In 2025, Applicants choose to apply for one of three funding options:

1) Applicants may choose not to apply for a competitive scholarship, and instead opt to pay the full cost of the residency at $1850/week.

2) Applicants may choose to apply for a $850/week scholarship based on need. If awarded, this scholarship brings the cost down to $1000/week.

3) Applicants may choose to apply for a $1350/week scholarship based on need. If awarded, this scholarship brings the cost down to $500/week.

Scholarships are competitive and limited, and larger scholarships are highly competitive. You may not apply for more than one option, so be sure to apply to the scholarship option that meets your actual financial need. Thanks to the generosity of our grantors and donors, Craigardan awarded more than $130,000 in scholarships in 2024.

In order to ensure that residencies are affordable for everyone, applicants may choose to apply for work exchange (WE) which can cover an additional $200 per week of the residency fee at the equivalent rate of $20 per hour. WE residents work 10 hours per week in exchange for the residency fee reduction. WE duties include helping on the farm, in the kitchen, in the farm store, or with cleaning. This opportunity provides us with help on campus, connects residents with the larger community, teaches skills, and makes the residencies even more affordable.

Please note that all residents, including WE residents, are responsible for travel, any materials and studio costs, and any additional food costs.

To be considered for WE: select the option on the application form and answer the relevant questions. This is a need-based award. A limited number of WE opportunities are available each summer, and not all WE applicants will be awarded work exchange.

Please note that WE can take a significant amount of time away from one’s residency and time-management is key. Be aware — this is real (hands-on, physical) work, not desk work, for up to 8 hours at a time.

The First Peoples Fellowship at Craigardan supports Indigenous artists and culture bearers engaged in art or craft making, art criticism, and native language practice and poetry. Developed in collaboration with Craigardan alumni who are Kanienʼkehá:ka creatives from the Akwesasne community, this new fellowship recognizes Native artists who make a significant impact in their discipline, who are recognized in their community as keepers of the language and culture, or who are interested in developing or furthering their voice in the field of Indigenous art dialogue and criticism. 

The Fellowship will support an individual for one or two weeks in-residence, or a collaborating pair or group for one week in-residence. Fellows will receive a scholarship of up to $3700 to cover the full cost of a one or two-week residency, plus a $500 honorarium. Fellows offer a public talk during their residency in their area of expertise. By invitation, nomination, or application. Only one individual or group Fellowship is awarded each summer. 

To be considered for this fellowship: select the option on the application form and submit a supporting document with a statement explaining why this opportunity is a good fit for you and your work. 

The Teaching Fellowship is available to applicants who wish to share their knowledge and skills with the public while in-residence.  The fellowship is open to any artist or scholar whose teaching proposal is applicable to Craigardan’s mission and place. Interested artists and scholars must submit an application with a specific course or workshop proposal or be invited as a visiting instructor.  The accepted candidate will have a strong interest in community education and a desire for further collaboration with program participants as well as the local community.

Awardees receive a $3700 fellowship toward a (minimum) two-week residency. Teaching fellows offer a multi-session class on a topic relevant to the resident’s area of expertise. Teaching Fellowships are highly competitive and up to four are awarded each year. We welcome applications from artists and scholars at any stage of their career. Fellows will be selected based on merit and the strength of their course proposal by a jury of professional artists and educators.

To be considered for this fellowship: select the option on the application form and submit a supporting document with details on a class proposal. The class proposal should highlight your expertise and include a full description of what course participants could expect. Public classes at Craigardan are generally 2 hours long on Tuesday or Thursday evenings and run for two or more weeks. Teaching fellows are expected to teach a multi-session course with one session per week while in residence. Fellows will receive staff assistance in refining proposals and designing the final class offering.

The John Brown Lives! Fellowship at Craigardan supports humanists engaged in the performing and visual arts, creative writing, scholarship and activism, and whose work is guided by a compassionate sense of history and its contemporary reverberations. JBL! Fellows possess a commitment to expressions of freedom, equality and social justice, ideals for which the Abolitionist John Brown dedicated and sacrificed his life.

Awardees receive a $2700 scholarship from Craigardan, and a $1000 fellowship from John Brown Lives! to cover the cost of a two-week residency, plus a $500 grant. Fellows participate in a public event at John Brown Farm in Lake Placid. Only one JBL! Fellowship is awarded each summer; currently by invitation only. Please email program@craigardan.org to inquire.

Master Artist Fellows at Craigardan are artists and scholars working in any discipline who demonstrate exceptional merit throughout their career and who’s work aligns with Craigardan’s mission and vision.

Awardees receive a $1000 fellowship toward a (minimum) two-week residency, plus a $500 honorarium. Fellows offer a public talk during their residency in their area of expertise. By invitation or application. Only one Master Artist Fellowship is awarded each summer.

To be considered for this fellowship: select the option on the application form and submit a supporting document with a written statement. This is a merit-based fellowship. Tell us how your significant achievements in your creative field make you an ideal candidate for this fellowship. It can be difficult to sing your own praises, and we accept statements written by others who wish to nominate you for this award.

The Alumni Fellowship supports both emerging artists and returning alumni working in any medium whose work would most benefit from the unique type of place-based residency community that Craigardan is known for cultivating. The annual Fellowship provides a scholarship towards a two-week residency which is both funded and awarded by Craigardan Alumni. The amount of award varies by year based on annual alumni giving, and may support one or more artists and scholars each summer.

To be considered for this fellowship: select the option on the application form and submit a supporting document with a written statement that tells us how the unique type of place-based residency community at Craigardan would benefit your artistic growth. Why you, why here, why now?

The Trillium Fellowship supports artists and scholars of color working in any discipline who would benefit from the time and space to pursue their work or find creative retreat at Craigardan.

Awardees receive a $3700 fellowship toward a (minimum) two-week residency, plus a $500 honorarium. Fellows offer a public talk during their residency in their area of expertise. By invitation or application. Only one Trillium Fellowship is awarded each summer.

To be considered for this fellowship: select the option on the application form and submit a supporting document with a written statement. This is a need-based fellowship and we want to understand how both your financial position and creative accomplishments make you an excellent candidate for this fellowship.