Art Fund Commission Grants – Main Grants

We are keen to support the commission and acquisition of new work, and we welcome proposals for exceptional projects with significant public impact. Commissioned work often has a singular ability to respond and reveal new aspects to collections or places in direct, timely ways, and commissioning an artist(s) to create a new work of art for a museum collection can help to forge closer relationships with artists and audiences. Applications for commissions are considered as a part of our acquisitions programme. As such, we would expect any commissions to be of international, national or regional significance. We recognise, however, that there are distinct opportunities and fundraising challenges in realising a commission, and that the acquisition of a commission can be conceptualised and carried out in many different ways; for example, as a unique permanent artwork that can be accessioned into a public collection, or as a temporary, ephemeral or performance piece that may only have a permanent legacy in the form of archival material. For your application to be successful you will also need to make a strong case in the following three areas: Benefit to the artist Benefit to the organisation Benefit to audiences Applications for support for commissions need to demonstrate the impact of the work of art within the context of all three areas above.