APPLICATION EXTENDED 2026 Duncanson Artist-in-Residence
APPLICATION DEADLINE EXTENDED
2026 Duncanson Artist-in-Residence Application Extended to January 31, 2025
Seeking Visual Artist/Painter for 40th Year of Program, 175th Anniversary of Renowned Murals
CINCINNATI, OH—November 20, 2024—The Taft Museum of Art is seeking a visual artist specialized in painting with teaching experience and a commitment to social justice for the 2026 Duncanson Artist-in-Residence Program. The residency application period has been extended through January 31, 2025,11:59 p.m. Honorarium: $10,000
Tunde Wey, 2024 Duncanson Artist-in-Residence
The Duncanson Artist-in-Residence will be actively engaging the Cincinnati community for two weeks in Spring 2026. The ideal candidate will not only be an outstanding visual artist who uses paint as their primary medium, but also a dynamic educator who is comfortable working with a variety of audiences including students ranging from grades K-12,families, and adults.
Throughout the residency, the artist will share their creative vision and talent by leading a variety of public programs including lectures, workshops, gallery talks, school visits, and other signature events. Flexibility will be key in executing the roster of innovative and collaborative programs. The artist will have the opportunity to advance their work, actively pursue their career ambitions, and foster connections within the Cincinnati community.
2026 marks the 40th year of the Duncanson Artist-in-Residence Program as well as the 175th anniversary of the internationally recognized Duncanson Murals. For this milestone year, the Duncanson Artist-in-Residence will collaborate with the Taft Museum of Art to present an exhibition of their work in the museum, positioning the artist’s work in conversation with Robert S. Duncanson’s landscape murals and the Taft’s collection of paintings and decorative art.
Previous Duncanson Artists-in-Residence include,among others, poet/essayist Nikki Giovanni, filmmaker William Greaves,playwright/screenwriter Keith Josef Adkins, violist Nokuthula Ngwenyama,soprano Adrienne Danrich, actor/playwright Nikkole Salter, visual and performance artist Vanessa German, and filmmaker Ya’Ke Smith.
To apply for the 2026 Duncanson Artist-in-Residence, visit taftmuseum.org/Duncanson-Artist-in-Residence.
Support
The residency is sponsored by The P&G Fund of The Greater Cincinnati Foundation and Fifth Third Bank. Artist accommodations are generously provided by Morgan and Eddie Rigaud. The Duncanson Program is funded in part by the America 250-Ohio Commission.
Operating support is provided by the museum’s season funders ArtsWave, the Ohio Arts Council, and The H.B., E.W., and F.R. Luther Charitable Foundation, Fifth Third Bank, Trustee; the Western & Southern Financial Fund enables the museum to offer free admission on Sundays; the Art Bridges Foundation’s Access for All program enables the museum to offer free admission on Mondays.
About the Duncanson Artist-in-Residence Program
Established in 1986 by the Taft Museum of Art and the Robert S. Duncanson Society, this award-winning program honors the achievements of contemporary Black American artists working in a variety of disciplines. The program honors the relationship between Black American painter Robert S. Duncanson and his patron, Nicholas Longworth, who commissioned Duncanson to paint landscape murals in the foyer of his home, now the Taft Museum of Art.
About the Duncanson Society
The Robert S. Duncanson Society was founded in 1986 by the late Doris Rankin Sells, the late William Joel McCray, and Ruth K. Meyer to affirm an ongoing Black presence within the structure of the Taft Museum of Art, including the Duncanson Artist-in-Residence Program, and to celebrate Robert S. Duncanson’s artistic contributions.
About the Taft Museum of Art
The Taft Museum of Art is recognized nationally as a museum leader that passionately engages people with the arts as envisioned generations ago by our founders, Anna Sinton Taft and Charles Phelps Taft. Today, the Taft is a truly unique art museum, holding National Historic Landmark status for both its historic house and Duncanson murals.
Restored and reinterpreted for the next century, visitors can enjoy special exhibitions, our beautiful outdoor garden, our Museum Shop and Lindner Family Café, events and programming for all ages—and so much more. Within our galleries and beyond our walls, the Taft Museum of Art is a one-of-a-kind, multi-sensory experience that puts you at the center of art and history. For more information, visit taftmuseum.org.
