The John D. Mineck Furniture Fellowship The Society of Arts + Crafts

John D. Mineck Foundation

The Boston-based John D. Mineck Foun­da­tion has created a fellow­ship to encour­age and support a young-in-career furni­ture artist with the finan­cial assis­tance to help him/​her succeed in his/​her journey. The fellow­ship has been designed to help support a talented furni­ture artist looking to fulfill an appren­tice­ship, develop his/​her own skills, and/​or make the tran­si­tion to independence.

The John D. Mineck Furni­ture Fellow­ship is a cash award of $25,000 awarded annu­ally to one furni­ture artist or a furni­ture artist collab­o­ra­tion. The award is admin­is­tered by The Society of Arts + Crafts.

Crite­ria & Guidelines

The fellow­ship will focus on furni­ture makers whose work is contem­po­rary and func­tional. Pref­er­ence will be given to artists who live and work in North­east United States. Tradi­tional and sculp­tural furni­ture makers, as well as candi­dates from other regions in the United States, may also be considered.

The follow­ing crite­ria will be consid­ered in evaluating applications:

Quality of the artwork, strength of vision, and a port­fo­lio that evidences growth beyond school or university work

Artwork and résumé demon­strat­ing perse­ver­ance and commit­ment to artistic career

The strength and feasi­bil­ity of the fellowship proposal

Appli­cants must be at least 18 years of age at the time of application

Artist collab­o­ra­tions will be considered

Currently enrolled, full-time students are not eligible

Uses of Fellowship Funds

Eligi­ble uses include:

Oppor­tu­ni­ties for advanced study or appren­tice­ship with a significant mentor

Attend­ing profes­sional devel­op­ment classes or workshops

Equip­ment or supplies related to artwork

Upgrade or rental of studio space

Market­ing and website development

Travel related to artwork (confer­ences, expos, exhi­bi­tions, shows, etc)

The portion of federal income taxes directly related to the fellowship income

Inel­i­gi­ble uses: 

Purchase of real estate, rent (non studio), mortgage payments

Tuition or classes related to a degree

Paying off educa­tion loans or past debt

Addi­tional Requirements: 

Fellow­ship Recip­i­ent will be required to sign a contract agree­ing to the following terms:

Fellow is required to provide a mid-term and final report to the Society during the award period, which describes progress made on the plan, any changes to the plan and the impact on artis­tic devel­op­ment. The reports may take the form of a conver­sa­tion, email or a letter.

Fellow must file a finan­cial report to the Society at the end of the award period that outlines how funds were used.

Fellow attends the John D. Mineck award presen­ta­tion on Thurs­day, October 1 in Mass­a­chu­setts to briefly present on the impact the fellow­ship has made on their career. Because of the pandemic, in 2020 the award event will be held online and in-person travel is, there­fore, unnecessary.

Fellow is requested to acknowl­edge funding by the John D. Mineck Foun­da­tion in any promo­tional mate­ri­als, shows, events, or publi­ca­tions that result from award activ­i­ties and notify the Society of public­ity that results from the award.

Fellow is required to make them­selves avail­able, on occa­sion, to the press to promote the award. This may include studio visits, photo shoots, inter­views and events. Such promo­tional oppor­tu­ni­ties will be arranged directly through the Society of Arts + Crafts.

Addi­tional Information

Grants are subject to state and federal income tax. The portion of federal income tax related to the income result­ing from receiv­ing the Artist Fellow­ship is an allow­able expense in the appli­ca­tion budget. Please contact the IRS or your tax preparer for further information. 

Incom­plete appli­ca­tions will not be considered.

Appli­ca­tion Deadline

August 31, 2020.

The 2020 John D. Mineck Fellow will be announced in early September.

Please complete the follow­ing form, upload your files, and then click ​‘submit’ to turn in your application. 

Ques­tions? Email director@​societyofcrafts.​org with the subject line MINECK.

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About the Fellowship:

The Boston-based John D. Mineck Foun­da­tion was created in 2007 to award char­i­ta­ble and educa­tional gifts which reflect John’s varied inter­ests and values. John’s skills as a fine furni­ture maker were a result of his passion, dedi­ca­tion and the guid­ance of a well-known furni­ture artist. Without that guid­ance, John would not have been able to realize his furni­ture-making capa­bil­i­ties. In an effort to support the artform and the people who make it, the Foun­da­tion has created an annual fellow­ship in John’s name to encour­age and support young-in-career furni­ture artists with finan­cial assis­tance. The fellow­ship is awarded annu­ally and is admin­is­tered by The Society of Arts + Crafts.

The 2020 Fellow will join a pres­ti­gious cohort. Past recip­i­ents include Will Tracey (2009), Libby Schrum (2010), Bart Niswonger (2011), Nick Hollibaugh (2012), Vivian Beer (2013) Kimberly Winkle (2014), Sarah Marriage (2015), Annie Evelyn (2016), Jack Mauch (2017), Tom Shields (2018), and Beatriz Mayorca (2019).

About the SA+C:

Incor­po­rated in 1897, The Society of Arts + Crafts has been at the fore­front of the Amer­i­can craft move­ment, foster­ing the devel­op­ment, sales, recog­ni­tion, and educa­tion of crafts for over one hundred years. Our highly commit­ted founders devel­oped stan­dards of excel­lence in design and tech­ni­cal mastery for crafts that inspired the Amer­i­can Arts and Crafts Move­ment.

The mission of the Society of Arts + Crafts is to support and cele­brate craft makers and their creativ­ity. On the eve of its 125th anniver­sary, the orga­ni­za­tion is embark­ing on a bold new strate­gic plan to apply the organization’s efforts towards promot­ing the rele­vance of craft in the 21st-century.