Grants for researchers and professors

The John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts preserves the legacy of John F. Kennedy and is the National Cultural Center as well as a living memorial to the late president. The Kennedy Center is committed to increasing public awareness of the benefits of participating in the arts, facilitating a platform for medical and related health research, and organizing programs to engage the public in arts-related activities for healing purposes. In the interest of community wellbeing, the Kennedy Center is also committed to increasing public awareness of the environment through the arts. The International Programming department is committed over the next ten years to programming festivals, exhibitions and other events with environmental themes and is exploring ways in which the Center itself can operate in a more sustainable manner.

The Fulbright / Kennedy Center Fellowship for Performing Arts and Science Grant, a component of the Fulbright Visiting Scholar Program, provides an opportunity for a Fulbright grantee to connect with artists, staff, educators, and audiences at the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. This grant is possible through a partnership between the U.S. Department of State and the Kennedy Center’s International Programming and Arts and Wellbeing departments. The award was created to support innovative multidisciplinary research and projects that address the connection between the performing arts, the environment, health and wellbeing from the point of view of artists and/or scientists. Wellbeing can be defined as community wellbeing (focusing on climatology, sociology, anthropology, etc.) or individual wellbeing (drawing on medical fields such as neurobiology, psychology, audiology, kinesiology, etc.).

The selected grantee will work with the Kennedy Center’s International Programming and Arts and Wellbeing departments as an advisor and partner to develop a project that focuses on the intersection of performing arts, science, and wellbeing that will inform or reflect the work being done at the Kennedy Center. The grantee will have access to performances, rehearsals, special events, Kennedy Center programmers, artistic advisors, artists, staff of the education department and administrative staff as requested and approved, as well as network with other institutions, including but not limited to: NIH, The SoundHealth Network, Johns Hopkins University, and environmental organizations. The grantee will be part of the Kennedy Center team while in residence, with opportunity to influence what the Center presents and how it operates in the years to come. Applicants may be emerging or established, but must be regularly practicing in their fields, with a strong, demonstrated curiosity in the cross-section of art, science, the environment and wellbeing aligned with the mission, values and objectives of the Kennedy Center.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is located at 2700 F St NW, Washington, D.C. The Kennedy Center campus contains nine dedicated theaters and many other flexible performance spaces, including rehearsal halls, public art spaces, outdoor performance plazas, small pavilions and galleries. The grantee will work in the Center’s administrative staff offices in the Center’s main building. The Center will provide the grantee with office space (a desk and desktop computer), access to a printer/photocopier, e-mail, and meeting rooms. The grantee will also have access to the Center’s dining room and parking lot.

September 2025 – June 2026 (Minimum of 3 months, maximum of 10 months).