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The 2009 Exhibition & Planning Grant Guidelines are available
in both HTML and PDF formats. Please select from the links below.
Please Note: To view or fill-out the PDF document,
you'll need the free Acrobat Reader available here.
New This Year
New LOI and Application Deadlines
Letters of Intent are due Friday, November 14, 2008.
Applications are due Friday, February 13, 2009.
Name Change
As of October 1, 2008, the Philadelphia Center for Arts and Heritage has become The Pew Center for Arts and Heritage.
Digital Application
By using Adobe Acrobat Reader 9, you can save the application form—with your responses—and return to it as needed. This application will be both e-mailed to PEI and sent in hard copy with original signature. Adobe Acrobat Reader 9 is a free download available at www.adobe.com. Images will also be submitted online, as detailed in the guidelines. |
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Background
Philadelphia Exhibitions Initiative is one of seven Initiatives including Dance Advance, Heritage Philadelphia Program, Pew Fellowships in the Arts, Philadelphia Music Project, Philadelphia Theatre Initiative, and the Philadelphia Cultural Management Initiative that are located at The Pew Center for Arts and Heritage (Center). These Initiatives are funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts (www.pewtrusts.org) and administered by the University of the Arts (www.uarts.edu).
The Initiatives are part of Pew’s three-part strategy designed to sustain the richness and diversity of the region’s artists and cultural groups. One of the hallmarks of Pew’s cultural work in the Philadelphia region is its emphasis on recognizing and supporting artistic excellence and challenging organizations to strengthen their programmatic, marketing, management and, financial capacities. The discipline-specific,
artistic Initiatives provide fellowships and project grants to individual artists and organizations and support more than 800 performances in dance, music and theatre, history and visual arts exhibitions and programs for audiences in Southeastern Pennsylvania annually. In addition to the artistic Initiatives the strategy includes The Philadelphia Cultural Leadership Program (PCLP), which provides general operating funds to organizations that demonstrate managerial excellence and a strong sense of artistic mission. PCLP is complemented by the Philadelphia Cultural Management Initiative, which provides resources to help
organizations attain and maintain those standards.
Pew also supports efforts to increase audience participation and public support for the arts. The next iteration of the Campaign for Culture, Engage 2020, a program of the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance (www.philaculture.org), aims to more effectively market the region’s artistic and
cultural events and double audience participation by the year 2020. Likewise, the Cultural Data Project (www.culturaldata.org) was created to strengthen arts and culture by documenting and disseminating information on the sector. In addition to establishing a streamlined application process for arts and culture organizations, the project provides access to reliable data about the cultural
sector to enhance both individual organizational capacity as well as the overall effectiveness of the nonprofit cultural community.
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Description of the Initiative
The Philadelphia Exhibitions Initiative (PEI) was established in 1997 to stimulate artistic development
and excellence in the region’s visual arts community. PEI supports public visual arts exhibitions and
accompanying publications of high artistic caliber and cultural significance. PEI awards grants of up to
$250,000 for exhibitions implementation and up to $25,000 for exhibitions planning to applicants
meeting the program’s eligibility requirements, goals, and objectives. Philadelphia Exhibitions Initiative
grants are awarded annually on a competitive basis and are selected by a panel of internationally
recognized visual arts professionals.
The Philadelphia Exhibitions Initiative provides professional development opportunities through curatorial
roundtables and symposia that address important issues in the field, travel grants for curatorial research
and development, and access to its research library of more than 1,600 volumes. PEI also publishes
critical writing on curatorial practice as a service to the community and the field, including proceedings
from the symposium Curating Now: Imaginative Practice/Public Responsibility and an anthology entitled
Questions of Practice: What Makes a Great Exhibition? Between 1997 and 2008, the Philadelphia Exhibitions Initiative funded 56 exhibition grants and 27 planning
grants, investing more than $8 million in bringing visual arts exhibitions to the region and the field.
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Program
Goals and Priorities
The Philadelphia Exhibitions Initiative’s primary goal, as with the other artistic initiatives of the Trusts,
is to enhance the cultural life of the community; and to do so by addressing the following priorities:
To augment and enrich programmatic quality
PEI seeks to challenge its applicants to explore and clarify their artistic vision as they search for
thoughtfully considered and productive ways to raise and enhance the overall artistic quality of
their exhibitions. Quality in this context refers to the substance and significance of an exhibition’s
subject and/or theme, artworks, curatorial vision, and its accompanying publications, as well as
the appropriateness and effectiveness of the exhibition’s physical presentation, and its relevance to
the organization’s mission. PEI also seeks to be responsive to worthwhile projects that challenge
the bounds of conventional exhibition methodology and structure, and encourages innovative
thinking on the part of applicants with respect to exhibition practice.
