the processing foundation fellowship 2025

The Processing Foundation Fellowship Program proudly announces its return for 2025, featuring an invigorating theme: Data Storytelling.

We invite individuals and collectives working across creative coding, interactive fiction, time-based media, and live performances to propose artistic or technical projects that explore innovative approaches to telling stories through data.

Fellows will receive support through a $10,000 stipend, mentorship, workshops, public programs, and community engagement opportunities.

2025 Focus Area

Generative Oracle. from pulse to letter made with Processing by Mario Guzman.

We seek interdisciplinary projects that amplify, challenge, or build upon existing or real-time data to tell compelling stories.

This year, we are committed to fostering projects that push the boundaries of artistic disciplines, ensuring that code is leveraged as a transformative tool for expression and narrative innovation. Therefore, we are particularly excited to support creative or technical projects incorporating Processing, p5.js, or the p5.js sound library.

Processing Foundation Fellowships (Remote)

We welcome collaborations between coders, artists, designers, storytellers, scientists, and initiatives that activate cultural spaces and community archives.

As a Processing Foundation Fellow:

• You will participate in the fully remote fellowship program.
• You will be supported through mentorship, workshops, and community engagement opportunities.

Due to the interdisciplinary nature of this year’s fellowship, we are excited to support collective/collaborative projects in addition to individual proposals.

Extended Realities Fellowship (In-Person)

We are launching a partnership with the Unusual Suspects Theater Company and Street Poets to support one fellow project. This is a unique opportunity to produce original short-form plays in collaboration with the Unusual Suspects Theater Company’s Youth Theater Conservatory.

As an Extended Realities Fellow:

• Your fellowship involves participating in an in-person youth devise theater program led by the Unusual Suspects Theater Company and Street Poets.
• You are expected to rapidly prototype XR concepts by working closely with youths.

We seek individuals or collectives with art direction and coding/engineering backgrounds for this opportunity.

Program Guidelines

June 15: Fellowship Begins

October 31:Fellowship Ends

Regular Cohort Meetings

At the start of the fellowship, an introductory meeting with all 2025 fellows will take place virtually. Fellows are encouraged to build community with their cohort during regular Zoom meetups and over Discord.

alks and Workshops

Processing Foundation's Mentor Partners and alums will provide online talks and workshops to this year’s cohort. These sessions are meant to create connections and support knowledge-sharing within the community. Fellows will also engage in town hall forums with our partner program pr05 and present their work at the public showcase.

Professional Development

Throughout the fellowship, the program considers the fellows' specific needs and connects them with industry professionals and community partners. Once the program is completed, fellows are invited to join the Processing Foundation Alum Network.

Project Documentation

• Progress updates must be posted after each progress meeting with the fellow’s mentor.
• Fellow projects are featured on the Processing Foundation’s website, along with the fellow’s bio, images, and a link to the project. These materials must be provided by the start of the fellowship and updated at the end.
• Final online documentation of fellowship projects is required. Documentation can take many forms—a GitHub repository, a series of video tutorials, a website, etc. We are open to what fits best for the work, in terms of format.

Project Legacy

Fellowship projects must be open source.

Project legacy is an important component of fellowships. We encourage applicants to think about how projects may support future sustainability or archiving of the work.

This includes, but is not limited to: code commenting and reusability, documentation, prioritized to do lists / roadmaps (if there’s more to do after your fellowship is completed), laying out infrastructure that enables others to carry on, summary of discoveries for research-focused projects, etc.