BLACK UTOPIAN FELLOWSHIP
OPEN CALL 2026

Applications are due Sunday, Oct 5th, 2025.

 

credit: AI Generated art created by Artschoolscammer 

Life in Action, Legacy in Motion

This year our Black Utopian Fellowship centers the pedagogy of legacy. We invite artists, researchers, scientists, inventors, farmers, architects, economists, educators, culture bearers and creative people of all kinds to propose projects that explore how legacy is taught, inherited, and reimagined.

We welcome projects that reflect the stories, practices, and knowledge we carry; and the ways they are preserved, challenged, and transformed across generations. At its heart, this theme asks: How do we pass down and protect wisdom? How do we teach and learn from what came before? And how might we shape legacies for the futures we dream of?”

The Black Utopian Fellowship is an incubator Fellowship created by #DayOnesArt in collaboration with Culture Push. The BUF is a year-long Fellowship for Black artists, researchers, scientists and inventors, with career development and mentorship through a connection with Black-run institutions. The intent of the Black Utopian Fellowship is to share resources and support social engagement, educational programming, and revitalization of communal hubs. This year’s BUF call asks for projects that explore how legacy is taught, inherited, and reimagined. We welcome projects that reflect the stories, practices, and knowledge we carry; and the ways they are preserved, challenged, and transformed across generations.

The Fellowship program is open to Black artists and other professionals working in any discipline who wish to expand the boundaries of their practice. Applicants are encouraged to review our organization’s mission before submitting materials as well as the specific nature of this Open Call.

The Fellowship for Utopian Practice serves as the umbrella program for the Black Utopian Fellowship, and follows the same guidelines. Please read our FELLOWSHIP GUIDELINES before beginning your application.

UPCOMING INFORMATION SESSIONS

  • Virtual: Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025 @ 6:30 PM on Zoom. Register here

  • In-person: Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025 @ 2 PM, location TBD. Sign up here

CONTACT: For questions specific to the Black Utopian Fellowship, please write to buf@culturepush.org with the subject "Black Utopian Fellowship Question".

 

The Fellowship for Utopian Practice

The Fellowship for Utopian Practice is a testing ground for untested and new ideas that aim to create positive social change through civic engagement and horizontal learning opportunities. Through the Fellowship for Utopian Practice, Culture Push serves artists by providing creative, analytical, and logistical tools in the creation of truly transformative projects. Pre-existing performances, established projects, and fully funded works are not eligible to apply. Learn more about our Guidelines, and how to apply here.

We are currently also accepting applications for the FELLOWSHIP FOR UTOPIAN PRACTICE, the CLIMATE JUSTICE FELLOWSHIP, and the DISABILITY ARTS + DREAMING FELLOWSHIP.

 

PAST BLACK UTOPIAN FELLOWS

Nifemi Ogunro

BLACK UTOPIAN FELLOW 2023

PROJECT : MELD

As a Nigerian American designer, Nifemi Ogunro bridges the gap between design, social issues, and sustainability.  Nifemi use’s photography and performance as a way to articulate this work. 

Nifemi designs functional sculptures._

Yanni Young

BLACK UTOPIAN FELLOW 2022

PROJECT: COMING IN STORIES: CONVERSATIONS W/ BLACK LGBTQ ELDERS IN HARLEM

Yanni Young is a Black, queer, multi-disciplinary artist born and raised in Harlem, NYC. Yanni grew up performing in plays, musicals, played piano for five years and attended a performing arts high school as a vocal major. Other mediums that Yanni has explored have been podcasting as well as documentary filmmaking. For two years Yanni had a podcast called "Soul Rebel Podcast" centering Black artists, healers, and grassroots organizers, allowing them to speak on their work and their life journey that led to where they are in the present. They currently intern for a Black jewelry brand based in Brooklyn by the name of Heavy Metals NYC. Yanni is also an administrative assistant and teaching artist with the LEAP program of NYC in Brooklyn. Learn More — >>

Ann Bennett

BLACK UTOPIAN FELLOW 2021

PROJECT: LINEAGE LAUNCHPAD © - ANCESTORS’ TONIC

Ann Bennett is an Emmy nominated documentary filmmaker and multimedia producer. She produced the NAACP Image Award-winning PBS feature documentary, “Through A Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People” as well as the multi-platform community engagement initiative, “Digital Diaspora Family Reunion” (DDFR). Bennett’s film credits include; ‘Citizen King’ and ‘Fisk Jubilee Singers’ for the PBS series “American Experience”, ‘Hymn for Alvin Ailey’ for “Dance in America”, and the award-winning PBS mini-series; ‘Africans in America’ and ‘America’s War on Poverty’. Bennett is a graduate of Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and Harvard College and focuses her work on exploring the nexus of history, culture, disability, and technology within multicultural communities.
Learn More — >>

Dennis Redmoon Darkeem

BLACK UTOPIAN FELLOW 2020

PROJECT: MEN OF COLOR HEALING ARTS CENTER

Dennis RedMoon Darkeem is inspired to create artwork based on the familiar objects he views through his daily travels. He discovers elements in existing architecture and among everyday items found within the home. Darkeem ultimately set out to express a meaningful story about events in his life and the lives of people in the communities where he lives and works. Darkeem utilizes multiple mediums in his work. This creates a rich viewer experience as the eye uncovers the multiple layers. Learn More —>>