Rest Craft
Conjure
Fellowship
Supporting rest-centered creative work across the diaspora
supports diasporan artists, scholars, and cultural workers developing creative projects where rest is not a break from the work, but the infrastructure of it.
This fellowship offers financial support, professional development, and spacious time to think, make, and reflect without pressure to produce a public-facing outcome.
Applications open February 1, 2026
Deadline: March 15, 2026 at 11:59 PM EST
Notifications sent by June 1, 2026
The Rest Craft Conjure Fellowship
About the Fellowship
Rest Craft Conjure is a care-centered fellowship designed for artists and scholars whose practices are shaped by diasporic histories, lived experience, and a commitment to ethical making.
We are interested in projects that move slowly, listen deeply, and resist extractive timelines. All creative forms and disciplines are welcome, including but not limited to archiving, writing, installation, music, performance, film, and new media.
Two fellows will be selected for the 2026 cohort.
What Fellows Receive
Each selected fellow will receive:
• A $1,000 honorarium
Paid as $500 at onboarding and $500 upon completion
• Five virtual creative professional development sessions with the KPS team
Topics include craft, career strategy, documentation, and consent-forward archiving
• Visibility across KPS channels, shared only with your consent
• Optional publication of a short reflection or process note in the Rest Craft Conjure Studio Journal
Who Should Apply
This fellowship is for:
Artists, scholars, and cultural workers across the African and global diasporas.
QTBIPOC+ applicants are strongly encouraged.
• Individuals or small collectives
• Age 18 and older
• Global applicants welcome
• Fully virtual program
If your work centers rest, care, slowness, refusal, healing, or alternative tempos of creation, you are encouraged to apply.
Fellowship Period
The proposed fellowship period runs from June through October 2026.
Sessions will be scheduled based on cohort availability and time zones. Flexibility and access needs are prioritized.
How to Apply
Applicants will be asked to submit the following materials:
• Project sketch (max 500 words)
What you are exploring, your rest-centered approach, and why now
• Process plan (max 300 words)
How rest functions as infrastructure in your practice, including methods, tempo, and consent
• Community and care statement (max 250 words)
Who is held by this work and how you will practice access and harm reduction
• Bio (150 to 200 words)
Website or Instagram optional
• Work sample
Up to 5 minutes of video or audio, or 5 to 10 images or pages
• Accessibility needs (optional, max 150 words)
• Consent and archiving preferences
Checklist provided in the application
Applications may be submitted through Google Form.
Selection Process
Applications will be reviewed by the KPS team alongside invited peer reviewers.
Proposals are scored on the following criteria:
• Alignment with the theme of rest as a design principle
• Clarity and curiosity of inquiry
• Feasibility and scope for a 4 to 5 month period
• Community care, ethics, and access considerations
• Form, experimentation, and craft
• Relation to diasporic lived or ancestral contexts
Expectations
• Attend five professional development sessions
• Participate in one cohort share
• Submit a midpoint check-in and a final reflection
500 to 800 words or a 3 to 5 minute audio recording
Fellows retain full intellectual property rights.
KPS may share excerpts for communications only with written consent.
No public deliverable is required. Process is prioritized over product.
Accessibility and Eligibility
• Stipends are taxable where applicable
• Collectives may apply. One stipend per project
• Proposals accepted in English. Supporting materials may be in other languages
• Limited Micro-access funds might be available upon request, including captioning, ASL, and childcare support
Support Advanced Rest Practice
The Rest Craft Conjure Fellowship exists through collective care and shared investment.
If you are an individual, organization, or foundation interested in supporting advanced rest-centered creative practice, we invite you to contribute to the Rest Craft Conjure Fund.
Your support helps sustain artist stipends, access resources, and the infrastructure that allows this work to unfold with integrity.