To reward applicants that re-examine their programmatic assumptions
In supporting applicants’ core missions as they are interpreted and articulated through exhibitions, PEI
also seeks to present them with an impetus to stretch the conceptual boundaries of their understanding
of that mission. PEI represents an opportunity for regional practitioners at many levels to concentrate on
and advance their artistic missions within the context of the highest standards of practice in the field at
large. In this context, a key question for organizations to ask themselves is “How might a reconsidered
and/or expanded interpretation of our artistic mission be embodied in an exhibition that does not merely
represent institutional business as usual?” PEI also seeks to support emerging and established independent
practitioners with a compelling curatorial vision and record of achievement who also wish to challenge
their working assumptions and further develop their work through projects of increased conceptual
scope and reach.
To strengthen artistic capacity
PEI seeks to assist applicants to arrive at a strengthened rather than depleted position upon the funded
project’s conclusion. While such a strengthened position is best defined by individual applicants, it might
encompass, but not be limited to, the following areas: the production of substantive publications; the
commissioning of new works; the opportunity to work with heretofore inaccessible artists and colleagues
nationally and/or internationally; innovative use of collections; more effective marketing initiatives;
reconnecting with or building audiences; and access to new audiences.
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Eligibility for
Awards
Organizations whose primary mission includes the presentation of the visual arts through public
exhibitions are eligible for grants from this program. Other types of organizations who wish to undertake
a visual arts project relevant to their mission are also eligible, provided they meet the program’s other
eligibility criteria.
Independent curators who apply as individuals (not in conjunction with an organizational sponsor),
and who meet the stated requirements listed below are also eligible to apply directly for PEI support.
Additional Eligibility Criteria Include:
Organizations
- Organizations must be located in the five-county Philadelphia area (Philadelphia, Bucks, Chester,
Delaware, and Montgomery), and be classified as tax exempt organizations.
- Organizations must have been in operation for at least two years of full programming.
- Organizations must employ professional staff with appropriate expertise and have at least one
full-time professional staff person, or a full-time designated project director with fiscal and
administrative responsibility for the project.
- There is no minimum operating budget requirement if the applicant meets all other necessary criteria.
However, there are restrictions on the grant request amount for independent curators and for organizations
with budgets below $125,000. See page 6 for further information on allowed maximum requests.
- Prior PEI grantees must have completed all reporting requirements on PEI-funded projects
before re-application.
- Organizations are ineligible if they are managed by current employees of The Pew Center for Arts
and Heritage or The Pew Charitable Trusts; members of such employees’ households; or, people closely
related to such employees through blood, marriage, or domestic partnership.
Independent Curators
- Independent curators must have resided in the five-county area served by PEI for at least two
continuous years at the time of application.
- Independent curators must have conceptualized and produced five professional, public exhibitions
within the last three years at viable, verifiable venues. None of these exhibitions can be of student work
or have been organized when the curator was a student, either at a graduate or undergraduate level.
- Independent curators can not be employed as a full-time curator at an arts organization in the
five-county area.
- Applicants must have a signed commitment from the proposed exhibition venue and other major
collaborators at the time of application.
- Graduate or undergraduate university and college students are NOT eligible to apply to PEI.
- Independent curators are ineligible if they are current employees of The Pew Center for Arts and
Heritage or The Pew Charitable Trusts; members of such employees’ households, or, people closely
related to such employees through blood, marriage, or domestic partnership.
Projects
Eligible for Funding
Public presentations of works of visual art through temporary exhibitions, supported, as appropriate,
by accompanying publications and documentation, are eligible for funding. These presentations may
include works of art from all periods and all cultures in all visual arts media.
Where appropriate, collaborations between organizations and artists are encouraged, as artists and their
creativity can occupy a vital place in an organization’s artistic development. PEI pays particular attention
to adequate remuneration to artists for their services.
