Half-term Rome Prize Fellowships are available in design. All applicants must hold an accredited degree and be practicing in the discipline. Applicants should submit materials that best display their qualifications and experience in the field of design.

Included in design: graphic, industrial, interior, exhibition, set, costume, and fashion design, urban design, city planning, engineering, and other design-related fields.

A completed online application form and the following documents, to be uploaded to your online application as three separate digital files.

1. Current résumé/curriculum vitae.

2. One-page proposal describing the project to be undertaken. Please address the following points/questions in your proposal:

• How will the proposed project and your own professional development will benefit from a residency within a multidisciplinary community in Rome?
• What guides or motivates your work?
• Rome is a modern city powerfully stamped by the material remains of the past. Is this past important to your present? If so, why?
• What, if any, resources in Rome or Italy will be significant to the completion of your proposed project?
• What kind of workspace do you need in Rome?

Your proposal should be double-spaced with 10- to 12-point typeface and one-inch margins.

3. Digital portfolio (in PDF format) of up to forty pages, in horizontal/landscape orientation, highlighting the applicant’s concerns and interests in work to date. Work included should be the sole product of the applicant, or substantially the product of the applicant with the applicant’s role in the work clearly noted. The jury has limited time, so applicants should make their portfolio succinct and easy to understand. If the PDF file exceeds the 10 MB upload limit, the applicant should send the portfolio on a USB drive to the address listed below.

Also needed are reference letters from professionals acquainted with you and your work. Recommenders will be asked to submit their letters electronically through our online system.

Finally, you must submit an application fee paid by credit card through our online payment option or by check or money order made payable to American Academy in Rome. Send to the address below.

If required, USB drives should be mailed to: 

American Academy in Rome
Attention: Design
535 West 22nd Street, Third Floor
New York, NY 10011

The American Academy in Rome hosted three in-person information sessions about the Rome Prize in 2024. The first took place at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia on September 24. The second was presented at the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence on October 8. The third happened at Howard University in Washington, DC, on October 17.

AAR also presented two general online information sessions on Zoom on September 23 and October 15. A third virtual meeting, focused only on landscape architecture, took place on October 16. You can watch these hour-long videos of the Academy’s YouTube channel.

These information sessions give prospective applicants a general overview of the Rome Prize application process and a look into the experience of living in the American Academy’s unique residential community in Rome.