The Vera List Center for Art and Politics at The New School is pleased to announce the Borderlands Curatorial Fellow position starting in Fall 2022 through Spring 2023, and is seeking applications from emerging curators (see Benefits, Qualifications & Eligibility below). The position is renewable for a second term through Spring 2024 (see About this Position below).

The Borderlands Artist Fellowship is a collaboration between the Vera List Center (VLC) and the Center for Imagination in the Borderlands (CIB) at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona, supporting artistic research projects that create communities across different geographical, cultural, and political landscapes. The two 2022-2024 Borderlands Fellows are artists Beatriz Cortez and Fox Maxy, whose projects will focus on the relevance of place, thus seeking to support and apply an Indigenous lens to reflect on questions of borderlands. The Borderlands Curatorial Fellow will assist various aspects of the Borderlands Artist Fellowship initiative and will be tasked to maintain vibrant and reciprocal connections between the VLC and CIB, the 2022–2024 Fellows, and their respective communities.

About this Position
The Borderlands Curatorial Fellow will support the Borderlands Artist Fellowship initiative through research and assistance in conceptualizing, curating and producing public programs about the fellowship projects in New York, Tempe, AZ, and/or online. It is an invitation for rigorous study and to engage deeply in conversations with the host institutions and their communities, the two Borderlands Artist Fellows, and with other curatorial professionals about curating, creating, and disseminating knowledge, and engaging publics in questions of borderlands and urgent issues in the field and the world writ large.

Supported by staff at the VLC, the Borderlands Curatorial Fellow will be based in or near New York and work primarily with the curators at the Vera List Center. They will gain relevant practical work experience and professional development opportunities from the two centers’ distinct practices. The fellow will be embedded within the VLC and will develop a comprehensive understanding of the center’s distinct position as a member of New York City’s cultural community and its national and international networks, and the CIB’s work as an Indigenous space at ASU.

Conceived as two one-year terms (with funding currently secured for one term), the fellowship will unfold in layers and varying levels of engagement to include points of contact and intensity alongside the artist fellows. The goal of the two distinct terms is to offer an opportunity to make adjustments after the first term and finetune expectations for both the fellow and the VLC. Term One (through Spring 2023) will primarily be dedicated to research and learning. Term Two (through Spring 2024) will be dedicated to envisioning, planning, and carrying out public programming, publications, and presentations related to the artists’ projects. The fellow will be encouraged to pursue their own research and curatorial interests, especially as they intersect with questions of Indigeneity, and to create and disseminate knowledge through writing or curating programming on the VLC and CIB’s platforms.

Benefits, Qualifications & Eligibility
The Curatorial Fellow will be appointed for Term One starting in Fall 2022 through Spring 2023 and will be awarded a $15,000 stipend. Depending on external funding and mutual evaluations, Term Two will run from Fall 2023 through Spring 2024 and also carry a $15,000 stipend. Throughout the fellowship, the Borderlands Curatorial Fellow will be supported through professional development opportunities, introduction to the professional networks of the VLC and CIB, and invitations to present on their own work.

We seek candidates from underrepresented communities, who are passionate about how the arts intersect with current political issues and provide new perspectives on social justice. In line with the values and aims of the Borderlands Artists Fellowship, candidates are expected to demonstrate deep affinity with Indigeneity or Indigenous issues. This position for an emerging curator will require experiences with a range of different forms of public presentations. We are seeking candidates based in or near New York who can closely work with the VLC team and the fellows during their NY residency stays.

The Borderlands Curatorial Fellowship is supported, in part, by the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation (NACF). It is open to emerging Native curators who have curatorial experience in the disciplines of dance/choreography, film/video, or visual and performance art. In accordance with NACF guidelines, the applicant must demonstrate US-based residency, and must be an enrolled member or citizen of a federally- or state-recognized American Indian tribe or Alaska Native corporation, or of Native Hawaiian ancestry.

About the Vera List Center for Art and Politics
The Vera List Center for Art and Politics was established at The New School in 1992—a time of rousing debates about freedom of speech, identity politics, and society’s investment in the arts. The mission of the VLC is to foster and sustain vibrant and diverse communities of artists, scholars, and policymakers who take creative, intellectual, and political risks to bring about positive change. Through public programs and classes, prizes and fellowships, publications and exhibitions that probe some of the pressing issues of our time, we curate and support new roles for the arts and artists in advancing social justice. www.veralistcenter.org.

About The Center for Imagination in the Borderlands
The Center for Imagination in the Borderlands is an Indigenous space at Arizona State University where students, faculty, and guests catalyze and constellate stories, knowledge systems, and language within and across our many borderlands through conversation and performance. The center was founded in 2020 by poet and MacArthur Fellow Natalie Diaz (Mojave, Akimel O’odham) who serves as its director.
www.imaginationborderlands.asu.edu.

To apply send your resume and a cover letter that addresses why you’re interested in this position, highlighting your curatorial experiences. Please also include any relevant writing samples or links to writing online. Email your application as well as documentation of your Native citizenship or ancestry to vlc@newschool.edu with “Borderlands Curatorial Fellow” in the subject line no later than September 25.