Van Evera Bailey Fellowship Grant

The Van Evera Bailey Fellowship, awarded by the Architecture Foundation of Oregon (AFO), supports the professional development of design and building professionals. With an annual grant of $50,000, since 2001, it encourages individuals to explore innovative ideas that benefit both their careers and the community. Eligible activities include sabbaticals, teaching, collaborations, and research projects that promote creativity and public engagement in architecture.

Supporting the Advancement of Design & Building Professionals
Bailey Fund of Oregon Community Foundation in awarding the $50,000 annual Van Evera Bailey Fellowship to advance the professional development of design and building professionals and encourage greater contributions to their profession and community.
This Fellowship is an opportunity for professionals in the field to examine not only what they think, but how they think. The intention is to provide time for creativity, reflection, and a pursuit of deeper understanding of ideas that will result in lasting value to the applicant, the profession, and/or the greater community. The Fellowship honors the original benefactor’s dedication of a grant “for the preservation and betterment of the art and science of architecture.”
Fellowship projects follow a variety of paths. The most compelling projects propose work that can have an impact on communities as well as individual professionals. Examples of eligible activities include, but are not limited to:
Sabbaticals for study of innovative architectural design to be applied in OregonTeaching engagements that promise enhancement of the applicant’s and students’ creativity in architectural designCollaborations between architects and others to implement new projectsPreparation of public education projectsResearch and writing on a specific design-related topic
The VEB Fellowship was doubled to $50,000 per award starting in 2025.

Eligibility

Eligibility for the Fellowship is flexible.  Fellows build on their experiences, inquisitions, and observations in their professional and personal lives to explore new ways of thinking.Often, Fellows take the opportunity to explore a passion that has developed through their years in the community that they have not had the time or resources to pursue.The Fellowship is intended to promote dissemination and application of ideas. Support may be requested for stipends, travel, lodging, materials, and other relevant needs. Projects must include follow-up activities that share the results of the Fellowship with the professional community and general public. Fellows will be asked to provide information to document their experience. At the end of the Fellowship, AFO and the Fellow will collaborate on a short presentation highlighting their work and findings at the annual Fellowship Reception in the year following the Fellowship completion.Applicants may apply jointly for a Van Evera Bailey Fellowship.

Ineligibility

Current members of the board of AFO are not eligible to apply or to receive Fellowship funds indirectly as a partner in a proposed project.