The Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts currently offers, in alternating years, two postdoctoral fellowships for two consecutive academic years each. The A. W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow and the Beinecke Postdoctoral Fellow will reside in Washington. During both years of a two-year residency, the A. W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow and the Beinecke Postdoctoral Fellow carry out research and writing for publication. In the first year of the fellowship, the fellow will design and direct an intensive weeklong seminar for the seven predoctoral fellows in residence at the Center. In the second academic year, while continuing research and writing in residence, the fellow is expected to teach one course by arrangement at a neighboring university.

Both the A. W. Mellon and Beinecke Postdoctoral Fellowships support research in the history, theory, and criticism of the visual arts of any period or culture. The Center encourages applications in historically marginalized fields.

The A. W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow and the Beinecke Postdoctoral Fellow will be in residence at the Center for two years and will participate fully in the activities of the Center throughout the fellowship period. The fellow will be provided with housing in an apartment near the National Gallery, subject to availability, and with a shared study. The fellow has access to the notable resources represented by the art collections, the library, and the image collections of the National Gallery of Art, as well as to the Library of Congress and other specialized research libraries and collections in the Washington area.

Applicants must have received the PhD degree between October 1, 2018 and October 1, 2023. The fellowship is awarded without regard to age or nationality of applicants. 

The A. W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship will be awarded for 2024–2026.