PEI wishes to encourage fresh curatorial viewpoints in our region as well as more organizational interaction
with the field at large. Therefore, we will support guest-curator, or curator-in-residence projects as a
means to bring new curatorial energies and viewpoints to our community, as well as exhibitions organized
with collaborating partners from outside the region that include their presentation at multiple venues,
thus increasing these projects’ visibility, impact, and audience.
Projects may be newly devised in response to PEI, or organizations can apply to augment an already
scheduled exhibition.
Applicants may also apply for support to present significant exhibitions organized elsewhere
(traveling shows) that would not otherwise come to this region. Those exhibitions must also meet PEI’s goals and priorities.
PEI’s primary emphasis rests on supporting exhibitions and accompanying publications of high artistic
merit and significant impact that enhance the cultural life of the region.
PEI will be responsive to and remain flexible enough to consider any worthwhile project that falls within
its purview and meets its general criteria.
Types of Projects eligible for support may include but are not limited to:
- Exhibitions of borrowed/loaned works, including one-person and thematic shows
- Presentation/reinterpretation of collections
- Creation of new works for an exhibition
- Temporary exhibitions in non-traditional venues
- Exhibition series
- Collaborative institutional exhibitions (consortium projects)
- Guest curator or curator-in-residence projects
- Exhibition exchanges
- Touring exhibitions
Eligible Costs
Eligible costs covered by the PEI grants may include:
- Research, development, and planning costs
- Fees for traveling exhibitions
- Artists’ and curators’ travel with per diem
- Publications and interpretive material, including printed and electronic media
- Related artists’, curators’, designers’, and writers’ fees, including curator-in-residence fees. Independent curators applying individually may include a fee as a project director based on
a reasonable percentage of the exhibition’s total costs.
- Costs of catalogue distribution
- Services of outside specialists (e.g., guest curators applying with organizational sponsors,
exhibition designers)
- Commissions and accompanying artists’ residencies
- Conservation of artwork for purposes of presentation in the project at hand
- Costs related to installation, travel and touring of exhibitions including expenses related to
loans of artwork, exhibition fabrication, and preparation costs for exhibition and travel
- Shipping
- Insurance
- Educational programming (e.g. lectures, symposia) in conjunction with the show including those
programs that might engage the public and link artists and artworks with audiences in creative ways
- Marketing/advertising/public relations costs directly related to project
- Costs associated with presentation of art in non-traditional venues (e.g., space rental,
special space preparation, special security needs)
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Ineligible
Costs
- Capital improvements
- Staff salaries and benefits, and other general operating costs
- Permanent equipment purchases not directly integral to the project
- Acquisition of artworks for permanent collections
- Costs of receptions or other social activities
- Exhibitions of single, privately owned collections
- Exhibition of works by the applicant organization’s staff, board members, faculty, or trustees
- Endowment
- Debt reduction
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Grant
Terms
PEI grants are awarded based on what is required to conceptualize, plan, and produce an exhibition and
accompanying publication(s). Exhibition implementation grants may cover a period of support of up to
three years from notification; planning grants cover a period of one year, and all projects must be completed
within that timeframe. Applicants should allow sufficient time to plan, execute, and close out their project.
Applicants may apply for only one project per year (for either implementation or planning). However,
lead applicants of a collaborative project may also submit an individual application in the same cycle.
Applicants awarded a specific type of grant (either implementation or planning) in one round may not
reapply for that same kind of grant until they have completed their funded project. Grants will be paid
out over the duration of a project according to the terms of awardees’ grant contracts.
As of the 2009 granting cycle, maximum grant requests will be designated as follows:
- Organizations with an operating budget of more than $1 million may apply for exhibition implementation
support of up to $250,000 or planning support of up to $25,000.
- Organizations with an operating budget of more than $125,000 may apply for exhibition implementation
support of up to $200,000 or planning support of up to $25,000.
- Organizations with an operating budget under $125,000 may apply for exhibition implementation
support of up to $30,000 or planning support of up to $7,500.
- Independent curators who are not applying with an organizational sponsor may apply for exhibition
implementation support of up to $20,000 or planning support of up to $5,000.
Applicants are encouraged to apply for realistic project dollars in terms of their overall resources, size
of facility, staff, track record, audiences reached, and the nature of the project itself. Project grants are
allocated with regard to the applicant’s overall capacity, financial and otherwise, to produce projects
meriting the requested support.
Applicants are strongly encouraged to discuss their grant request amounts with PEI’s Director.
