Inaugural Ming Fay Research Fellowship 2027

Hosted by the Asian/Pacific/American Institute at New York University in collaboration with NYU Special Collections and Asia Art Archive 

Application deadline: Sunday, November 15, 2026, 11:59pm. ET. Notification of Awards: Tuesday, December 15, 2026. Fellowship period: Monday, January 4–Friday, December 10, 2027

The Inaugural Ming Fay Research Fellowship supports the production of original, archives-based scholarship on Ming Fay (1943–2025), whose multidisciplinary practice bridged sculpture, drawing, installation, ecology, and transnational cultural histories.

Born in Shanghai and raised in Hong Kong, Fay settled in New York in the early 1970s and became part of the downtown art milieu. He co-founded the Epoxy Art Group (1982–92), an Asian American artist collective that fostered alternative exhibition platforms and critical dialogue.

While interest in Ming Fay's work has grown through exhibitions at institutions in recent years, scholarship on his practice remains limited. This fellowship supports research conducted within the Ming Fay Papers at New York University, related holdings at Asia Art Archive, and materials housed at the Ming Fay Studio / Estate to support the development of work that contributes to the study of Ming Fay’s practice and its broader historical, cultural, and artistic contexts. 

Proposals may address, but are not limited to: ecology and environmental thought; transnational identity and migration; Asian diasporic histories; material experimentation and sculptural practice; intersections of art, science, and spirituality; nature as mythology and cultural symbolism in art; Downtown New York art networks and artist collectives; and public art and site-specific installations.