Collection Reinterpretation Grants for Museums

Collection Reinterpretation Grants for Museums is sponsored by Terra Foundation for American Art. This program is focused on reinterpreting American art collections and invites U. S.

501(c)(3) museums and similar cultural organizations worldwide to seek funding.

Collections Grant Deadlines For projects that begin after May 1, 2027: * Grant portal: Collections Grant Deadlines We support permanent collection projects that broaden understandings and pursue inclusive and expansive practices of American art, whether through reinstallation or temporary exhibitions drawn primarily from an institution’s permanent collection. Grants can be for either planning or implementation.

We welcome proposals from museums, art centers, and community-based cultural organizations of varying sizes, annual budgets, and diverse geographies, within and outside the United States. This is a highly competitive program. * Planning grants typically range between $25,000 and $75,000.

* Implementation grants are up to $100,000. * Grant support through this program is offered once yearly. Collections grants are often a vital source of support for organizations working to reinterpret their permanent collections of American art.

By supporting collections projects, we hope to have a long-term impact on histories of American art and institutional practices.

We encourage practices that: * generate new research that contributes to understandings of the full breadth and complexity of American art and history * encompass a plurality of voices through expansive curatorial methodologies, including intercultural and interdisciplinary perspectives * engage local communities in collaborative program and content creation * broaden access through inclusive stories and design, as well as through multilingual materials when feasible and relevant If you are seeking support for research and planning and/or installation of temporary exhibitions consisting primarily of loans, please see our Exhibition grant program.

Grants to offset research and planning costs for permanent collection reinstallations or temporary exhibitions drawn primarily from an institution’s permanent collection.

Funds may be used only for costs associated with: * short-term positions (e.g. project-specific research fellows or assistants) * pre-exhibition convenings * research activities, including travel * conservation (up to 25 percent of the grant award) * direct staff cost (up to 25 percent of the grant award) * indirect costs (up to 15 percent of the grant award) Grants to offset permanent collection reinstallations or temporary exhibitions drawn primarily from an institution’s permanent collection.

Funds may be used only for costs associated with: * research activities, including travel * artist fees (excluding commissions) * shipping, crating, couriers, insurance, and object loan fees * exhibition design and fabrication, including temporary gallery walls * conservation, framing, and casework (up to 25 percent of the grant award) * programs, convenings, and events * dissemination of research, whether in digital or print form * direct staff cost (up to 25 percent of the grant award) * indirect costs (up to 15 percent of the grant award) The Terra Foundation supports projects that engage the visual arts of the United States and Indigenous arts of North America, while questioning and broadening understandings of American art and transforming how its stories are told.

We encourage projects that: * generate knowledge and interpretive frameworks that collectively reflect the full breadth and complexity of American art and its histories through the artists represented, voices included, and stories told * engage artists, scholars, and communities who offer a plurality of perspectives and methods, including intercultural and interdisciplinary approaches * model inclusive practices and expansive histories in the field of American art All applicants must hold United States 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status or its international equivalent.

Grants are not made to individuals. An organization may receive only one Collections grant per grant cycle. However, an organization that has submitted a grant proposal may also be listed as a co-organizer for a different grant proposal in the same cycle.

If both inquiries are selected for funding, the organization will receive funding only for the proposal for which it is the primary organizer. If an organization has received a Collections planning grant, it may subsequently apply for Collections implementation support for the same project. Organizations may submit only one grant inquiry for a grant program per grant cycle.

An organization with multiple subsidiaries may submit no more than one grant inquiry per grant program for each of its eligible entities. A fiscal sponsor may also apply on behalf of multiple entities, provided that each entity is organizing a separate project.

Currently, we do not accept requests for: * artwork acquisitions or commissions * equipment (such as computers, projectors, etc.) or capital expenditures * projects that are exclusively online * projects previously opened that are touring to new venues * projects consisting primarily of loans * grant inquiries or proposals previously declined through this program Use the Apply Now buttons to submit a grant inquiry form by the deadline listed on this page.

After reviewing the inquiry, the foundation may invite you to submit a grant proposal. If invited, prospective applicants submit a grant proposal. Formal proposals and all supplementary materials must be written in English.

Grant proposals are reviewed by an external panel made up of curators and arts professionals who reflect a diverse range of backgrounds, perspectives, and approaches. If you have questions about Collections Grants, please email Carrie Haslett, Senior Program Director, Exhibition Grants and Initiatives, at haslett@terraamericanart. org.

Collections grants are often a vital source of support for organizations working to reinterpret their permanent collections of American art. By supporting collections projects, we hope to have a long-term impact on histories of American art and institutional practices.

