Apply for History of Art Grants Program (US)

Grants are awarded to projects that create and disseminate specialized knowledge, including archival projects, development and dissemination of scholarly databases, documentation projects, museum exhibitions and publications, photographic campaigns, scholarly catalogues and publications, and technical and scientific studies.

Grants are also awarded for activities that permit art historians to share their expertise through international exchanges, professional meetings, conferences, symposia, consultations, the presentation of research, and other professional events.

Eligibility Criteria

• Grants are awarded to non-profit institutions that have 501(c)3 status in the United States, which includes supporting foundations of European institutions and foreign institutions that have obtained recognition of exemption from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. The project being pursued can be the work of a single individual or a team affiliated with the organization applying for support, but the Foundation does not pay grants directly to individuals.
• This grant program does not typically support the documentation (cataloging, photography, research and publication) of the object collections of individual art museums.
• International applicants must identify a U.S. non-profit as the fiscal sponsor for their proposal, and provide a copy of that organization’s IRS Determination Letter to confirm its 501(c) 3 status.
• This fiscal sponsor must also confirm, in a letter to the Foundation, that they have independently vetted the proposed project, approved it as appropriate to their mission and are therefore willing to accept and administer full or partial funding, if awarded, without taking any overhead or indirect expenses from the grant.

Application Requirements

• Organizations submitting a grant application through the portal will be asked to describe:
  • The project’s main goals
  • The project history to date (if applicable)
  • The key activities to be carried out
  • Personnel overseeing the project
  • The anticipated outcomes of the project
• Applicants will also be required to upload the following documents:
  • A detailed project budget in MS Excel
  • The IRS determination letter of 501(c)3 status for the organization that will receive and administer the funds
• Additional supporting documents, as necessary, may also be uploaded, including:
  • Curriculum vitae for principal investigator(s)
  • Conference, workshop, exhibition, or publication schedules
  • Images or illustrations
  • Letters of support

For more information, visit Samuel H. Kress Foundation.