The Steiner Visitor Invitation Grant Application is currently closed. We will begin accepting applications again on August 11th.

The STUDIO invites Carnegie Mellon University faculty, staff, and students to apply for the Steiner Visitor Invitation Grant to bring guest scholars into their classrooms, studios, and labs.

Invitees are encouraged to share diverse perspectives and interdisciplinary expertise in the Arts, and address our current moment in timely ways. It MUST be a student facing event, non-student facing events will not be considered. Also, while all individuals are encouraged to apply, we strongly consider proposals for those who identify as women, BIPOC, and/or LGBTQIA+. 

We provide funding at $500, $1,000, or $1,500 levels according to need and availability. Please be aware collaboration between multiple departments can be necessary to fully fund your event. The STUDIO will offer administrative support in coordinating payment and can also assist with booking your guest’s travel and stay. You are encouraged to host the visit in your own classroom/space. If for some reason that is not feasible you can request use of the STUDIO, however this is not an application to curate a lecture in the STUDIO.

Please note: These events take time to arrange and you are encouraged to apply as early as possible in your process. For questions about this program, please contact dzak@andrew.cmu.edu.

Examples of previously funded events:

• A guest lecture about the history or theory of a topic.
• A presentation via Zoom about creative work.
• A workshop about a creative technique.
• Participation in a critique, review, or charrette.
• Facilitating a guided discussion with students.

Terms and Conditions

• Payment:
  • The STUDIO is able to support a limited number of visits from artists and scholars at fixed amounts of $500, $1,000, or $1,500, if the funds are not used in full they will be made available to future applicants. 
  • The STUDIO requests that $500 is the minimum honorarium offered to individual guests funded by the Steiner. 
  • Foreign national or nonresident alien honorariums may be subject to tax withholding and reporting, unless there is a treaty between the foreign national’s home country and the U.S., and if the individual is qualified to take advantage of the treaty. Please note to any guest that taxes may be removed from their final payment.   
• Application Process: 
  • See top of this page or sign up for our email newsletter for application opening and closing dates. Application dates align closely with the Academic Calendar.
  • Applications are accepted on a rolling basis each academic year and are reviewed every week, until funding runs out for the semester or the deadline listed in the application. Selections will be made by the STUDIO’s staff in collaboration with a group of advisory faculty from the College of Fine Arts.
  • It can take up to two or three weeks for a response to your application.
  • Must include a CMU student facing experience (such as a course, department, degree cohort, or student club) and be proposed by someone with a current CMU affiliation. 
  • Students may require the endorsement of an advisor, proposals from alumni groups or organizations outside of CMU will not be considered.
  • Applicants may only be awarded one event per semester. If rejected, the applicant is eligible to apply again with a different proposal.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Do the lectures need to be public? 
  • No, but if you are interested in hosting a public event in the STUDIO make that request directly to the Director. This application is not meant to curate a lecture in the STUDIO.
• I’m an adjunct instructor; am I eligible to apply to bring a speaker to my class? 
  • Yes, please do. 
• Do I have to know the guest speaker personally? 
  • It can be helpful but not necessary. If you’re a student who would like assistance with this process, please contact us – dzak@andrew.cmu.edu. 
• For proposals that require more than $500 what should I provide in my application? 
  • A detailed budget and a specific ask, if you need information or insight while making your budget contact us. Please note, the STUDIO frequently assists in closing the gaps in budgets that involve a guest’s travel, but less frequently is able to fully cover an entire budget.
• I’m one of several graduate students in a certain Masters program. May we collectively apply as a group, to host someone for a series of critiques or virtual studio visits? 
  • Yes, a series of individual critiques with a cohort would be acceptable.
• I am a professor and I have already received a Steiner Grant this semester but my students want to invite a guest, may I apply for them? 
  • No! Get your students to fill out the application!