Seattle Prize Fine Art Fellowship

What if you could spend a full year doing nothing but painting the most ambitious work of your life?

Seattle Prize Fine Art Fellowship

• Seattle, WA (Occidental Fine Arts Center, Pioneer Square)

• Full-time Fellowship, 12 months | $50,000-$80,000 annual stipend (paid monthly as salary)

• Starts: September 2026

• Deadline: May 7, 2026

What if you could spend a full year doing nothing but painting the most ambitious work of your life?

The Seattle Prize is a collaborative fine art fellowship in Pioneer Square, Seattle. Seven painters work side by side for a year, each pursuing their life’s most ambitious project.
The target: world-class, museum-quality modern representational art. Mostly figurative. Rooted in craft, meaning, and the belief that serious handmade painting still has the power to move people.

This is not a grant. It is not a residency. It is modern patronage: a real salary, a private studio, all materials and a cohort of committed painters around you. No side hustles. No grant reports. No teaching load. Just paint.

WHAT YOU GET

• $50K-$80K annual stipend paid monthly as salary (track dependent)
• Private studio at the Occidental Fine Arts Center (10,000 sq ft in Pioneer Square)
• All painting materials and supplies
• A cohort of 7 painters working alongside you every day
• Weekly group critiques and honest peer feedback
• Visiting master artist mentorship
• Discounted housing available
• Your finished work enters the permanent Conru Art Foundation collection

WHO THIS IS FOR

• Figurative painters with classical training ready to create the best work of their careers
• Emerging to mid-career artists with something ambitious to say on canvas
• Painters who care about beauty, craft, and making work that reconnects people to something real
• Artists who thrive in community, show up daily, and engage in honest critique

This is not a retreat or a vacation. It is a year of focused, sustained studio work inside a culture built for serious painting.

Multiple fellowship tracks available (self-directed and collaborative with the Artistic Director).

Visit /seattleprize.org/apply to learn about the program, meet the Season 1 fellows, and apply.

Applications close April 30, 2026. Early applications receive priority review.

Must be authorized to work in the United States.