Graham Foundation Grant Program for Individuals (United States)

Priorities

• For individuals, the priorities are to:
  • Provide opportunities to create, develop, and communicate a project about architecture and the designed environment that will contribute to their creative, intellectual, and professional growth at crucial or potentially transformative stages in their careers.
  • Support their efforts to take positions, develop new forms of expression, and engage debate.
  • Help them communicate their work in the public realm and reach new and wider audiences.
  • Support new voices by giving priority to first-time applicants.
• Overall they are most interested in opportunities which enable them to provide critical support at key points in the development of a project or career.

Grant making Focus

• Architecture and related spatial practices engage a wide range of cultural, social, political, technological, environmental, and aesthetic issues. They are interested in projects that investigate the contemporary condition, expand historical perspectives, or explore the future of architecture and the designed environment.
• They support innovative, thought-provoking investigations in architecture; architectural history, theory, and criticism; design; engineering; landscape architecture; urban planning; urban studies; visual arts; and related fields of inquiry. The interest also extends to work being done in the fine arts, humanities, and sciences that expands the boundaries of thinking about architecture and space. In an effort to bridge communities and different fields of knowledge, they support a wide range of practitioners (such as architects, scholars, critics, writers, artists, curators, and educators) and organizations (such as non-profit galleries, colleges and universities, publishers, and museums).

Grant Types

The Graham Foundation offers two types of grants to individuals: Production and Presentation Grants and Research and Development Grants.

• Production and Presentation Grants:
  • These grants assist individuals with the production-related expenses that are necessary to take a project from conceptualization to realization and public presentation. These projects include, but are not limited to, publications, exhibitions, installations, films, and new media projects.
  • Projects must have clearly defined goals, work plans, budgets, and production and dissemination plans.
  • Committed Producers: Individuals applying for Production and Presentation Grants should have a Committed Producer(s) for the project, that is, an entity committed to producing and/or presenting the project with the individual, such as a publisher, exhibition venue, etc.
  • Grant amount: Production and Presentation Grants to individuals do not exceed $20,000 and are likely to be less. Given the demand for funding, the Graham Foundation is not always able to fund projects at the full request amount.
  • Grant period: Production and Presentation Grants must be completed within two years. Applicants should allow sufficient time to plan, implement, close out their project, and, if funded, acknowledge Graham Foundation support in all published media.
• Research and Development Grants:
  • Though the majority of the grantmaking focuses on Production and Presentation Grants, they recognize that projects may require support at early stages of formation. Research and Development Grants assist individuals with seed money for research-related expenses such as travel, documentation, materials, supplies, and other development costs. Projects must have clearly defined goals, work plans, and budgets.
  • Upon completion of research projects, recipients of Research and Development Grants must complete a research report and provide documentation that can be archived at the Graham Foundation and/or presented on the website.
  • A recipient of a Research and Development Grant is eligible to apply for a Production and Presentation Grant for the same project once the first grant has been satisfied, however, future funding is not guaranteed.
  • Grant amount: Research and Development Grants do not exceed $10,000 and are likely to be less. Given the demand for funding, the Graham Foundation is not always able to fund grantees at the full request amount.
  • Grant period: Research and Development Grants must be completed within one year. Applicants should allow sufficient time to plan, implement, close out their project, and, if funded, acknowledge Graham Foundation support in all published media.

Eligibility Criteria

• The grantmaking focuses on individuals in the United States, however, they do make a small percentage of international grants. Please note they require that final projects be disseminated in English.
• Grants to Individuals:
  • Individuals are eligible to apply for Production and Presentation Grants and Research and Development Grants.
  • Collaborative projects by individuals are eligible for funding. A collaborator is defined as a co-author of the project. A collaborator is not a participant who is providing contracted services for the project.
  • Individuals may only apply for one grant per year.
  • Applicants who have received prior Graham Foundation support must have satisfied all grant requirements before applying again.
  • Individuals working on independent projects who are required by their organizations to apply for and receive funding under the aegis of the organization (e.g., a faculty member of an academic institution) may use a fiscal agent.

Evaluation Criteria

• Given the priorities, they believe projects of the greatest potential should fulfill the following criteria:
  • Originality: the project demonstrates an innovative and challenging idea; critical, independent thinking; advanced scholarship; a new or experimental approach.
  • Potential for impact: the project makes a meaningful contribution to discourse and/or to the field; expands knowledge; is a catalyst for future inquiry; raises awareness of an understudied issue; promotes diversity in subject matter, participants, and audience.
  • Feasibility: the project has clear and realistic goals, timeframe, work plan, and budget.
  • Capacity: applicant possesses strong qualifications and/or knowledge; demonstrates ability to carry out the project successfully; has access to necessary resources outside of the grant request.

For more information, visit Graham Foundation.