We encourage practices that: * generate new research that contributes to understandings of the full breadth and complexity of American art and history * encompass a plurality of voices through expansive curatorial methodologies, including intercultural and interdisciplinary perspectives * engage local communities in collaborative program and content creation * broaden access through inclusive stories and design, as well as through multilingual materials when feasible and relevant If you are seeking support for research and planning and/or installation of temporary exhibitions consisting primarily of loans, please see our Exhibition grant program.

Grants to offset research and planning costs for permanent collection reinstallations or temporary exhibitions drawn primarily from an institution’s permanent collection.

Funds may be used only for costs associated with: * short-term positions (e.g. project-specific research fellows or assistants) * pre-exhibition convenings * research activities, including travel * conservation (up to 25 percent of the grant award) * direct staff cost (up to 25 percent of the grant award) * indirect costs (up to 15 percent of the grant award) Grants to offset permanent collection reinstallations or temporary exhibitions drawn primarily from an institution’s permanent collection.

Funds may be used only for costs associated with: * research activities, including travel * artist fees (excluding commissions) * shipping, crating, couriers, insurance, and object loan fees * exhibition design and fabrication, including temporary gallery walls * conservation, framing, and casework (up to 25 percent of the grant award) * programs, convenings, and events * dissemination of research, whether in digital or print form * direct staff cost (up to 25 percent of the grant award) * indirect costs (up to 15 percent of the grant award) ### Foundation Priorities The Terra Foundation supports projects that engage the visual arts of the United States and Indigenous arts of North America, while questioning and broadening understandings of American art and transforming how its stories are told.

We encourage projects that: * generate knowledge and interpretive frameworks that collectively reflect the full breadth and complexity of American art and its histories through the artists represented, voices included, and stories told * engage artists, scholars, and communities who offer a plurality of perspectives and methods, including intercultural and interdisciplinary approaches * model inclusive practices and expansive histories in the field of American art All applicants must hold United States 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status or its international equivalent.

Grants are not made to individuals. An organization may receive only one Collections grant per grant cycle. However, an organization that has submitted a grant proposal may also be listed as a co-organizer for a different grant proposal in the same cycle.

If both inquiries are selected for funding, the organization will receive funding only for the proposal for which it is the primary organizer. If an organization has received a Collections planning grant, it may subsequently apply for Collections implementation support for the same project. Organizations may submit only one grant inquiry for a grant program per grant cycle.

An organization with multiple subsidiaries may submit no more than one grant inquiry per grant program for each of its eligible entities. A fiscal sponsor may also apply on behalf of multiple entities, provided that each entity is organizing a separate project.

Currently, we do not accept requests for: * artwork acquisitions or commissions * equipment (such as computers, projectors, etc.) or capital expenditures * projects that are exclusively online * projects previously opened that are touring to new venues * projects consisting primarily of loans * grant inquiries or proposals previously declined through this program Use the Apply Now buttons to submit a grant inquiry form by the deadline listed on this page.

After reviewing the inquiry, the foundation may invite you to submit a grant proposal. If invited, prospective applicants submit a grant proposal. Formal proposals and all supplementary materials must be written in English.

Grant proposals are reviewed by an external panel made up of curators and arts professionals who reflect a diverse range of backgrounds, perspectives, and approaches. If you have questions about Collections Grants, please email Carrie Haslett, Senior Program Director, Exhibition Grants and Initiatives, at haslett@terraamericanart. org.

The application process asks applicants to clearly and concisely describe their project’s intended impact and outcomes, as well as how grant funds will supplement existing resources to achieve institutional goals. Please refer to the blank forms provided and reach out with any questions.

* Download Blank Grant Inquiry Form * Download Blank Grant Proposal Form For more information on timelines, how to apply, eligibility, and other common questions, please review our Applicant Resources. Current grantees, please visit Grantee Resources for information about creating and managing a grant, as well as crediting guidelines.

* **$75,000**median grant > In its effort to amplify quilt stories, BAMPFA views itself as a co-steward of this important collection, working alongside contemporary quiltmakers, local guilds, historians, and descendent families to interpret the quilts’ significance for audiences today . . .

[and] ultimately helping to reshape what we understand as American Art. Installation view of _Americans in Paris: Artists Working in Postwar France, 1946–1962. _ Photo: David Heald.

Courtesy Grey Art Museum, New York University “How can we gather now? ,” March 31–April 2, 2023, produced by Washington Project for the Arts, co-directed by Asad Raza & Prem Krishnamurthy, symposium attendee Anisa Olufemi asks a question during Stefanie Hessler’s keynote lecture, photo by McKenzie Grant-Gordon courtesy of Washington Project for the Arts. Installation view, _Toward Joy: New Frameworks for American Art.

Brooklyn Museum_, opened October 4, 2024. (Photo: Thomas Barrett)