Jonathan Ruffer Curatorial Grants (United Kingdom)

Aims

• Through this scheme they aim to help individuals realise their curatorial ambitions, by offering grants for collections-based research and curatorial development opportunities. In all their grant making, Art Fund is committed to delivering public benefit, and they achieve this through supporting the development of museum collections so they are well presented and readily available for the public to appreciate and enjoy. They therefore want to hear how their grant to you will help further this aim.
• However, they also accept that research can and should be exploratory and creative. They welcome ambitious applications, and will not always expect material outcomes (for example in the form of acquisitions, exhibitions or publications) to be an immediate consequence of their support.
• While this programme aims to help support curatorial development and collections-based research, it is not intended to replace statutory funding. They hope it will demonstrate the importance and benefits of continued investment in curatorial expertise, and encourage funding from other sources.

Funding Information

• They will consider funding requests for a minimum of £200. There are two categories of grant: one up to £2,000; the other above £2,000.
• Grants of £200 to £2,000
  • A total of £40,000 is available annually for grant requests at this level. They would anticipate these applications being, in the main, small and discrete grants for travel (e.g. for research projects or visits to galleries/exhibitions/artists’ studios/art fairs), professional training courses, the purchase of books and catalogues, or research expenses.
• Grants of £2,001 and above
  • A total of £35,000 will be available annually in three rounds, and it is only in exceptional circumstances that they will offer a grant of more than £5,000. This will naturally limit the scope of proposals, but they nonetheless hope you will be creative and ambitious in your application, and bold with regard to the amount of funding you request if you feel your ideas are deserving.

Eligible Funding

• Applications may include requests to support:
  • Travel and accommodation for research trips and conferences
  • Museum and exhibition visits
  • Training courses and programmes of study
  • Books and subscriptions to add to a museum’s research resources or library
• They can consider funding other kinds of activity, provided you are able to make a strong case for its contribution to the development of curatorial skill and collections-based research projects.

Ineligible Funding

• They will not normally consider funding:
  • Purchase or hire of equipment – e.g. computers or related hardware, or cameras
  • Photographic or reproduction/copyright costs
  • First-class travel
  • Research projects being undertaken by undergraduate or postgraduate university students.

Eligibility Criteria

• The programme is open to curators and other professionals working in museums and galleries that hold at least provisional accreditation and are open to the public.
• They recognise the need for new skills, knowledge and research to benefit museum collections for the future, so these grants are also available to researchers, art historians and academics working with museums to improve the use and understanding of their collections. If you are not based in a museum or gallery they ask that you provide a letter of support from an accredited, or provisionally accredited, public collection.
• They can consider applications from more than one applicant, and recognise that activities such as research for exhibition development can benefit greatly from collaborative trips, particularly with colleagues across departments. However they are unlikely to consider applications with more than three joint applicants.
• An individual applicant can receive a maximum of one grant per year (small or large). An organisation can receive a maximum of one large grant per year.

Deadlines

• Large grant (Over £2,000): 30 September 2024.

For more information, visit Art Fund.