Art Overview / Curators on the Cusp • Emily Hall Tremaine Exhibition Award • Emily Hall Tremaine Exhibition Research Grant
Exhibition Award / Components • Guidelines & Eligibility • FAQs • Recent Grants
Exhibition Award / Components • Guidelines & Eligibility • FAQs • Recent Grants
Emily Hall Tremaine Exhibition Award Frequently Asked Questions
REQUEST AMOUNT
How much should I request?
The Foundation will consider requests up to $150,000 but no less than $50,000.
Is it better to ask for less than the maximum amount?
It is best to ask for as close to 100% of the exhibition budget as possible with a minimum amount of $50,000 and a maximum amount of $150,000.
CURATOR(S)
How do you define a curator or curatorial team?
Curator: An individual who devotes at least 50% of his/her professional life to creating, organizing or analyzing contemporary art exhibitions
Curatorial Team: A curatorial group comprised of at least one curator (according to definition above) and additional curators and/ or artists
Does the curator need to be on staff with the exhibiting institution?
No. The curator can be on staff at the partnering exhibition space or a guest/independent curator working with the partnering space for this exhibit. Note that staff salaries and benefits are not eligible expenses. Curators on contract can have their fees included in the budget. Additionally, if the curator is not on-staff and the exhibition is selected, a letter of agreement between both the institution and curator(s) will be required.
Who can submit a proposal?
Applications are accepted from established (five or more years old) non-profit exhibition spaces, traditional galleries and museums and are generally completed by that institution’s grants/development team based on the vision and input of the curator or curators of the proposed exhibition.
If I am a curator and applied previously but did not receive the Exhibition Award, can I apply again the following cycle?
Yes. We encourage those applicants who did not receive the Exhibition Award to apply again in the following cycle. However, if you, as a curator, were a recipient of the Exhibition Award you must wait a grant cycle (5 years) before submitting another application.
EXHIBITION CONCEPTS
What is NOT eligible?
Where in my exhibition planning should I be when applying for the Award?
The exhibition planning process should be in the early stages of development. If selected for the Award, the individual and institution must realize the exhibition no sooner than 18-months and be within 36-months after the Exhibition Award is announced.
Can I see previous Exhibition Award recipients?
To view a list of previous Exhibition Award recipients and images from their exhibition, click here.
DEADLINES
What is the frequency of the award?
Applications are accepted on a triennial basis. The next application deadline will be in 2025, then 2028, 2031, etc.
Is there anything that must be mailed?
No. The application process is completely paperless.
Is there an Intent to Apply form?
No.
When will the awards be announced?
All applicants will be notified in May.
When can the exhibition open?
If selected for the Award, the individual and institution must realize the exhibition no sooner than 18-months and be within 36-months after the Exhibition Award is announced. For the 2025 cycle, this would be between January 2027 - January 2029.
When should I ask questions about my application?
Please ask questions as they arise in your application process. Ideally, questions should be asked at least two weeks prior to the deadline. All questions should be sent via email to [email protected].
INSTITUTIONS
What is a partner institution?
The partner institution is the exhibiting space that will first mount the show. This institutions must hold non-profit status in the United States, be in operation for at least five years, have an operating budget of at least $500,000, and be respected in the art field whether as a traditional gallery or museum, or an alternative non-profit venue. While the institution does not need to have a continual exhibition history, it must be able to show exhibitions of significance and an ability to fulfill the requirements mounting an exhibition of this caliber.
How do you define an established non-profit exhibition space?
Exhibition space with non-profit status that has been in operation for at least five years and is respected in the art field whether a traditional gallery or museum, or an alternative non-profit venue and has an operating budget of at least $500,000.
Does an institution that received the Exhibition Award have to wait four years before reapplying?
No. A partnering institution that received the Exhibition Award can serve as partner on an application submitted the following cycle as long as the proposed exhibition and curator are new.
Can an institution submit more than one proposal?
Curators and institutions may only submit one application in each award year. Once a curator receives the award they must wait four years before they can reapply for the award. The partner exhibiting institution is exempt from this restriction. Even after receiving an Exhibition Award, the exhibiting institution may serve as a partner on applications in consecutive cycles.
What materials are required from the institution?
Materials required from the institution include a commitment letter, brief organizational background, the IRS 501(c)(3) tax determination letter and a copy of the exhibiting institution's most recent IRS 990 form. The commitment letter must be from this institution to mount the show no sooner than 18 months after award notification and acknowledging that the institution is the legally bound entity for this award. If the jury selects your application, the Exhibition Award funds will go to the partner institution. If a curator from one organization is submitting the application and another institution will be the exhibition space, the exhibition space is the partner institution.
APPLICATION
Can I see an example application from a previously awarded exhibitions?
No. Every exhibition is different and each year’s jury is composed of different peer curators. Following the example of a previous winner will not necessarily make for a better application. We encourage you to consider the jury review criteria (listed below) and respond to each question in the application with clarity and focus on the curator’s vision.
