The American Institute for Conservation (AIC) and the Foundation for Advancement in Conservation (FAIC) collaborate to promote the preservation and protection of cultural heritage.
On behalf of the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, FAIC will be administering the Kress Conservation Fellowship program, which will provide competitive grants to cultural institutions and conservation facilities to sponsor supervised post-graduate fellowship opportunities that help develop the skills of emerging conservators.
Through the program, five $44,000 fellowships are expected to be awarded each year for one-year post-graduate internships in advanced conservation at a cultural heritage institution or conservation facility. The full $44,000 must be allocated as a fellowship stipend. FAIC recommends that the awarded institutions contribute at least $6,000 to the fellowship stipend, for a total of $50,000.
The program aims to support a set of fellowships that offer a variety of specialty areas (paintings, paper, objects, etc.), opportunities for graduates from a variety of graduate programs in the United States and Canada, and opportunities to work in a variety of institutions, from large municipal museums to university museums and other conservation facilities, as well as sites outside the U.S. Preference may be given to institutions that have not recently hosted Kress Fellows.
Cultural heritage institutions or conservation facilities can apply to host a fellowship. Fellows must complete a masters-level degree in conservation prior to beginning the fellowship. Fellows must be either a resident or citizen of the U.S. or Canada, or a recent graduate from a conservation graduate program in the U.S. or Canada. The fellowship candidate may be identified in advance of application by the host institution or recruited subsequently.