One-to-one matching funds are not required. However, project budgets must be detailed as described in
the application forms and clearly indicate the total project costs, how the grant funds will be used, where
other funds, if needed, will come from, and the degree of commitment of any additional funders.
PEI funded projects to date are available here.
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Review
Process and Criteria
Applications are reviewed and the exhibition awards are determined by a panel of arts professionals
(curators, museum directors, artists, art historians, visual arts organization directors, etc.), selected for
their breadth and expertise, and drawn from relevant areas of the field, who meet annually. The panel
members come from outside the Philadelphia area to ensure programmatic integrity and minimize
conflicts of interest. The overall panel changes from year to year, however, individual panelists may
serve in more than one cycle. A list of prior panelists is available here.
The following criteria are used to evaluate PEI Exhibition proposals:
Artistic merit and significance of the project, as assessed by the quality of the proposed exhibition
concept, artist(s) and/or art works involved in the project; curator’s experience and qualifications; quality
of the project’s interpretation of or contribution to the applicant’s overall organizational mission as well
as its responsiveness in addressing PEI’s goals; quality of the accompanying publications, both in terms of
content and format; involvement and appropriate reimbursement of artists; contribution of the project
to the field and the region.
Ability to carry out the project/planning; historic quality and creativity of the applicant’s exhibition
record and other relevant past programming (key indicator); appropriateness of the project under review
to the applicant’s mission and audiences; degree of the participants’ commitment; qualifications of
professional staff and other participants; appropriateness of the facilities; appropriateness of the project
budget; stability and fiscal responsibility of the organization; proven ability to manage other curatorial
projects; evidence of effective collaboration among relevant participants, if appropriate; completeness
and clarity of application.
Impact of project/public benefit/access, including demonstrable ability to go beyond business as usual,
ability to strengthen institutional capacity or develop curatorial capacity; usefulness of related publications;
educational and outreach activities; the potential of the project to contribute works of artistic value to
the region and to enhance the cultural life of the region; the potential of the proposed project to identify,
reach and serve its targeted audiences; potential of project to increase constituencies and build new
audiences; well-considered and appropriate marketing activities with potential to raise project awareness,
as well as reach targeted audience(s) and attract visitors to the project.
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Conditions of
Awards
Applicants awarded grants must:
- Execute the project within the period indicated in the grant application, and comply with all
contract terms.
- Credit the Philadelphia Exhibitions Initiative in all publications and press releases associated with the
sponsored product. The credit line should read: This project has been supported by The Pew Center
for Arts and Heritage through the Philadelphia Exhibitions Initiative.
- Supply the Philadelphia Exhibitions Initiative for its archives with 25 copies of each publication
produced in conjunction with the sponsored project and a set of 20-30 images (.JPEG format at 72dpi)
on CD-ROM comprehensively documenting the exhibition as installed.
- Supply interim and final narrative and budget reports on the schedule outlined in the grantee’s
contract as well as all press reviews, and other relevant material as requested by PEI.
- Comply with any and all other terms of the grant contract, including insurance requirements.
Factors That Contribute
to a Successful Proposal
- Conceptual scope and innovation of project. Successful applications address their subjects in fresh
and original ways, offering new perspectives on artists and/or the artistic and socio-cultural issues
underlying their work.
- Logistical scope and ambition of project. Successful applications can involve logistically and conceptually
complex projects that challenge applicants to reach a new level of programmatic capability.
- Appropriate project scale. Successful applications need not necessarily involve large-scale projects.
Quality, innovation, and imagination can also be embodied in small, but dynamic and thoughtfully
considered projects. Projects should be appropriate to the applicant’s size, capacity, and mission,
and should represent a ‘stretch’ within that context.
- Working with new, heretofore inaccessible emerging and mature artists as well as scholars/experts. Successful applications take advantage of PEI’s structure to work with guest curators and/or artists of
national/international reputation, as well as similarly distinguished essayists and speakers.
- Commissioning new work. Successful applications often involve supporting the production of
new work by participating artists.
- Stretching, taking/tolerating risk, as opposed to doing business as usual. Successful applications
usually involve projects that represent a demonstrable stretch for the applicant in scale, scope, and/or
concept, but in raising the bar so high, may also pose an inherently greater risk of failure.
- Identifying and reaching targeted and new audiences; developing extensive, project-specific ancillary
and educational programming. Successful applications have comprehensively thought-out programming
that responds in a creative and relevant manner to the needs of the project’s anticipated audiences.
