The Terra Foundation for American Art supports individuals, organizations, and communities worldwide to advance expansive understandings of American art through its grant program, collection, and initiatives.

Grant and Fellowship programs:

• Exhibitions
• Re-envisioning Permanent Collections
• Convenings
• Art Design Chicago (including support for Exhibitions, Convenings, Publications, and Public Programs)
• Fellowships and visiting professorships

The foundation prioritizes projects that question and broaden definitions of American art and supports projects engaged in transforming or complicating how the story of American art is told. We encourage projects that:

• reflect a commitment to inclusive and equitable research and museum practice;
• generate new scholarship and interpretive frameworks;
• employ critical methodologies and innovative models;
• and/or engage diverse partners and audiences.

Visual arts that are eligible for Terra Foundation funding vary by program area as follows:

• Exhibition programs: Painting; sculpture; works on paper (prints, drawings, watercolors, photographs); decorative arts (typically handmade functional objects of high aesthetic quality); design (objects of high aesthetic quality; excludes industrial design); performance art; video art; and conceptual art. Excludes architecture and commercial film/animation.
•  Ongoing academic program: All visual art categories except architecture and commercial film/animation. We favor programs that place objects and practices in an art historical perspective.
• Other program areas: See individual program pages for details.

Contact

If you are seeking support for projects addressing categories not listed here, please contact us at grants@terraamericanart.org.

We welcome opportunities to collaborate with organizations worldwide to generate projects that support expansive narratives of American art.

For additional information, please see the Grants & Fellowships FAQ.