Society of Fellows

Color photograph of an art installation in a McKim Mead & White Building studio with a grassy floor and bathed in red light. Two people are seated on small bulbous seats, as a third person washes one of their feet. Coiled incense hangs from the ceiling, and numerous candles burn on a grid of small shelves on one wall.
Andrew T. Cao and Xavier Perrot, Red Box, 2000, grass floor and coiled incense from Vietnam in studio, with seated people (artwork © Andrew Cao and Xavier Perrot; photograph from the American Academy in Rome, Institutional Archive)

Overview

The Society of Fellows is a century-year-old organization whose membership is comprised of those who have been awarded a Fellowship, Affiliated Fellowship, or Residency at the American Academy in Rome. Prize winners become members upon completing their residence at the Academy.

Those whose prizes were awarded through the Academy are given the title Fellow of the American Academy in Rome (FAAR) followed by the year their residence was completed. Those whose prizes came from an affiliated institution are Affiliated Fellows (AFAAR). Senior artists and scholars who were invited to spend a period residing at the Academy are officially called Residents and carry the title RAAR. These three titles are granted in perpetuity.

The mission of the Society of Fellows is to nurture and maintain the camaraderie and exchange of ideas amongst Fellows and Residents that made the Academy experience in Rome so extraordinary and unique. This aim is achieved by fostering a lifelong network that not only supports the mission of the American Academy in Rome but also seeks opportunities for individuals to create meaningful engagement,increased awareness, pride, participation, and volunteer involvement.

It shall be the Society of Fellows’s purpose to:

  1. Act as a liaison and strengthen ties between the Fellows and the American Academy
  2. Develop events, programs, and communications that build ties among Fellows and support their interests across the Academy’s varied disciplines
  3. Use the creative and scholarly talents of Fellows to grow the cultural and academic activities of the Academy in the United States, Italy, and throughout the world

The organization is governed by eighteen Fellows and Residents who represent the various fields of study offered at the Academy.