Tulsa Artist Fellowship

What Tulsa Artist Fellowship does

Tulsa Artist Fellowship (TAF) is a private nonprofit arts residency program founded in 2015 by the George Kaiser Family Foundation (GKFF) in Tulsa, Oklahoma. TAF operates a place-based, durational award model that annually selects 10 artists from a national open call for a three-year residency requiring awardees to live and work in Tulsa. Three overlapping cohorts sustain 30 concurrent artists, each receiving approximately $230,000+ in total support over the award term, comprised of a $150,000 stipend, $36,000 housing stipend, $3,600 health stipend, $3,600 studio assistant stipend, $1,500 relocation stipend, and fully subsidized studio space valued at approximately $36,000.

The fellowship's core products are the Award Program, dedicated Studios (109 M.L.K. Jr. Blvd) with private/shared workspaces and shared facilities including ceramics, woodshop, metal shop, media lab, performance rehearsal, and podcast recording spaces, and a Flagship Gallery (112 N Boston Ave) hosting rotating exhibitions. Public-facing programming includes monthly First Fridays open studios, an annual Open House weekend, film screening series, the Projection public art series, and the First America podcast. As of 2025, TAF has awarded 135+ arts practitioners across 10 years, with the 2026-2028 cohort drawn from applicants representing 47 U.S. states/territories and U.S. citizens in 15 countries.

TAF is funded primarily by GKFF at approximately $2.3 million per cohort annually, with additional Arts Integration Awards (e.g., $25,000 for community projects) and operates without commercial revenue, application fees, or paid programming. Go-to-market is community-led through organic earned media, partner organization networks (Philbrook Museum, Tulsa Film Collective, Dreamland Theater, Circle Cinema, Central Standard), and recurring public events. There is no technology platform or AI component; the underlying "infrastructure" is physical studio space, institutional partnerships, and the sustained GKFF endowment relationship.

Name

Tulsa Artist Fellowship

Legal name

Tulsa Artist Fellowship

Website

https://tulsaartistfellowship.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Tulsa Artist Fellowship is a private nonprofit founded in 2015 by the George Kaiser Family Foundation that operates a three-year, place-based residency program supporting 30 concurrent artists annually in Tulsa, Oklahoma through stipends, subsidized studios, and public programming.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Arts Residency Programs

NAICS

Fine Arts Schools (61161), Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (712), Independent Artists, Writers, and Performers (711510)

akta.pro primary industry

Arts Education & Community Arts Programs (BPAGAHAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Public Art, Arts Councils & Grantmaking Programs (BPAGAHAH), Personal Enrichment & Creative Arts Programs (EDAAAEAG)

Keywords

• Artist residency programs
• Arts fellowships
• Place-based residencies
• Community arts funding
• Creative development support

Headquarters

HQ city

Tulsa

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Fellowship Funding (George Kaiser Family Foundation): Primary funding from George Kaiser Family Foundation (GKFF), a charitable organization. GKFF provides annual investment of approximately $2.3 million to support 30 concurrent artists across three overlapping cohorts.
2. Arts Integration Awards: Additional awards for arts integration projects, such as $25,000 Tulsa Artist Fellowship Arts Integration Awards for community-based artistic interventions.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Tulsa Artist Fellowship is a place-based, durational artist residency program that selects 10 artists annually through a national open call to receive three-year residencies in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Awardees receive a $150,000 stipend over three years plus housing, health, relocation, and studio assistant stipends, along with fully subsidized private studio spaces and access to shared art-making facilities (ceramics, woodshop, metal shop, media lab, performance space). The program is supplemented by public programming including First Fridays open studios, an Annual Open House, exhibitions at the Flagship Gallery, and the Projection public art series.

Product overview

Tulsa Artist Fellowship is a place-based artist residency program offering a three-year award structure supporting visionary artists and arts workers. The core offerings include the Fellowship Award Program with substantial stipends ($150,000 over 3 years plus housing and health stipends), dedicated studio spaces at Studios (109 MLK Jr. Blvd) and Flagship Gallery (112 N Boston Ave), and regular public programming including First Fridays open studios, annual Open House events, film screenings, workshops, and the Projection public art series. The fellowship provides fully subsidized studio spaces with shared facilities including ceramics, woodshop, metal shop, media lab, and performance spaces.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Tulsa Artist Fellowship Award Program A three-year place-based residency program supporting visionary professional artists and arts workers with stipends, fully subsidized studio spaces, and resources to live and work in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Awardees are selected annually (10 per cohort) through a national open call and national panel review.
• Tulsa Artist Fellowship Studios

Quantifiable outcome

• 135 arts practitioners awarded over 10 years (2015-2025)
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers13 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered major and minor.

