Residency - conditions, benefits, selection procedure
Fellowship: Conditions
Persons up to 35 or if older who have completed a university or college degree within the past five years are welcome to apply. Currently enrolled university or college students (at the time of application) will not be considered for selection. Several fellowships are also awarded regardless of the applicant's age. It is possible to complete a project within the framework of the fellowship. 50 to 70 fellowships are allocated every 24 months. Akademie Schloss Solitude has 45 studios at its disposal.
International artists are invited to apply from the following disciplines: Architecture (design, landscape architecture, urban planning), Visual Arts (including performance art), Performing Arts (stage design, dramatic texts, dramaturgy, musical theater, performance, direction, drama, dance), Design (fashion, costume, product and furniture design, visual communication), Literature (essay, criticism, poetry, prose, translation), Music/Sound (interpretation, sound installation, sound performance, composition) and Video/Film/New Media (including video installation, fiction and documentary).
Furthermore, scholars, scientists and professionals from the disciplines of the Humanities (including social sciences), Exact Sciences, Economy/Economics and Chess are invited to apply.
The responsible specialist jurors (see jurors and selection process) make decisions on the allocation and the duration of the fellowships.
Fellowships are granted for three to twelve months.
One of the following three languages is assumed: German, English or French.
Simultaneous applications for fellowships from the Kunststiftung Baden-Württemberg GmbH and from the Akademie Schloss Solitude are not permitted.
Applicants not selected in the current selection process can reapply a maximum of two more times. Former fellows of Akademie Schloss Solitude are not eligible.
Fellowship: Benefits
The Akademie Schloss Solitude fellowship is a residence fellowship. It is expected that the fellows spend at least two-thirds of their residency at Akademie Schloss Solitude.
The fellowship includes the following:
A combined apartment / studio, furnished with electricity, water and heat free of charge.
A stipend amounting to Euro 1,100 monthly (plus one-time expenses incurred by the fellowship holder travelling to and from Stuttgart from his or her primary place of residence).The Akademie may also offer additional financial supplements, depending on its respective budget situation.
A supplement for so-called double housekeeping (subsidy for apartment or studio costs); freight cost subsidy for the transport of materials, tools and instruments to and from Stuttgart; a project promotion subsidy and a one-time materials subsidy; in the case of non-German guests (from non EU-countries), assumption of part of their health insurance expenses.
The use of the workshops owned by Akademie Schloss Solitude under the supervision of the technical director, are free of charge for fellowship holders.
In light of the historical character and architectural substance of the building, the combined apartment/studios are generally only suitable for one person. In special cases the Akademie will consider allocating two studios for families.
All artists invited to stay at Akademie Schloss Solitude are obliged to establish residence in Stuttgart for the duration of the grant (compulsory registration).
Fellowship: Selection Procedure
The independent jury consists of a jury chairperson and generally eleven specialist jurors who independently allocate the fellowships for their respective disciplines. New jurors are nominated every 24 months.
This principle—consciously subjective, but temporally limited—increases the chances of identifying and promoting special talents, as artistic quality is not necessarily a matter of consensus. At the same time, individual decisions allow a certain artistic proximity or productive oppositions to be expected among the fellows. The jurors make their decisions according to qualitative aspects based on the samples that the applicants submit. There are no artistic conditions attached.
No one has a legal right to be awarded a fellowship. Therefore, the jury is under no obligation to justify its decisions. Decisions regarding Solitude grants will be communicated to the applicants in writing.
On being awarded the fellowship, the holder also receives a house contract and house rules. The fellowship is regarded as legally binding once the grant holder has signed the house contract.