About
Art Fund is a charity that raises money for UK museums and galleries. The organization provides grants and marketing support to help museums build collections and connect with audiences. Operating as the National Art Collections Fund, Art Fund supports the UK's cultural heritage by funding acquisitions and initiatives across museums and galleries throughout the country.
Funding Opportunities
Jonathan Ruffer Curatorial Grants
The Jonathan Ruffer curatorial grants provide funding for travel and other practical costs to help curators undertake collections and exhibition research projects in the UK or internationally. These grants support UK curators, museum professionals and researchers to undertake travel and other activities that will extend and develop their curatorial expertise, collections-based knowledge and art historical interests. The grants can support UK and international travel and accommodation for research trips and conferences, training courses and programmes of study (including online), subscriptions such as archive subscriptions, and other activities where a strong case can be made for their contribution to the development of curatorial skills and collections-based research projects. The programme offers two tiers: small grants up to £2,000 with no fixed deadlines and rolling applications decided within eight weeks, and large grants over £2,000 with two annual deadlines. Applicants must be employed by or working in partnership with a not-for-profit museum, gallery, archive or arts organisation in the UK that regularly programmes exhibitions open to the public for the majority of the year.
Commission grants
Art Fund's Commission grants support the commission and acquisition of important new work for museums and galleries. These grants enable UK public museums, galleries, historic houses, libraries and archives to commission artists to create new works of art for their collections. Commissioned work has a unique ability to respond and reveal new aspects to collections or places in direct, timely ways, helping to forge closer relationships with artists and audiences. Applications for commissions are considered as part of Art Fund's acquisitions programme, with expectations that any commissions should be of international, national or regional significance. The programme recognizes the distinct opportunities and fundraising challenges in realising a commission. Acquisitions can be conceptualised in many different ways: as unique permanent artworks that can be accessioned into a public collection, or as temporary, ephemeral or performance pieces that may only have a permanent legacy in the form of archival material. For successful applications, organizations need to demonstrate strong benefits to the artist, the organization, and audiences. The programme offers two levels of funding: small grants of £7,500 or less for projects with total costs of £15,000 or less (considered on a rolling basis), and main grants above £7,500 for larger projects (decided at five trustees' meetings per year in February, May, July, October and December). Art Fund normally funds only part of the cost of a commission, with no fixed percentage, and can advise on appropriate grant request levels before submission. Applicants must be public museums, galleries, historic houses, libraries and archives based in the UK or Channel Islands that are open for at least half the week for at least six months of the year and are at least provisionally accredited through the Arts Council Accreditation Scheme or other national equivalents. Partnerships between commissioning agencies and museums are also encouraged.
Acquisition Grants
Art Fund's Acquisition Grants programme helps museums and galleries purchase art for their collections, providing grants totalling between £3m and £4m every year. The programme supports the acquisition of works of art and other objects of artistic interest dating from antiquity to the present day, as well as the commission and acquisition of important new work. Grants can range from a few hundred pounds to hundreds of thousands of pounds. The programme believes new acquisitions allow museums and galleries to interpret the world, spark debate and provide fresh entry points for audiences. Three grant categories are available: Main grants (above £20,000), Small grants (£20,000 or less), and time-critical Auction grants (any amount). The programme supports objects of national and international importance, objects of significant regional interest with good museum quality, and objects which will artistically enrich collections and support the expansion and development of new areas of collecting.
At a Glance
- Total Funding Opportunities
- 4
- Active Now
- 3
- Source Domain
- artfund.org
Catalog Data
This funder profile was automatically extracted from grant listings. Information may be incomplete.
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