MoMA Announces the Creation of the Ford Foundation Scholars in Residence Program

Generous Grant Makes Possible One-Year Residencies That Allow Innovative Thinkers to Pursue Independent Research at the Museum #newyork, December 13, 2021—MoMA announces the creation of the #fordfoundation Scholars in Residence at The Museum of Modern Art, a program that will invite three midcareer or established professionals with demonstrated records of achievement to join the Museum for a one-year term to pursue independent research that contributes to new understandings of modern and #contemporaryart. Candidates for these new residencies will be thought leaders whose work focuses on historically underrepresented artists, moments, movements, and geographies, or offers new perspectives on art-historical topics. In addition to conducting independent research, each scholar-in-residence will join staff across the Museum to participate in the conversations that set the course for MoMA’s collection presentations, exhibitions, acquisitions, scholarship, and programming. During their one-year terms, scholars will have a generous stipend and open access to the Museum’s resources, research collections, and networks, along with dedicated support in navigating them.

“We are energized by the Ford Foundation’s generous support and confidence in #MoMA to establish this pilot Scholars in Residence program with us,” said #glenndlowry, the #davidrockefeller Director. “We are excited to welcome the first trio of scholars next fall, and to explore different ways of thinking about the history of modern and #contemporaryart. Together, we hope to add new layers of meaning and understanding to works in the Museum’s collection,” Lowry added.

The Scholars in Residence program is made possible by a grant from the #fordfoundation.

The call for candidates is now open for the first cohort, whose term will begin in September 2022. Candidates can be scholars, researchers, or creative practitioners (such as artists, writers, or choreographers) from a wide variety of disciplines.

“Museums and cultural scholars are critical to our understanding of the arts, and in turn our perspective of the world around us,” said #darrenwalker, president of the #fordfoundation. “We are honored to support the #fordfoundation Scholars in Residents Program at #MoMA and advance creative, diverse, and innovative thinking about the role contemporary and modern art plays in our society today.”

The establishment of the Scholars in Residence program builds upon a decades-long relationship between #MoMA and the #fordfoundation and furthers the Museum’s long- standing commitments to research and learning, to creating and supporting professional opportunities for groups historically underrepresented in the Museum field, and to expanding and reimagining narratives of modern and #contemporaryart history.

For detailed information about how to nominate yourself or someone else for consideration, please see https://www.MoMA.org/research-and-learning/ford-foundation- scholars. Submissions must be received by January 12, 2022, and final selections for the September 2022 inaugural cohort of the #fordfoundation Scholars in Residence at The Museum of Modern Art will be made and announced in spring 2022.