- The production of substantial and innovative publications that include original scholarship. Successful
applications generate a greater number of, or more comprehensive publications, usually with multiple
essays especially commissioned for the show that address the topic under consideration from a variety
of points of view. Often catalogues are also innovative in format and/or design.
- Working collaboratively with other partners on the exhibition and/or its ancillary programs. Successful applications often take advantage of area resources to expand and enrich the scope and
impact of their projects.
- More extensive, creative, and broader-based marketing efforts. Successful applications consider
every aspect of the project as an opportunity to raise project awareness and attract visitors and include
consideration of the dissemination of press releases, announcements and catalogues, and educational
programming, as well as advertising in their efforts to raise project visibility.
- Evidence of interest from the field. While not all successful applications contain a travel component
(certain projects, e.g., are not appropriate for touring), funded projects often travel to venues outside
the region, or are noted in national/international publications, and their publications are often
available through international book retailers and distributors.
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PEI Summary Report of Pennsylvania Cultural Data Project (PACDP) Profile
The Philadelphia Exhibitions Initiative and the other artistic initiatives of the The Pew Charitable Trusts,
along with public and private funders throughout the state of Pennsylvania, now require applicants to
complete a Cultural Data Profile through the Pennsylvania Cultural Data Project Web site (www.pacdp.org).
Many of you may have already completed the PACDP profile in the past year. Information for the Cultural
Data Profile is organized by fiscal year-end and data is only entered for completed fiscal years for which
an approved financial audit or review exists. Organizations that are not audited or reviewed will enter
data based on approved year-end financial statements. If you do not have an approved audit, review, or
financial statements since your last Data Profile, you do not need to create a new profile. Upon completion
of the Cultural Data profile, applicants should go to “Funder Reports” section of the PACDP Web site and
print the predefined The Philadelphia Exhibitions Initiative report. Relevant information from the applicants’
Cultural Data Profile will automatically be imported into the The Philadelphia Exhibitions Initiative report.
One copy of the report must be attached to the full The Philadelphia Exhibitions Initiative application
and submitted by Friday, February 13, 2009.
Applicants should direct questions concerning the Cultural Data profile to
PACDP Help Desk:
Toll Free: (866) 21-PACDP or (866) 217-2237
E-mail: help@pacdp.org
The PACDP Help Desk is available Monday–Friday from 9:00am–5:00pm.
PACDP Web site: www.pacdp.org
All other questions concerning the Philadelphia Exhibitions Initiative application
should be directed to PEI staff.
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General Application Instructions
Please read and follow instructions carefully. Applicants are strongly encouraged to schedule
an appointment with PEI program staff to discuss their projects and confirm their eligibility for support
on the phone or in person.
Letter of Intent
A letter of intent to apply is required for all applicants. Letters should be no more than one page,
and should briefly outline your projected proposal and grant amount request. Letters of intent are due
in The Pew Center for Arts and Heritage by 5 p.m. on Friday, November 14, 2008. We will not accept late
submissions or submissions by e-mail.
Letters of Intent must be received (by post or hand-delivered) at:
Philadelphia Exhibitions Initiative
The Pew Center for Arts and Heritage
1608 Walnut Street, 18th Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19103
Deadline for Application
Applications must be received in The Pew Center for Arts and Heritage by 5 p.m. on Friday, February 13, 2009.
The application form must be e-mailed and digital images submitted online by the deadline.
A hard copy of the completed application with original signatures and support materials must also
be received in the office (by post or hand-delivered) by the deadline.
Applications will be acknowledged within two weeks of receipt. Applicants will be informed of decisions
regarding awards by letter by May 1, 2009, with funded projects to begin no earlier than June 1, 2009
of that year. Information on the funded projects and the panel will be included in that letter.
Specific Requirements for ALL Applications
- Applications must be filled out directly onto the PDF form available at www.philexin.org/apply.html.
- The completed PDF application must be e-mailed to pei@pcah.us.
- Work and site sample images must be submitted online.
- A signed copy of the application form must be mailed in with your support materials.
- Do not staple any submitted materials.
- Use only binder clips and paper clips.
- Use no smaller than 10-point type on all submitted materials.
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Exhibition Grants - Application Guidelines
APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS FOR INDEPENDENT CURATORS
All applicants must submit:
- A printout of your completed PDF application with original signature and support material,
in addition to your e-mail submission.
