The Saint Louis Art Museum is in the last few days of accepting applications for the Romare Bearden Graduate Fellowship program. This 12-month paid museum fellowship seeks outstanding individuals from backgrounds historically underrepresented in professional positions at art museums. Fellows have an opportunity to learn and hone their skills by working throughout the museum on a wide variety of projects that include research, programming, curatorial, marketing and much more. Additionally, Fellows have any an opportunity to design projects tailored to the Museum’s needs and the Fellow’s skills and interests.
According to a 2015 study by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, African Americans make up only four percent of the professional positions of museum curators, conservators, educators and leaders within American museums. This problem was the impetus for the creation of the Romare Bearden Graduate Fellowship in 1990 when Museum supporter Daniel Schlafly asked what could be done to further goals of racial desegregation in St. Louis and in museums. Today the goal of the fellowship continues to be to build a pool of talented young people of color to work in professional positions at art museums, galleries, arts organizations, and universities. The Art Museum has trained more than 23 exceptional museum professionals who are employed throughout the United States, including three at the Saint Louis Art Museum.
After a nationwide search, Jennifer Doyle was selected as the 2005–2006 Romare Bearden Fellow. At the end of the Fellowship, Jennifer joined the Art Museum as an associate educator and in 2009 was promoted the manager of teacher programs and learning resources. She holds an M.A. in art history from the University of Arizona and a B.A. in art history and studio art from the Florida State University. Previously, she was the recipient of the Van Lier Foundation Internship at the Museum of Modern Art, New York and worked as an Image and Photography Researcher at Christie’s Auctioneers, New York.
Sherri Williams came to the Museum a little closer to home; she graduated from East St. Louis High School, received her B.A. from Washington University and her M.A. from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in African Studies. She was the 2009–2010 Romare Bearden Fellow and at the end of the Fellowship was hired as the Museum’s coordinator of family programs. Most recently she was promoted to manager of adult programs in charge of adult lectures, classes, SLAM Underground and the Art Hill Film Series.
Yvonne Osei is our current Romare Bearden Fellow. Originally from Ghana, Yvonne earned undergraduate degrees in International Studies and Graphic Design from Webster University and an MFA in Visual Art from the Sam Fox School at Washington University in St. Louis. She is also a practicing artist and enjoys teaching young people. When asked what the Fellowship means to her, Yvonne commented, “I am fortunate to continue the legacy of the Romare Bearden Fellowship at the Saint Louis Art Museum. My interest in the fellowship was enforced by the pool of excellent alumni who have attained high achievements, actualized dreams and shown intellectual proficiencies in various levels of museum administration. Not only do they serve as examples worth emulating, but they also challenge me to strive for ‘impossibilities.’”
For more information about this fellowship opportunity, visit www.slam.org (employment) or email renee.franklin@slam.org. We are accepting applications through the end of April. The Fellowship assignment is from mid-July 2017 to mid-July 2018.