What is the criteria the jury utilizes in deciding the awards?
For each award cycle, established contemporary art curators are selected to serve as jury panelists to review the applications. The criteria that the jury panel will use to determine the award recipients include:
What is the difference between a sample and actual image in the Visual Documentation?
Select actual image when you plan to use that artwork in the exhibition (with an understanding that this exhibition is still in the planning stages and the images may change.) Sample images are generally provided for commissioned works or artists you intend to have in the exhibition but do not yet know which pieces.
Having a problem downloading templates?
Some security set-ups do not allow you to download the templates from our online portal. Here are the files you will need to apply for the Emily Hall Tremaine Exhibition Award.
PUBLICATION
Is having previously authored a publication required?
All institutions and curators must have in some way published in conjunction with an exhibition. This can be an electronic or printed publication. It can also be co-authored as long as the institution and/or curator has taken an active role in writing the publication.
Do I need to mail in copies of the publication for the application?
No. The online application will allow you to enter the publication name and a link if possible.
BUDGET
Should in-kind be included in the budget?
No. You are welcome to add an additional column for the in-kind, but only true cash income/expenses should be part of the exhibition proposal budget.
Can research be included in the budget?
Yes. Whether the curator be on-staff or contracted for the exhibition, the research for this exhibition is a valid expense.
Can university overhead/indirect costs be included in the budget?
No. The Exhibition Award funding only covers costs directly associated with the proposed exhibition. Staff salaries, benefits, overhead and general operating expenses should not be included in the budget.
When are the Living Artists Honorariums paid to the artists?
A single check will be paid to the institution around the time the exhibition opens. Exhibiting Institutions are responsible for any IRS paperwork in relation to these payments to individual artists.
Should travel plans be included in the application?
No. The award is for a single site. Post-Opportunity funds can but used to off-set travel costs.
Can artists travel expenses to install their work be included in the request amount?
Yes. These should be included in the artist fees section of the budget form.
Can travel expenses for the guest curator to install the exhibition, be at the opening, or be part of a curator’s talk be part of the budget?
Yes. The budget should reflect the costs to the institution.
How much should I request?
The Foundation will consider requests up to $150,000 but no less than $50,000.
Is it better to ask for less than the maximum amount?
It is best to ask for as close to 100% of the exhibition budget as possible with a minimum amount of $50,000 and a maximum amount of $150,000.
CURATOR(S)
How do you define a curator or curatorial team?
Curator: An individual who devotes at least 50% of his/her professional life to creating, organizing or analyzing contemporary art exhibitions
Curatorial Team: A curatorial group comprised of at least one curator (according to definition above) and additional curators and/ or artists
Does the curator need to be on staff with the exhibiting institution?
No. The curator can be on staff at the partnering exhibition space or a guest/independent curator working with the partnering space for this exhibit. Note that staff salaries and benefits are not eligible expenses. Curators on contract can have their fees included in the budget. Additionally, if the curator is not on-staff and the exhibition is selected, a letter of agreement between both the institution and curator(s) will be required.
Who can submit a proposal?
Applications are accepted from established (five or more years old) non-profit exhibition spaces, traditional galleries and museums and are generally completed by that institution’s grants/development team based on the vision and input of the curator or curators of the proposed exhibition.
If I am a curator and applied previously but did not receive the Exhibition Award, can I apply again the following cycle?
Yes. We encourage those applicants who did not receive the Exhibition Award to apply again in the following cycle. However, if you, as a curator, were a recipient of the Exhibition Award you must wait a grant cycle (5 years) before submitting another application.
EXHIBITION CONCEPTS
What is NOT eligible?
- Single artist exhibitions (including exhibitions of multiple artists responding to a single artist's work), retrospectives, re-installations, and artist collective exhibitions
- Exhibitions composed solely of works of graduate students/faculty at a university
- Exhibitions that do not involve contemporary art (post-1950)
- Exhibitions that are past the early stage of development
- Residency programs
- Exhibition spaces based outside of the United States
- Curators who have received the Exhibition Award in the previous four years (Note that the partner exhibiting institution is exempt from this restriction. They may serve as a partner institution on an application submitted at the next Exhibition Award round.)
Where in my exhibition planning should I be when applying for the Award?
The exhibition planning process should be in the early stages of development. If selected for the Award, the individual and institution must realize the exhibition no sooner than 18-months and be within 36-months after the Exhibition Award is announced.
Can I see previous Exhibition Award recipients?
To view a list of previous Exhibition Award recipients and images from their exhibition, click here.
DEADLINES
What is the frequency of the award?
Applications are accepted on a triennial basis. The next application deadline will be in 2025, then 2028, 2031, etc.
Is there anything that must be mailed?
No. The application process is completely paperless.
Is there an Intent to Apply form?
