The Core Program at the Modern Ancient Brown Foundation (MABF) consists of Visiting Fellowships and Artist Residencies in Studio Art and Critical Studies.  The Foundation seeks to support scholars, thinkers, and writers who identify as members of historically marginalized groups, specifically Black, Indigenous, and people of color. MABF will select two to four fellows and two to four residents (in all disciplines) for the 2025-2026 cycle.  Both core programs support makers and scholars from within and outside the Academy whose practices involve research and creation in all aspects of the arts; specifically in performance, art writing, critical studies, curating, film, music, and creative writing.

The fellowship is designed for emerging scholars with a rigorous research practice, who may also have an interest in creative disciplines such as poetry, music, visual art, and performance.  The fellowship is a space for scholars to rest, write, and explore ways in which their scholarship may expand across genre and form.

Each Fellow will be provided with the following: air travel to and from Detroit; an apartment and study space for 6-12 weeks, located on a private floor of the Aleo Bed & Breakfast on Detroit’s east side; a stipend of $7,500 - $10,000 (depending on the length of stay between 6 and 12 weeks); per diem; and assistance with local library facilities. Should they wish, Fellows will have ample opportunities, facilitated as appropriate by the Foundation, to interact with the broader Metro-Detroit community of artists, writers, curators, and scholars. The minimal commitment asked of each Fellow will involve a seminar about their work with an invited audience or a lecture, offered to the broader Detroit public; participation in one dinner conversation organized by the Foundation with input from the Fellow; permission to publish some of the work undertaken at the Foundation in a forthcoming annual publication; and finally, we ask that the Foundation be acknowledged upon publication of work supported by the Foundation.