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RSC IF is an annual, year-long fellowship centred on historically underrepresented voices for artists, researchers and cultural workers responding to the cultural change needs of the creative and cultural sectors, the performing arts and beyond. For more context about the larger thought-stewardship and institute feasibility study funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), see our About page.

The Fellows’ cohort will come together in Stratford-upon-Avon in July 2025 for the previous year’s Fellows‘ cohort’s Festival of Ideas, and to have their own fellowship kickoff convening. More about the Festival of Ideas in our About page.

Hosted in collaboration with 8 research and cultural organisations, each Fellow will focus on an area related to their own practice that responds to the biggest challenges faced by the creative industries and wider society today. From a lens of individual creative, academic, and cultural practice, areas of inquiry explore the changes needed for the creative and cultural sectors’ development, sustainability, and survival. Areas of priority for 2024-2025 include but are not limited to:

• Sustainable planet and climate futures
• Sustainable creative sector work, for example:   
  • creative industries and economy and monetisation
  • legal and rights frameworks in collaboration
  • radical practice in institutions 
  • design of spaces for immersive work 
  • new ideas in connecting with audiences and distribution
• Innovation in creative practice, for example:  
  • artist and archive as an agent of change 
  • technical innovation (e.g., photogrammetry, volumetric capture, and 3D scanning tools for performance, design, and archive)  
  • innovation in creative process (e.g., R&D processes, rehearsal, etc) 
  • innovation in performance, and performance studies  
  • embodiment and technology 
  • creative AI 
  • new approaches to classics 
  • innovative composition and musical performance 
• Intersectional possibilities including:  
  • othering and belonging 
  • social/cultural/political change through creative practice 
  • disability and access, including in performance and emerging media 
  • queer/trans possibilities 
  • race and resistance  
• Art and health including:
  • social/creative prescribing 
  • medical humanities 
  • arts and wellbeing 

Geared towards sustainable field-building, and historically underrepresented voices, the fellowship forges a consortium of cultural and research leaders committed to the community in order to support one another, develop common questions, and share best practices and new data. These organisations also host Fellows in residency for about 18 days in the year. Current collaborators include:

• Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM, Brooklyn, NY, USA)
• The Music Center (Los Angeles, CA, USA)
• Watershed (Bristol, UK)
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)’s Open Documentary Lab and Co-Creation Studio (Cambridge, MA, USA)
• Stanford Arts (Stanford, CA, USA)
• University of Oxford’s The Oxford Research Center for the Humanities (TORCH, Oxford, UK)

Funded by a £7500 bursary, each Fellow will focus on a research theme in a method based in their own practice, responding to the biggest challenges faced by the creative industries and wider society, and the change needed for the development and survival of the sector and future economic growth.

The year begins with an expenses-paid kickoff convening in RSC’s home, Stratford-upon-Avon in England, UK in July. Previous Fellows will share their learnings and meet new Fellows before they meet with their own cohort. At the end of the Fellowship year in July, Fellows return for an expenses-paid closing Festival of Ideas to share their learnings and welcome the next cohort.

In addition to a rich and generous community of Fellows and organisations, residence time at collaborating institutions, and bespoke practice/research support (including modest travel and finishing funds), the Fellows will have access to state-of-the-art equipment through a further AHRC grant to upgrade facilities for creative and cultural research (CResCa).

You should be:

• A mid- or lifelong-career artist/maker/craftsperson, researcher, or cultural worker who identifies with or belongs to a historically underrepresented population in your field. This is a bit subjective due to the range of practices, but you should have at least 5 years post-educational experience or 2 major creative projects completed. Other mid-career candidates will be considered with a meaningful innovation or social impact practice and a dedication to fostering spaces of belonging for historically excluded or underrepresented voices.
• Located anywhere in the world
• With a current practice and curiosity to explore something in your mode of making related to the IF research themes (detailed below)
• Available to commit about 30 funded days in the Fellowship year to your practice, including around 12 days in-person convening, time in residence based on your and organisational schedules, and 90-minute monthly meetings online (generally morning US PST / late afternoon GMT-based on selected participants). Access and care support is available based on need.
• Not a current employee, student, or faculty of your hosting organisation
• Someone who could benefit from and enrich a community of people exploring the potential of cultural, social, and creative practice

Click the dates below to find out more.