FfAI provides support for operations, projects and research to new and alternative forms of institutions that are active in contemporary visual arts and culture. We also make grants to individuals for their independent research and research-directed travel.If your project or plans fit FfAI’s current focus and priorities, you may submit an online inquiry. Please carefully review our recent grants before proceeding.Recent grants have focused on research and practices that address the escalating culture wars, the erosion of rights, censorship, and other conditions of constraint. FfAI is supporting individuals, collectives, and organizations whose work may be threatened by extreme conflict, repressive political contexts, public intolerance, or other circumstances that restrict access to funding.The inquiry form will give you a chance to tell us briefly about your recent activities and future plans. You may submit an inquiry at any time. FfAI does not have fixed dates for receiving or reviewing submissions. If we have any questions or need more information, we will let you know.Unfortunately, we are unable to respond directly to every inquiry. We will contact you if your organization is invited to submit a full proposal, or if you are selected for a Fund for Arts Research grant. If you don’t hear from us within four months, it means your inquiry has not been selected.

Guidelines

Institutions may submit an inquiry for an institutional grant to sustain their general activities, for project funding, or for research support. This is the first step in a two-part application process for institutions. Based on your inquiry, your organization may be invited to apply for a grant.

If your organization is in the U.S., it must be classified by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. If your organization is not in the U.S., it must be created and operated exclusively for charitable and/or educational purposes.

Please be sure to review our most recent grants and current focus page before submitting an inquiry to get a sense of the kinds of institutions and projects we are currently supporting and to help you determine if your institution or project might be considered for funding.

Individuals who are artists, activists, curators, critics, researchers, writers, or otherwise active in organizing projects in contemporary arts and culture may submit an inquiry for a Fund for Arts Research grant of $7,500. Based on your inquiry, we will let you know if you are selected to receive a grant. There is no additional application process.

Fund for Arts Research grants are awarded for research and research-focused travel directed toward specific areas central to FfAI’s ongoing concerns, including alternative forms of institutionality, the redefinition and use of archives, new applications for the commons, and the development of dynamic definitions of community, connectivity, and solidarity.

Grants are not awarded for scholarships or residency programs, and all research and travel funded by these grants must be independent of any institutional or professional obligations.