All independent curators must submit two printed copies of the following support material:
- If commissioning new works, include a description of the work to be produced, as far as known.
- If you plan to circulate this exhibition, please include a list of participating institutions, their degree
of commitment, and the tour dates as known. Explain why it is important for this project to travel.
State the anticipated revenue from the tour and whether it will be used to offset project costs.
- A signed letter of commitment from the venue in which the exhibition will be presented.
- Resumes of all relevant project personnel, condensed into one-page narrative summaries.
(More extensive resumes may also be submitted as supplementary material.)
- Letters of commitment from key project personnel including guest curators, writers, catalogue
contributors, exhibition designers, and artists commissioned to make new work.
- A list of exhibitions conceived and organized over the last two years in reverse chronological order.
Include information on participating artists, venues, major collaborators, any publications produced,
any ancillary programs organized, and any funding procured for the exhibitions.
- A working checklist of artworks to be included in the exhibition for which you are requesting support.
Include artist’s name, title of work, date, medium, size, lender, and degree of commitment of lender.
Note whether works have been secured for loan or are representative samples.
- A timetable for the realization of the project.
- If submitting supplementary work samples on DVD or audio CD, numbered typescripts.
Typescripts must provide the following information:
- applicant’s name
- title of exhibition
- venue, name of artist
- title of work
- date
- dimensions
- medium
- duration
- other relevant information as necessary (e.g. brief descriptions)
All independent curators must submit one printed copy of the following support material:
- A description of measures taken to protect the works of art in the exhibition. Include information
on security, fire protection, and climate control systems.
- A brief description of the qualifications of the personnel supervising, handling, packing,
and installing the works.
- Three or four examples of publications including exhibition ephemera produced in conjunction with
exhibitions organized, as available.
- Images as detailed in Submitting Work Samples.
If awarded a grant, independent curators must secure liability insurance in
accordance with PEI’s exhibition contract.
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APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS FOR ORGANIZATIONS
All applicants must submit:
- A printout of your completed PDF application with original signature and support material,
in addition to your e-mail submission.
All organizations must submit two printed copies of the following support material:
- The Pennsylvania Cultural Data Project (PACDP) profile (see page 9) for your institution.
- If commissioning new works, include a description of the work to be produced, as far as known.
- If this is a collaborative institutional project (consortium), the project’s lead member must check the
appropriate box and provide the requested information on the cover page of the application, complete
and submit the application, and have all other members of the consortium submit a letter on its own
letterhead providing the following information:
- Organization name, address, contact, day and evening phone numbers, and fax number.
- Organization’s total expenses for last fiscal year.
- Three-to-four-line mission statement.
- Brief description of organization’s involvement in planning and executing the proposed project,
including its programming, management, and financial responsibilities. (Be specific.)
- Signature of consortium member’s director, dated and countersigned and dated by lead
applicant’s director.
- Resumes of all relevant project personnel, condensed into one-page narrative summaries.
(More extensive resumes may also be submitted as supplementary material.)
- Letters of commitment from key project personnel including guest curators, writers, catalogue
contributors, exhibition designers, and artists commissioned to make new work.
- A representative list in reverse chronological order (two pages maximum) of exhibitions presented by
your organization in the last two years. This list should provide an overview of your program and exemplify
your ability to carry out the project. Include titles of shows, dates, curator(s), and a brief description.
- A working checklist of artworks to be included in the exhibition for which you are requesting support.
Include artist’s name, title of work, date, medium, size, lender, and degree of commitment of lender.
Note whether works have been secured for loan or are representative samples. If commissioning new
work(s), provide instead a description as far as known of the work to be produced.
- A timetable for the realization of the project.
- If submitting supplementary work samples on DVD or audio CD, numbered typescripts.
Typescripts must provide the following information:
- applicant’s name
- title of exhibition
- venue, name of artist
- title of work
- date
- dimensions
- medium
- other relevant information as necessary (e.g. brief descriptions)
All organizations must submit one printed copy of the following support material:
- If your project involves the presentation/reinterpretation of a collection, include a detailed
exhibition plan as far as known, including who will design the exhibition and their qualifications.
- If this project involves a guest curator or a curator-in-residence, provide an explanation of the process and reason for the curator’s selection and the nature of his or her interaction with the institution over the course of the project. Explain how your organization will benefit from working with this curator at this time.
