Katherine Balch and William Dougherty are among the winners of the 2020–21 Rome Prize which have been announced today by The American Academy in Rome. This year, Rome Prizes were awarded to twenty-two American artists and scholars, who will each receive a stipend, workspace, and room and board for a period of four to seven months at the Academy’s eleven-acre campus in Rome. The eleven disciplines recognized through this program supporting advanced independent work and research in the arts and humanities are: Literature, Music Composition, Visual Arts, Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Design, and Historic Preservation and Conservation, as well as Ancient Studies, Medieval Studies, Renaissance and Early Modern Studies, and Modern Italian Studies.
To ensure the safety of Fellows and staff, while also preserving its unique environment, the Academy community will be smaller than usual to allow for proper social distancing. In addition, next season AAR expects to welcome a very limited number of Residents and Affiliated Fellows, while the Visiting Artists and Scholars Program will be evaluated at a later date. All residential guests will be given the space to self-isolate upon arrival in Rome and public events are suspended for the time being.
Rome Prize winners are selected annually by independent juries of distinguished artists and scholars through a national competition. In addition to the Rome Prize winners, the Academy announced the recipients of two Italian Fellowships, through which Italian artists and scholars live and work in the Academy community, pursuing their own projects in a collaborative, interdisciplinary environment with their American counterparts. The Italian Fellows are also selected through a national jury process.
A full list of the 2020–21 Rome Prize winners and Italian Fellows, as well as the international jurors who selected them, are available on the American Academy in Rome website.