Art School Alliance

The Art School Alliance is an international scholarship program of the Alfred Toepfer Foundation F.V.S. in cooperation with the University of Fine Arts Hamburg (HFBK Hamburg). Each year, 24 international art students receive access for six months to specially furnished live-work studios in Hamburg’s Karolinenviertel. In these converted factory floors, a creative workspace is created that fosters individual artistic practice as well as intercultural exchange among the participants. Students of HFBK Hamburg act as mentors and accompany the international artists both in Hamburg and at partner universities abroad, including renowned institutions such as the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem, the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, and the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou.

The scholarship includes, in addition to the rent-free studio apartment, financial reimbursements for material costs as well as intangible support through networking and professional exchange opportunities. At the end of the six-month residency, the scholarship holders present their current works to the interested public during open studio tours (“Open Studios”). Eligible for funding are exclusively internationally enrolled art students participating in an exchange program with a German art university. Applications are accepted at any time; prerequisites include enrollment at a recognized art university and an international academic background. The Art School Alliance thus contributes to promoting creative impulses and global networking in the fields of fine and performing arts.