2025 Irene Yamamoto Arts Writers Fellowship Applications Now Open

Emerging music critics and journalists of color are encouraged to apply. Applications are open through March 17, 2025

LOS ANGELES, CA – The Daniel K. Inouye National Center for the Preservation of Democracy (Democracy Center) and Critical Minded announce the third annual Irene Yamamoto Arts Writers Fellowship (Yamamoto Fellowship) with a focus on music criticism. 

The Yamamoto Fellowship will provide two emerging arts writers of color who write critically about music with $5,000 unrestricted awards each to be spent over six months. Submissions are open from February 3 to March 17, 2025. 

The Yamamoto Fellowship focuses on a different artistic discipline each year and encourages emerging and underrecognized arts writers of color to write from their own cultural and political perspectives, enriching and broadening cultural criticism as a practice and profession. More information is available at janm.org/democracy.

“This fellowship gives writers of color a chance to shape the music industry through evaluation and representation. How music is listened to and talked about in all spaces—between friends, in communities, and on social media—is determined in part by the critics. By raising their voices, this fellowship expands the public knowledge and discourse about music made in diverse communities,” said James E. Herr, director of the Democracy Center. 

Eligible applicants for the 2025 Yamamoto Fellowship must:

• Be a US citizen or currently live in the United States
• Be at least 18 years of age
• Identify as a member of a community with ancestry in one of the original peoples of Africa, Asia, the Americas, Oceania, or Pacific Islands
• Have less than two years of publication experience, which may include a blog or self-publishing
• Demonstrate an ongoing commitment to writing about music

Applications are reviewed by a panel of professional writers and editors who cover the arts. Fellows are selected based on their writing ability and promise, focus on writing about the art of communities of color, and the unique perspective or point of view that they contribute to arts writing. In 2024, the Yamamoto Fellowship was awarded to Nicole Leung and Adam Wassilchalk, who write about the performing arts. 

“The funds were critical in enabling me to find better career opportunities and financial stability, which allows me to dedicate more time to writing. It feels like my life has completely changed for the better and continues to gain forward momentum—and the Yamamoto Fellowship was the initial push that got the ball rolling. Thanks to the Democracy Center’s generous support, I know my voice is valued and finally feel ready to take on this next challenge as a writer,” said Leung.

“I cannot understate how much of an impact the Fellowship has had on me these last few months. With the funding, support, and the continued belief that my voice and experience as a writer are ones that matter, I’ve been able to re-orient my life in a way that has allowed me to take on arts writing opportunities I would [not] have been able to otherwise, and to set myself up to continue doing so more reliably and sustainably in the future. I am now more confident than ever that my voice as an arts writer is having an impact, and therefore I need to continue writing and seeking opportunities to do this work,” said Wassilchalk.

The Irene Yamamoto Arts Writers Fellowship is made possible through a gift from Sharon Mizota to honor her late aunt, Irene Yamamoto. This project is also supported by Critical Minded, a grantmaking and learning initiative that supports cultural critics of color in the United States.

More Information and Link to Apply: https://www.janm.org/democracy/arts-writer-fellowship
Key Dates

• Submission Period: February 3 – March 17, 2025
• Virtual Information Session: February 19 at 10 a.m. PST
• Fellowship Awarded: June 2025

About Irene Yamamoto

Irene Yamamoto (1937 – 2020) was a lifelong lover of the arts. Born in Los Angeles, she was incarcerated with her family during World War II in Gila River, Arizona. Upon returning to Los Angeles, she attended UCLA and had a long career as a production artist for several design and advertising agencies. In her free time, she loved to draw, learn new languages, visit museums, and travel.

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About the Daniel K. Inouye National Center for the Preservation of Democracy (Democracy Center)

The Democracy Center is a place where visitors can examine the Asian American experience, past and present, and talk about race, identity, social justice, and the shaping of democracy. It convenes and educates people of all ages about democracy to transform attitudes, celebrate culture, and promote civic engagement; educates and informs the public and public officials about important issues; creates strength within and among communities to advocate for positive change; and explores the values that shape American democracy. The Democracy Center looks for solutions that engage communities in self-advocacy, explore the evolving idea of what it means to be an American, and result in actions that bring everyone together. JANM’s Pavilion is closed for renovation; Democracy Center programs will continue on the JANM campus, throughout Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, and Southern California, and beyond from early January 2025 through late 2026. For more information, visit janm.org/OnTheGo or follow us on social media @democracyjanm.

About Critical Minded

Founded by the Nathan Cummings Foundation and Ford Foundation, Critical Minded launched with a national convening of critics in 2017. It emerged from the belief that engaging critically with the ideas and images that surround us is a prerequisite for transforming our cultural landscape and preserving democracy. To achieve this, Critical Minded works to build the resources and visibility of cultural critics of color through: direct support to publications and individuals, research, advocacy, and convening.

About the Japanese American National Museum (JANM)

Established in 1985, JANM promotes understanding and appreciation of America’s ethnic and cultural diversity by sharing the Japanese American experience. Located in the historic Little Tokyo district of downtown Los Angeles, JANM is a center for civil rights, ensuring that the hard-fought lessons of the World War II incarceration are not forgotten. A Smithsonian Affiliate and one of America’s Cultural Treasures, JANM is a hybrid institution that straddles traditional museum categories. JANM is a center for the arts as well as history. It provides a voice for Japanese Americans and a forum that enables all people to explore their own heritage and culture. Since opening to the public in 1992, JANM has presented over one hundred exhibitions onsite while traveling forty exhibits to venues such as the Smithsonian Institution and the Ellis Island Museum in the United States, and to several leading cultural museums in Japan and South America. JANM’s Pavilion is closed for renovation; programs will continue on the JANM campus, throughout Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, and Southern California, and beyond from early January 2025 through late 2026. For more information, visit janm.org/OnTheGo or follow us on social media @jamuseum.