Spinal Cord Artist Residency (SCAR) Fellowship

After years of partnership supporting SFAI’s Creative Access Fellowship, SFAI is proud to announce a continued collaboration with the Craig H. Neilsen Foundation to launch a two-year pilot program that evolves this vital work.

The Creative Access Fellowship Legacy

Thanks to generous support from the Craig H. Neilsen Foundation, SFAI offered the Creative Access Fellowship from 2017 through 2025, supporting artists with spinal cord injuries through our International Thematic Residency Program. This fellowship supported 20 artists, with up to four artists awarded 4-week residencies annually. Each recipient received a $1,000 stipend, an additional room for a personal care assistant (PCA), and a $1,000 travel stipend for the PCA if needed. The program also introduced lasting accessibility improvements to campus.

Introducing the SCAR Fellowship

Building on this foundation, the SCAR Fellowship continues SFAI’s commitment to access-centered program design. Supported by the Craig H. Neilsen Foundation, SCAR is a fully funded two-year pilot program created by and for artists with spinal cord injuries (SCI). Co-developed with four alums of the Creative Access Fellowship—Minna Hong, Wes Holloway, David McCauley, and Reveca Torres—SCAR directly addresses persistent barriers faced by SCI artists, ranging from physical inaccessibility to exclusion from professional networks and leadership spaces.

SCAR provides barrier-free access, creative research support, and inclusive community engagement opportunities. The program supports both creative production and daily living needs while advancing artist leadership in shaping disability-inclusive arts infrastructure, demonstrating how residencies can become more accessible, intentional, and artist-led.

The program supports eight artists with SCI annually. Participation is cost-free, with no application fee. Each artist receives a $2,500 stipend, fully funded travel to and from Santa Fe, and on-site lodging. Funds are also provided for personal care assistants (PCAs), studio art assistants, exhibition support, cultural field studies, as well as travel and housing during the on-site portion of the residency.

Artist-Led Design

The planning and execution of SCAR is entirely rooted in the expertise and lived experience of individuals with SCI, known as SCAR Fellows. The idea for a barrier-free residency emerged from a conversation in Fall 2024 with artist Minna Hong, a Creative Access Fellow and SFAI alum. During her residency, she posed a pivotal question: “What if we had a residency cohort of all artists with SCI where we didn’t have barriers to access; where we didn’t have to explain or educate our injuries to others and our conversations could be around art making, not my disability?”

This question became the catalyst for the SCAR residency. A planning group quickly formed with Minna and three other SFAI alumni, all artists with SCI, who began to collaboratively design a residency program that centers their lived experience, artistic practices, and vision for what a truly accessible creative space could be. Their goal was clear: to build something by and for SCI artists that removes the physical and institutional barriers so often encountered in traditional arts spaces, as well as the emotional and psychological burden of having to explain themselves in contexts that do not center or align with their experiences.

Each of these artists brings a unique blend of creative and professional expertise. Minna Hong served for 18 years as SCI Peer Support Manager at the Shepherd Center, where her work helped establish peer support as a national standard of care. Reveca Torres is a filmmaker, curator, and disability advocate who founded BACKBONES and co-directs ReelAbilities Film Festival Chicago; she was the inaugural recipient of the Neilsen Visionary Prize. David McCauley is an interdisciplinary artist and nonprofit founder whose programs, like The Rise Up Gallery, combine art therapy, exhibitions, and accessible public engagement. Wes Holloway is a visual artist and educator with an MFA in Social Practice, whose work spans teaching, nonprofit leadership, and international exhibitions.

These artists continue to guide all aspects of the program, from structuring the residency timeline to shaping public-facing resources and determining relevant professional development offerings. They also inform the program’s offerings more broadly, working alongside SFAI staff to identify key partners, select professional development consultants, and shape the AIR nomination and selection process, including the design of the application itself. They will also help define how the program is evaluated, ensuring that success is measured through meaningful, artist-defined criteria. SCAR is an extension of their artistic and advocacy practices. They defined the program’s key outcomes, including a video series and publication, and will lead the selection and mentorship of the 2027 cohort. As the co-creators of SCAR have shared, “We are more than our disabilities. Let’s see what we can create when the barriers are removed.”