2026 John Chervinsky Emerging Photographer Scholarship

The John Chervinsky Emerging Photographer Scholarship seeks to recognize, encourage and reward photographers with the potential to create a body of work and sustain solo exhibitions. Awarded annually, the Scholarship provides recipients with a monetary award of $3,000, exhibition of their work at the Griffin Museum of Photography, and a volume from John's personal library of photography books. The Scholarship seeks to provide a watershed moment in the professional lives of emerging photographers, providing them with the support and encouragement necessary to develop, articulate and grow their own vision for photography.

The scholarship is open to photographers who have produced individual works of photography and/or are in the process of producing bodies of work. Candidates can be currently enrolled in a photography degree program if in their graduating year. There is no age limit, no residency requirements, and no application fee. Photographers without gallery representation who have not exhibited solo in a commercial gallery, academic gallery (except for thesis shows), or museum setting, or have not received significant (over $3,000) grant funding are eligible. Past awardees of the Chervinsky Scholarship, paid employees of the Griffin Museum or their immediate families, Griffin Museum board members and jurors' immediate families are not eligible. Well-established photographers, those who have received a Fulbright Scholarship, or those who have produced a published photo book are not eligible. Self-publishing does not disqualify a candidate.

Submissions must be made through Café and include: a brief biography and artistic CV (single PDF with both); a statement of artistic purpose/intent; an artist statement on the work supplied; and 10 flattened RGB JPGs (1200 pixels on the longest side) of photographs, numbered 1-10 in the order you wish them to appear. The application period opens September 16, 2025 and closes October 31, 2025 at 11:59 PM Mountain Time. Jurors will review submissions from November 1 through December 7, 2025, with the awardee announced by January 1, 2026.