• Central StandardmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 February 2025New contemporary art platform launched in 2025 by Tulsa-born curators Lindsay Aveilhé and Ashanti Chaplin. Dedicated to elevating contemporary art in Middle America. Presented inaugural exhibition Drift///Hold in partnership with TAF at Arco Building.
• The Hulett CollectionmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFine art gallery specializing in classic 20th-century and contemporary photographic works. Co-presents Miguel Braceli's Futuro Imperfecto exhibition and Flagpole Go-Go Party closing celebration. Located in Tulsa, Oklahoma, founded by Michael Hulett with 20+ years of knowledge in photography.
• Philbrook Museum of ArtmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMajor Tulsa art museum serving as co-presenter for film screenings and community events including the Lainey Wilson: Keepin' Country Cool screening and World Water Day celebration with Samantha Crain.
• Tulsa Film CollectivemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFilm collective dedicated to nurturing Tulsa's filmmaker community through events and workshops. Co-presenter for film screenings including I Love Boosters, Lainey Wilson documentary, and Picture's Up workshop series. Founded in 2018.
• Dreamland TheatermajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHistoric Black-owned theater reestablished in Tulsa's Greenwood District. Named after the original Dreamland Theater destroyed during the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. Led by curator Kolby Ari in collaboration with Williams family descendants. Co-presents I Love Boosters screening and Kinship Frame film series.
• Waters MediamajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTulsa-based production company founded by Indigenous filmmaker Loren Waters (2026-2028 TAF Fellow). Creates award-winning documentaries, impact-driven media, and casting for television and films. Co-presenter for Lainey Wilson documentary screening.
• Kinship FrameminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerIntersectional third space centered on moving image and storytelling, rooted in Black and Indigenous community in Tulsa. Partnership with Dreamland Theater to amplify Afro-Indigenous, Black, Freedmen of the Five Tribes, and Native peoples' perspectives.
• Urban Core Art ProjectminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNon-profit developing site-inspired temporary public art in downtown Tulsa. Presents Richard Zimmerman's Assembly sculpture at Plaza of the Americas. TAF supported Scores for Moving at Assembly performance.
• Studio 66minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEvent production group providing community events for artists and queer community in Tulsa. Collaborates with TAF for Flagpole Go-Go Party, transforming studios into queer nightclub for performances.
• Native Arts and Culture FoundationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational Native arts nonprofit. Provided support for I Love Boosters screening and Kinship Frame film series.
• NAM commonminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerExplores Vietnamese culture, community, and diaspora through art and media curated programs. Established in Tulsa by Việt H. Nguyễn and Nic Annette Miller. Co-presented New Wave documentary and Mỹ People exhibition.
• Body Ether InstituteminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerArtist-led platform for somatic and spiritual inquiry co-founded by Anna Luisa Petrisko. Presented Healing Sound and Somatics workshop series with TAF Fellow Micaela Tobin.
• Circle CinemaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTulsa-based independent cinema. Co-presented New Wave documentary screening and Indian Territory Film Festival 2026. ADA-compliant with assisted viewing devices available.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Yaddo: Yaddo provides residencies to artists, writers, and composers at its Saratoga Springs estate, with competitive national application and full support. Both Yaddo and TAF run highly selective, place-based fellowships supporting community-engaged artistic practice, with comparable applicant-to-awardee selectivity.
• MacDowell: MacDowell is the longest-running U.S. artist residency, offering durational residencies with studio space, stipends, and meals in Peterborough, NH. TAF mirrors its place-based, multi-week-to-multi-month fellowship structure and community-of-practice model, though TAF operates on a longer (3-year) and more concentrated cohort cadence.
• Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts: Bemis Center in Omaha provides funded residencies and exhibitions for artists and curators. Directly comparable to TAF in operating from a Midwestern U.S. city with a national applicant pool, free studio space, and integration with a broader civic arts strategy.
• Headlands Center for the Arts: Headlands provides artist residencies in a national-park setting in Marin County, CA, with studio space, stipends, and public programming. Comparable to TAF in combining private studio access with public-facing exhibitions and community events, though TAF operates on a substantially longer residency horizon.
• Joan Mitchell Center: Joan Mitchell Center in New Orleans provides multi-week residencies to visual artists and writers with stipends, studio space, and community programming. Both programs center place-based community-engaged practice in mid-size American cities and emphasize cohort-based artist development.
• Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture: Skowhegan runs an intensive nine-week summer residency for visual artists in Maine with national panel selection. TAF shares Skowhegan's emphasis on a curated national applicant pool, panel-based selection, and formation of a temporary artistic community — though TAF operates at three-year vs. nine-week duration.
• Ucross Foundation: Ucross offers residencies to artists, writers, composers, and choreographers on a 20,000-acre ranch in Wyoming, with national open call selection. Both Ucross and TAF provide fully subsidized studios, stipends, and seclusion for sustained creative work in a rural/non-coastal U.S. setting.

Broad incumbents

• United States Artists: United States Artists awards unrestricted $50,000 fellowships to artists across disciplines nationally. Comparable to TAF in funding scale per artist and in nationally-selective artist support, though USA fellowships are not place-based and do not include studio or housing support.
• Sundance Institute: Sundance Institute supports independent artists (primarily film and theater) through labs, residencies, and grants. It is comparable to TAF as a major U.S. private foundation-backed artist development organization with national reach and a place-based residency program (Sundance Resort), though focused on film/theater rather than visual/literary arts.
• Creative Capital: Creative Capital provides project-based grants (not residencies) to innovative artists across disciplines through a national open application. While not a residency, it competes with TAF for the same pool of ambitious, community-engaged mid-career artists and represents the alternative funding pathway of unrestricted project grants versus TAF's place-bound model.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/tulsaartists
• Instagraminstagram.com/tulsaartistfellowship
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/tulsa-artist-fellowship

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Tulsa Artist Fellowship