Cultural Leadership Program
Wherever Jews settled in the world, artists and thinkers created new traditions and interpretations that enriched Jewish life and responded to contemporary challenges. This creativity enabled successive generations to discover the beauty of Judaism and draw on its resources to imagine new futures.
Today, as ever, we need artists and cultural producers to lead the way, harnessing creativity, imagination, and courage to shape Jewish futures and more just and democratic societies.
The Mandel Cultural Leadership Program is a two-year fellowship designed to support artists in honing their visions for creative and social impact, developing their capacity as agents of change in the Jewish community and broader society. The program aims to cultivate fellows’ creative wellsprings and work, leadership capacities and visions for change, and collaborative networks.
Program
Details
The two-year program fosters a rigorous learning community of artists who instigate work that is courageous, boundary-breaking,intellectually-curious, and rooted in the richness of Jewish history and culture.
The fellowship includes:
Seminars
An intensive curriculum comprised of five in-person seminars, bi-monthly virtual meetings, and an individualized course plan to develop skills and knowledge.
Advisors
Dedicated work with an advisor to advance creative work or research.
Stipend
A $40,000 stipend over 2 years, which will support time in the fellowship’s educational program and independent work on a creative project.
The program’s curriculum is organized around three strands:
Jewish Imagination
Fellows deepen their creative wellsprings through Jewish text study, exploration of cultural histories, and inquiry into contemporary forms of Jewish creativity.
Leadership
Fellows encounter and examine diverse forms of leadership in culture, sharpening their goals for impact while strengthening skills to bring their creative visions to life. Fellows develop greater clarity regarding their identities as cultural leaders, and situate their own creative visions within broader aspirations for transformation.
Community
Fellows activate the cohort as a crucible to test ideas, gain new perspectives on work in progress, engage in complex dialogue, and forge collaboration. Fellows encounter and build relationships with leaders in culture in and beyond Jewish community.
Fellows
About the
Fellows
We seek to build a cohort of fellows whose personal experiences and creative voices represent the diversity of the Jewish people.
The fellowship is designed for artists and cultural producers who have a desire to integrate Jewish themes into their work and/or harness Jewish culture to address communal and global challenges. Eligible candidates include, but are not limited to: musicians, visual artists, dancers, actors, writers, filmmakers, and multidisciplinary artists, as well as a range of cultural producers, such as designers, podcasters, comedians, culinary artists, and programmers.
Applications for Cohort II are currently closed. Subscribe to our newsletter for updates.
fellows who:
Value collectivity, and are invested in learning, collaboration, and conceiving of change in community with other artists and thinkers.
Seek dialogue across a diverse range of perspectives and experiences.
Are intellectually curious and open, with a hunger to interrogate, deepen, and complicate their understanding of Jewish culture and history.
Approach learning, dialogue, and community building with an ethos of generosity, reciprocity, and care.
Faculty
Fellows & Graduates
2026-2028
2023-2025
Learn
More
Eligibility
Eligible candidates include, but are not limited to: musicians, visual artists, dancers, actors, writers, filmmakers, and multidisciplinary artists, as well as a range of cultural producers, such as designers, podcasters, and programmers.
We are seeking fellows who have a body of artistic or cultural work that demonstrates a sustained level of commitment and accomplishment (e.g., it has been published, recorded, presented, distributed, or developed through public engagement). Depending on your discipline and professional path, this may mean that you are at a late-emerging or mid-career stage. Candidates should have 8+ years of generative practice.
The aim of the fellowship is to develop artists and producers who lead through their art, cultural projects, and organizations. We are looking for candidates who are seeking to expand the boundaries of Jewish life and galvanize action on a range of social issues through their artistic and cultural work.
We will seek fellows who value collaboration and boundary crossing, and whose personal experiences and creative voices represent the diversity of the Jewish people. We especially encourage candidates from underrepresented groups to apply, such as BIPOC, Mizrahi, Sephardi, LGBTQ+, individuals with disabilities, and others. Candidates must currently live in the United States or Canada.