No.
When will the awards be announced?
All applicants will be notified in May.
When can the exhibition open?
If selected for the Award, the individual and institution must realize the exhibition no sooner than 18-months and be within 36-months after the Exhibition Award is announced. For the 2025 cycle, this would be between January 2027 - January 2029.
When should I ask questions about my application?
Please ask questions as they arise in your application process. Ideally, questions should be asked at least two weeks prior to the deadline. All questions should be sent via email to [email protected].
INSTITUTIONS
What is a partner institution?
The partner institution is the exhibiting space that will first mount the show. This institutions must hold non-profit status in the United States, be in operation for at least five years, have an operating budget of at least $500,000, and be respected in the art field whether as a traditional gallery or museum, or an alternative non-profit venue. While the institution does not need to have a continual exhibition history, it must be able to show exhibitions of significance and an ability to fulfill the requirements mounting an exhibition of this caliber.
How do you define an established non-profit exhibition space?
Exhibition space with non-profit status that has been in operation for at least five years and is respected in the art field whether a traditional gallery or museum, or an alternative non-profit venue and has an operating budget of at least $500,000.
Does an institution that received the Exhibition Award have to wait four years before reapplying?
No. A partnering institution that received the Exhibition Award can serve as partner on an application submitted the following cycle as long as the proposed exhibition and curator are new.
Can an institution submit more than one proposal?
Curators and institutions may only submit one application in each award year. Once a curator receives the award they must wait four years before they can reapply for the award. The partner exhibiting institution is exempt from this restriction. Even after receiving an Exhibition Award, the exhibiting institution may serve as a partner on applications in consecutive cycles.
What materials are required from the institution?
Materials required from the institution include a commitment letter, brief organizational background, the IRS 501(c)(3) tax determination letter and a copy of the exhibiting institution's most recent IRS 990 form. The commitment letter must be from this institution to mount the show no sooner than 18 months after award notification and acknowledging that the institution is the legally bound entity for this award. If the jury selects your application, the Exhibition Award funds will go to the partner institution. If a curator from one organization is submitting the application and another institution will be the exhibition space, the exhibition space is the partner institution.
APPLICATION
Can I see an example application from a previously awarded exhibitions?
No. Every exhibition is different and each year’s jury is composed of different peer curators. Following the example of a previous winner will not necessarily make for a better application. We encourage you to consider the jury review criteria (listed below) and respond to each question in the application with clarity and focus on the curator’s vision.
What is the criteria the jury utilizes in deciding the awards?
For each award cycle, established contemporary art curators are selected to serve as jury panelists to review the applications. The criteria that the jury panel will use to determine the award recipients include:
- Intellectual quality of the proposal's premise
- Degree of innovation
- Distinction from other major art exhibitions either planned or mounted within the last 10 years with a similar topic
- Potential for both professional and public impact
- Feasibility of implementation
- Quality and excellence of the works of art to be included
- Capacity of the exhibition space to physically accomplish the vision of the concept
What is the difference between a sample and actual image in the Visual Documentation?
Select actual image when you plan to use that artwork in the exhibition (with an understanding that this exhibition is still in the planning stages and the images may change.) Sample images are generally provided for commissioned works or artists you intend to have in the exhibition but do not yet know which pieces.
Having a problem downloading templates?
Some security set-ups do not allow you to download the templates from our online portal. Here are the files you will need to apply for the Emily Hall Tremaine Exhibition Award.
PUBLICATION
Is having previously authored a publication required?
All institutions and curators must have in some way published in conjunction with an exhibition. This can be an electronic or printed publication. It can also be co-authored as long as the institution and/or curator has taken an active role in writing the publication.
Do I need to mail in copies of the publication for the application?
No. The online application will allow you to enter the publication name and a link if possible.
BUDGET
Should in-kind be included in the budget?
No. You are welcome to add an additional column for the in-kind, but only true cash income/expenses should be part of the exhibition proposal budget.
Can research be included in the budget?
Yes. Whether the curator be on-staff or contracted for the exhibition, the research for this exhibition is a valid expense.
Can university overhead/indirect costs be included in the budget?
No. The Exhibition Award funding only covers costs directly associated with the proposed exhibition. Staff salaries, benefits, overhead and general operating expenses should not be included in the budget.
When are the Living Artists Honorariums paid to the artists?
A single check will be paid to the institution around the time the exhibition opens. Exhibiting Institutions are responsible for any IRS paperwork in relation to these payments to individual artists.
Should travel plans be included in the application?
No. The award is for a single site. Post-Opportunity funds can but used to off-set travel costs.
Can artists travel expenses to install their work be included in the request amount?
Yes. These should be included in the artist fees section of the budget form.
Can travel expenses for the guest curator to install the exhibition, be at the opening, or be part of a curator’s talk be part of the budget?
Yes. The budget should reflect the costs to the institution.