Art Fund New Collection Awards open for application

Art Fund launches the fourth round of New Collecting Awards.

The New Collecting Awards programme aims to support curators across the UK to build critical professional skills by pursuing new avenues of collecting for their museums. Offering 100% funding for focused collecting projects of the highest quality, the scheme enables curators to expand museum collections of fine art, design or visual culture into exciting new areas, or to deepen existing holdings in imaginative ways. Each awardee also receives a generous funding allocation towards research, travel and training costs to facilitate their proposed collecting plans and professional development.

Over the last two years the Art Fund have awarded 17 awards totalling £1million for acquisition projects ranging from Modernist jewellery to cartographic material. Typical grant awards fall between £50,000 and £80,000. Applications are welcome from curators who are in the early stages of their career or have had limited opportunities to collect. 

The deadline for applications is 13 February 2018. Please see here for further information on aims, eligibility and how to apply, and here for details of previous awardees and mentors. 

Curatorial Development Opportunity from the Art Fund

The Art Fund are pleased to be partnering once again with Whitechapel Gallery to offer a series of professional development courses for curators and museum professionals this autumn.

This series is targeted at both early-career and more experienced curators, whether new to the topic or wishing to refresh and expand their existing knowledge. These hands-on courses will draw on the expertise of staff from across Whitechapel Gallery, as well as other industry leaders. Each course will focus on practical training and use current projects as case studies, allowing attendees to gain valuable guidance and insight from behind the scenes.

Taking place in October and November 2017, the courses will cover the following topics:

·         How to curate talks and events, Friday 13 October

·         How to write about art, Friday 20 October 

·         How to curate the moving image , Friday 27 October

·         How to fundraise: individual giving, Friday 3 November 

·         How to handle and install art, Friday 10 November

·         How to fundraise: writing grant applications, Friday 17 November

Places normally cost £195, but curators and museum professionals are invited to apply for one of 34 funded places offered by the Art Fund. 

Curatorial development opportunities offered by the Art Fund

Navigating the Art Market

 

The Art Fund is excited to announce a refreshed version of the Navigating the Art Market professional development course for 2016. Developed in partnership with Sotheby’s Institute of Art, the course is designed to promote a practical understanding of the art market through a combination of online learning and seminars in London, with spaces fully-funded by the Art Fund. It is targeted at early career curators with limited experience of engaging with the art market, and more experienced curators wishing to refresh their knowledge.

 

In 2016 the course will be delivered in two parts, each comprising two online sessions and a seminar day.  The first part will take place from mid-February to early March, and the second from mid-April to early May.

 

The deadline for applications is 12 noon on Friday 29 January.

 

To find out more and to apply for a place please visit the website.

 

Jonathan Ruffer Curatorial Grants Programme

 

The Art Fund is delighted that philanthropist and patron Jonathan Ruffer has generously increased his support for this programme by 50%, from £50,000 to £75,000 per year. This programme provides funding for travel and other practical costs to help curators from museums large and small undertake collection and exhibition research projects within the UK or anywhere in the world; since its inception in 2012 the scheme has benefitted over 200 curators in 130 institutions. Applications for grants under £1,500 can be accepted at any time, while applications over £1,500 are only considered three times a year. The deadlines for 2016 are as follows:

 

·         Wednesday 20^th January

·         Wednesday 20^th May

·         Wednesday 14^th September

 

Full details on the scheme and the application process can be found on the website.