Applications for Funding | Gifts and Bequests
Applications for Funding
The Art Fund can support UK public museums, galleries, historic houses, libraries and archives to help with the purchase of works of art and objects for their permanent collections. Please refer to our eligibility criteria to ensure your institution is eligible for funding.
Our funding ranges from a few hundred pounds to hundreds of thousands of pounds. We usually fund part of the cost of an acquisition, and expect applicants to make a contribution from their own resources and other resources.
Receiving an Art Fund grant often helps unlock other sources of funding, and so we also expect all applicants to explore the possibility of applying to all appropriate sources of public funding available. However, in certain cases we may be willing to meet the total cost of the acquisition.
The Art Fund offers different funding schemes depending on the details of the acquisition and the level of grant required. Please note that applications are considered on a case by case basis and there is no limit to the number of applications a single collection or institution can make.
We also run strategic funding initiatives, such as Art Fund International and Art Fund Collect, which are created with an aim to address specific collecting needs within the museum sector.
The Art Fund expects all potential applicants to call the Grants office to discuss potential acquisitions before beginning the application process.
For all applications you will be required to complete an application form, asking that you provide:
- A detailed description of the object
- Information on the artist/maker (if applicable)
- Information regarding condition and provenance
- A digital image of the work (maximum 2MB file size)
- An independent valuation supplied by an appropriate art dealer or auction house
- An explanation of the work's significance to your collection and how you would use and display it
- A description of other funding you are seeking, and the amount you would like from the Art Fund. We also expect you to explain your reasons for not approaching other relevant funding bodies (if applicable).
If you are a new applicant, we also recommend that you read the Art Fund's Grant Conditions, with which you will have to comply should you receive a grant.
All grant decisions are made by the Trustees of the Art Fund, and all works subject to a grant application will be viewed by Trustees or on their behalf by an appointed representative prior to a grant decision being made.
Please note that competition for our funds is fierce, and we are not able to support all the applications we receive.
Gifts and Bequests
The Art Fund also receives works of art given or bequeathed by our supporters for presentation to public collections. We welcome all donations of works of museum quality and since 1903 have presented over 60,400 such items to museums. In order to identify the most suitable public collection for each work, we need to be kept up to date on your collecting priorities – please do email these to Sophie Harrison, our Gifts, Bequests and Legacies Manager.
Please do also consider recommending to potential donors that they should channel their gift through the Art Fund. Not only can we help provide reassurance for the donor about the long-term future of the work (through our terms and conditions), we can also help to promote the gift amongst our local and national membership, in our annual Review, and (in the case of major gifts) through the press.
I was very pleased to recommend the Art Fund to two recent donors as a suitable channel for their gifts to Gallery Oldham. Both I and the donors can be confident that art works received via the Art Fund will remain in the public domain in the long term. The Art Fund is also extremely helpful and pro-active in publicising the gifts and in providing well-deserved acknowledgement for the generosity of the donors.
Stephen Whittle, Museum Manager at Gallery Oldham
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