- If you plan to circulate this exhibition, please include a list of participating institutions, their degree of commitment, and the tour dates as known. Explain why it is important for this project to travel.
State the anticipated revenue from the tour and whether it will be used to offset project costs.
- A description of measures taken to protect the works of art in the exhibition. Include information on security, fire protection, and climate control systems.
- A brief description of the qualifications of the personnel supervising, handling, packing, and installing the works.
- Your organization’s most recent audited financial statement.
- A list of your organization’s professional staff and board members.
- IRS determination letter for tax-exempt status.
- Three or four examples of appropriate publications produced by your organization.
- Images as detailed in Submitting Work Samples.
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Planning Grants - Application Guidelines
PEI Exhibition Planning Grants What are they?
These are grants for applicants to research, plan, and develop exhibitions, or to develop their curatorial
and programmatic capacity. These grants may also be utilized for curatorial consultation in conjunction
with planning. These grants are up to $25,000 each (see maximum request allowances on page 6),
and must be expended within one year of receipt of funds. Planning grants are adjudicated during the
annual panel meeting, but separately from exhibition grants.
What are the benefits?
The goal of these grants is ultimately to assist applicants in becoming more competitive within PEI’s
regular panel process. Consultation and planning grants allow applicants to take advantage of curatorial
expertise, to undertake an extensive and thorough planning period, and to consider a project that will
move their artistic mission forward while furthering its essential aims.
Who is eligible?
Applicants who meet PEI’s general eligibility criteria for applications as outlined on page 3 and who
present public exhibitions of visual arts. An applicant may not apply for both a planning grant and an
exhibition grant in the same cycle. If you have questions about your eligibility or planning project,
please call PEI.
Allowable costs:
The awards may be used to cover reasonable costs associated with consultation, and planning activities.
These include travel and per diem expenses, honoraria for consultants, telephone, initial audience
evaluations, special research, or other appropriate expenses incurred as part of the consultation and
planning process. Travel costs can cover both visits to other sites for consultation with advisers and
bringing in outside consultants.
The following criteria are used to evaluate PEI Planning proposals:
Artistic quality, as assessed by the artistic substance and significance of project concept under
development; quality, qualifications, and appropriateness of curator and/or other consultants;
qualifications of other project staff to carry out proposed tasks.
Ability to realize the project/Quality of project planning; activities proposed are well conceived
and justified for advancing project in early stages of development, plan is realistic and clearly outlined;
budget is realistic and clearly outlined, applicant has a history of prior successful projects.
Impact of project; project will assist applicants in developing exhibition proposals that will move
applicants forward in their artistic development, be responsive to PEI’s goals and priorities, and
competitive within its applicant pool.
Receipt of this PEI planning award does not guarantee future PEI funding.
APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS FOR INDEPENDENT CURATORS
All applicants must submit:
- A printout of your completed PDF application with original signature and support material,
in addition to your e-mail submission.
All independent curators must submit two printed copies of the following support material:
- Resumes of all relevant project personnel, condensed into one-page narrative summaries.
(More extensive resumes may also be submitted as supplementary material.)
- Letters of commitment from key project personnel including guest curators, writers, catalogue
contributors, exhibition designers, and artists commissioned to make new work.
- A list of exhibitions conceived and organized over the last two years in reverse chronological order.
Include information on participating artists, venues, major collaborators, any publications produced,
any ancillary programs organized, and any funding procured for the exhibitions.
- A timetable for the realization of the project.
- If submitting supplementary work samples on DVD or audio CD, numbered typescripts. Typescripts must provide the following information:
- applicant’s name
- title of exhibition
- venue, name of artist
- title of work
- date
- dimensions
- medium
- duration
- other relevant information as necessary (e.g. brief descriptions)
All independent curators must submit one printed copy of the following support material:
- Two examples of publications including exhibition ephemera produced in conjunction with
exhibitions organized, as available.
- Images as detailed in Submitting Work Samples.
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APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS FOR ORGANIZATIONS
All applicants must submit:
- A printout of your completed PDF application with original signature and support material,
in addition to your e-mail submission.
All organizations must submit two copies of each of the following:
- Resumes of all relevant project personnel, condensed into one-page narrative summaries.
(More extensive resumes may also be submitted as supplementary material.)
