Image: Columbus Museum of Art
The Greater Columbus Arts Council is accepting final applications for the 2027 Aminah Robinson Fellowship, a 90-day opportunity for a professional African American visual artist living in Franklin County, Ohio. Applications close on Wednesday, September 2, 2026, at 5 p.m. Eastern time.
Organized in partnership with the Columbus Museum of Art, the fellowship offers an unrestricted $15,000 award and daily access to Aminah Robinson’s home studio. The program is intended to provide an artist with time and financial support to concentrate on art-making in the Columbus setting that Robinson, a late Columbus-based artist, made the center of her creative practice for more than 40 years.
The fellowship celebrates Robinson’s legacy by recognizing the work of a local African American visual artist. The selected artist will work on a project of their choosing during the fellowship period, which runs from January 1 through March 31, 2027. The recipient must remain a resident of Franklin County throughout the fellowship and agree to stay in central Ohio for one year after the award date.
Eligibility is limited to applicants who identify as African American, are at least 18 years old, and have lived in Franklin County for at least one year before applying. Applicants must be working visual artists with a portfolio, body of work, published works, collection, or performance history, and must routinely dedicate time to making art and sharing it publicly. Degree-seeking undergraduate students, collaborative applications, and artists residing outside Franklin County are not eligible.
Eligible practices include painting, two- and three-dimensional visual art, photography, wood carving, sculpture, and fiber, particularly work using found objects or natural and synthetic materials. Video, film, and digital installations are excluded. The fellowship’s guidelines also specify that applicants should produce work rooted in storytelling, cultural traditions and heritage, and the centrality of African American women. Applicants must submit an artistic biography or résumé, five to 10 examples of work completed within the past three years, and a website link if applicable.
A jury will include representatives from communities where Robinson lived, as well as members of the Columbus Museum of Art and the Greater Columbus Arts Council, alongside Ohio artists, curators, and arts educators familiar with Robinson’s work, aesthetic, and history. Reviewers will consider artistic excellence and technical proficiency, innovative use of medium, storytelling, connections to cultural traditions and heritage, and an applicant’s relationship to or reflection of Robinson’s aesthetic and spirit. Applicants will be notified on October 9, 2026; the fellowship’s final report is due May 1, 2027.
