Grant Program Overview

Application Process and Deadlines

Harpo Foundation uses a 2-step application process to review proposals submitted by artists and non-profit institutions and fiscal sponsors who seek support on behalf of artists.

The foundation receives many more applications than it is able to fund. Therefore, as a way to guide applicants through an open process, letters of inquiry must be submitted prior to being invited to submit a full application.

Step One: Letter of Inquiry
• Eligible candidates interested in applying for a grant must first submit a letter-of-inquiry online.
• Letter of Inquiry Deadline: Deadline has closed
• Notification: Applicants who submitted an LOI for the April 5, 2013 deadline will be notified by May 24, 2013 if a full application is requested

Step Two: Full Proposal
• Applicants whose projects best match the foundation’s priorities and interests will be invited to submit a full proposal, notified by the foundation by May 24, 2013
• Applicants must submit full proposals using the foundation’s online application (available May 24, 2013)
• Full proposal deadline: June 14, 2013 (11:59 PM Pacific Standard Time)
• Notification: Grant decisions announced no later than November 1, 2013.

Proposals
The foundation considers proposals that directly support the production of new work by visual artists and/or collaborative teams who are under recognized by the field. This production may happen in the context of an installation, public intervention, residency, or exhibition.

Eligibility

  • As of March 2013, individual artists who are U.S. citizens may submit proposals on their own behalf. Non-U.S. citizens, even permanent residents of the U.S., are ineligible. Artists who are students at the time of the application deadline are ineligible.
  • Tax exempt 501c3 organizations are eligible.
  • Institutions in countries outside of the United States are eligible but if awarded must be prepared to supply the foundation with a legal affidavit written in English qualifying its tax exempt activities and structure.
  • Presenting venues and hosting organizations may only submit one application a year.
  • Fiscal sponsors may submit proposals on behalf of more than one artist a year.

Criteria
In its grantmaking, Harpo Foundation prioritizes projects that advance and cross the boundaries of visual media and artistic disciplines. Proposals are evaluated on the basis of the quality of the artist’s work, the potential to expand aesthetic inquiry, and the strength of its relationship to the foundation’s priority to provide support to visual artists who are under recognized by the field.

Funding
The foundation awards between 10-15 grants annually and funding decisions are made by the Board of Directors. As a general guideline, requests should not exceed $10,000 per year. Grants made to non-profit organizations must be used for direct project costs related to artist honoraria, commissioning fees, production costs, and travel.

All projects funded during the 2013 funding cycle should be completed by September 2014. Projects that are scheduled in 2013 but happen prior to the foundation’s November notification date may be eligible for funding on a retroactive basis.

In rare cases the foundation will fund multiyear projects up to 3 years to provide support to artists whose projects rely on the passage of time as an essential component to its concept and structure. Of interest are durational approaches as they relate to changes in the physical environment, or as they inform an artist’s process. Proposals must demonstrate that the complexity of an artist’s project -its temporal and/or spatial dimensions – is time dependent. For example, a project that cannot be completed independent of a particular time frame because its very structure is based on seasonal shifts or a requirement to visit and document a certain place a number of times to collect information or research how a subject changes over time. The foundation is interested in supporting projects that will allow time and its properties of change to become a part of the project’s cumulative process.

Single year projects that have durational qualities will be considered under this special interest as well.

Questions about the relevance of a project to this multi year funding should be addressed to the Director by emailing Julie Deamer at gro.n1369279694oitad1369279694nuofo1369279694prah@1369279694remae1369279694dj1369279694