Mission & Process

At the core of the Six Points Fellowship is the belief that creative expression is essential to Jewish community, identity, and our understanding of the world. The Fellowship was created to support the artists contributing to that process.

Based on the experience of our three partner organizations, Avoda Arts, Foundation for Jewish Culture, JDub, and other current research, emerging artists have the best chance for personal and professional growth through a fellowship model of guided artistic development, project assistance, and professional education. An essential component of the Fellowship is creating an environment that will serve as an “open resource” for participants to connect to Jewish culture and practice, each engaging on their own terms.

The two-year fellowship provides 9 New York based artists with:

• Stipend ($20,000 over 2 years)
• Project Grant (up to $20,000 over 2 years)
• Monthly Workshops
• Retreats
• Coaching/Mentorship

History and Background

The Six Points Fellowship was created in 2006 in response to a realization within the Jewish community that culture is becoming a powerful connector in the lives of young Jewish adults and the primary mechanism for creating a common language and furthering identity. From this realization came the understanding that artists are critical peer guides along this journey.

This project was initiated by funding of $1,000,000 from the UJA-Federation of New York’s Commission on Jewish Identity & Renewal, the largest grant UJA has ever awarded to an arts organization. The project represents significant recognition from the Jewish community of the importance of arts and artists to shape, educate and engage the young adult Jewish community, and create the future of Jewish culture.

Our first cohort of 12 artists were Fellows from 2007-2009, and created critically acclaimed projects that reached an impressive number and range of people: the artists’ work drew over 19,000 audience members, their websites and blogs logged over 250,000 individual visits, and press has appeared in The New York Times, Village Voice, Time Out, The Forward, The Jewish Week, and hundreds of blogs. Their work was recognized by a Guggenheim Fellowship, Drama Desk Award nomination, Innovative Theater Award, Puppet Lab Fellowship, as well as shown at major museums such as the Israel Museum and the Museum of Art and Design.

How do we choose Fellows?

To select Fellows we use a two step juried review to select projects that reflect or embody a thoughtful engagement with Jewish history, values, and issues and that resonate with a broad range of audiences. We looked for artists who would achieve the maximum benefit from the resources of the Fellowship, and bring diverse life experiences to the cohort process. We convened separate juries for each of our three disciplines, bringing together the most talented curators, programmers, arts professionals, academics and artists from New York City and throughout the United States.