- Letters of commitment from key project personnel including guest curators, writers, catalogue
contributors, exhibition designers, and artists commissioned to make new work.
- A representative list in reverse chronological order (two pages maximum) of exhibitions presented by
your organization in the last two years. This list should provide an overview of your program and exemplify
your ability to carry out the project. Include titles of shows, dates, curator(s), and a brief description.
- A timetable for the realization of the project.
- If submitting supplementary work samples on DVD or audio CD, numbered typescripts. Typescripts must provide the following information:
- applicant’s name
- title of exhibition
- venue, name of artist
- title of work
- date
- dimensions
- medium
- duration
- other relevant information as necessary (e.g. brief descriptions)
- The Pennsylvania Cultural Data Project (PACDP) profile for your institution.
All organizations must submit one copy of the following:
- Your organization’s most recent audited financial statement.
- A list of your organization’s professional staff and board members.
- IRS determination letter for tax-exempt status.
- Two examples of appropriate publications produced by your organization,
and two examples of appropriate publications by the guest curator, where relevant.
- Images as detailed in Submitting Work Samples.
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Instructions for Submitting Work Samples
New this Year:
All applicants must submit images online. If you plan to submit a full application,
PEI staff will create an online account for you and send instructions on uploading your images.
Exhibition Grant Applicants are required to submit:
- 8 images of previous exhibition installations marked as “site” samples. For independent curators,
these 8 images must consist of installation images of representative, previously organized exhibitions.
- At least 20 but no more than 28 images relating to the exhibition under review, marked
as “work” samples.
Planning Grant Applicants are required to submit:
- 8-16 images related to the project.
Instructions for Submitting Optional Supplementary Material:
For some applications, additional supplementary material may be necessary. All supplementary
material must be accompanied by typescripts explaining how the samples relate to the project under
consideration and indicating the title and artist(s) for each selection, length of selection, and other
necessary technical and/or credit information.Guidelines for DVDs and Audio CDs:
- Label each disc with the following information: applicant’s name, project title, artist(s)’ name,
title(s) of work, date, length, sound or silent (if DVD).
- You may submit up to five selections. During the panel meeting we will show a maximum of
15 minutes total from selections submitted.
Applicants with special equipment needs and/or using advanced technologies should call PEI before
preparing a submission to make sure PEI has appropriate equipment. While the Philadelphia Exhibitions Initiative will take every care to handle work samples properly,
we cannot be responsible for any loss or damage. Support materials remain with the program for
archival purposes. If you wish your discs and/or other work samples to be returned, please provide
a stamped, self-addressed envelope.
Future Program Modifications
The Philadelphia Exhibitions Initiative reserves the right to modify this program at any time in the
future in response to experience gained from its operation, and input from applicants and recipients,
external evaluations, and the community.
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About The Center/Pew/UARTS
About The Pew Center for Arts and Heritage
The Pew Center for Arts and Heritage (Center), formerly the Philadelphia Center for Arts and Heritage, is dedicated to stimulating a vibrant cultural community within the region. Established in November 2005, the Center houses seven Initiatives of The Pew Charitable Trusts: Dance Advance, Heritage Philadelphia Program, Pew Fellowships in the Arts, Philadelphia Cultural Management Initiative, Philadelphia Exhibitions Initiative, Philadelphia Music Project and Philadelphia Theatre Initiative. The Initiatives support artists and arts and heritage organizations in the five-county, Southeastern Pennsylvania region whose work is distinguished by excellence, imagination and creative courage. The Pew Center for Arts and Heritage is funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts and is administered by The University of the Arts. For more information, visit www.pcah.us.
About The Pew Charitable Trusts
The Pew Charitable Trusts (www.pewtrusts.org) is driven by the power of knowledge to solve today’s
most challenging problems. Pew applies a rigorous, analytical approach to improve public policy, inform the
public, and stimulate civic life. It partners with a diverse range of donors, public and private organizations
and concerned citizens who share a commitment to fact-based solutions and goal-driven investments to
improve society.
About The University of the Arts
The University of the Arts is the nation’s first and only university dedicated to the visual, performing
and communication arts. Its 2,300 students are enrolled in undergraduate and graduate programs on
its campus in the heart of Philadelphia’s Avenue of the Arts. Its history as a leader in educating creative
individuals spans more than 125 years. For further information about The University of the Arts call
215.717.6000 or visit www.uarts.edu. |
