Dr. Jeffrey Richmond-Moll, the George Putnam Curator of American Art at the Peabody Essex Museum. Scholars for the 2024 Think Tank include Dr. Lauren Applebaum, curator of American art at the North Carolina Museum of Art; Ebonie Pollock, PhD candidate, Harvard University; and Dr. Melissa Benbow, recent graduate of the University of Delaware. ### About Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art The mission of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art is to welcome all to celebrate the American spirit in a setting that unites the power of art with the beauty of nature. Since opening in 2011, the museum has welcomed more than 12.2 million visitors across its spaces, with no cost for admission. Crystal Bridges was founded in 2005 as a non-profit charitable organization by arts patron and philanthropist, Alice Walton. The collection spans five centuries of American masterworks from early American to current day and is enhanced by temporary exhibitions. The museum is nestled on 120 acres of Ozark landscape and was designed by world-renowned architect Moshe Safdie. A rare Frank Lloyd Wright-designed house was preserved and relocated to the museum grounds in 2015. Home of the prestigious Don Tyson Prize for the Advancement of American Art and Tyson Scholars of American Art Program, Crystal Bridges offers public programs including lectures, performances, classes, and teacher development opportunities. Some 418,375 school children have participated in the Willard and Pat Walker School Visit program, which provides educational experiences for school groups at no cost to the schools. Additional museum amenities include a restaurant, gift store, library, and five miles of art and walking trails. In February 2020, the museum opened the Momentary in Downtown Bentonville (507 SE E Street), conceived as a platform for the art, food, and music of our time. In 2026, Crystal Bridges will complete a nearly 100,000 square foot expansion that will allow the museum to expand access for all. For more information, visit CrystalBridges.org. The museum is located at 600 Museum Way, Bentonville, Arkansas 72712. About the Tyson Family Foundation Established in 1970, the Tyson Family Foundation supports efforts for education, health, arts and culture, youth programs, and a scholarship program for Tyson Foods employees and their families. The foundation has endowed and supported local, regional, and national organizations committed to furthering access to knowledge, promoting creativity, and supporting communities. President Olivia Tyson currently leads the Foundation.
