Teiger Foundation: Curatorial Research and Development Grant

Teiger Foundation: Curatorial Research and Development Grant

Status: ACTIVE
Funder: Teiger Foundation
Amount: Up to US $50,000
Last Updated: December 16, 2025

Summary

The Teiger Foundation's Curatorial Research and Development Grant offers support for innovative curatorial practices within the contemporary visual arts sector. Designed to address gaps in funding, this grant provides up to $50,000 for curatorial research projects, including travel and collaborative investigations. It emphasizes the importance of experimentation and creativity while aligning with values of racial justice and environmental sustainability. The next Call for Proposals will open in Fall 2026, with funding opportunities available to U.S.-based curators.

Overview

NOTE: Please note that Teiger Foundation will not offer a 2026 Call for Proposals. The next Call for Proposals will open in Fall 2026 with a deadline in early 2027. Going forward, the Call for Proposals will have a deadline every two years. Background Teiger Foundation supports contemporary visual art with a primary focus on curators. In dialogue with artists and other art workers, curators are thinkers and leaders who play multiple and changing roles in their organizations and communities. Teiger Foundation’s goal is to support these activities and their continued reinvention. Acknowledging uncertainty, fear, and loss in a time of enormous change, Teiger Foundation is committed to experimentation and creativity in exhibitions and programs; widely varied, innovative curatorial research and partnerships; and new perspectives on community-building and positive structural change within the field of visual art. Teiger Foundation affirms the importance of visual art and experimental practice to culture and society at large, and therefore positions its work in support of racial justice and against white supremacy, in support of free expression, and towards an equitable transition from fossil fuels amidst the climate crisis. Curatorial Research Grant These opportunities were developed through conversations with curators working in the field, and aim to address gaps in the art funding sector. Organizations of any size can receive up to $50,000 for projects. We support curatorial research including costs related to travel, convenings, and collaborative investigations around critical issues leading up to an exhibition or other project. As part of this grant, we also offer institutional support for curators to take leave to conduct this research. We do not require that research projects lead to an exhibition. A research grant award does not guarantee additional support for resulting exhibitions, though such projects will be eligible for future consideration. We only support visual arts projects. We do not support exhibitions in the fields of film, design/decorative arts, or architecture unless they have a significant, defining visual art framework. Funding can support the development, realization, interpretation, and documentation of exhibitions, related public programs and publications, as well as microsites and other online components of an on-site project.

Eligibility

You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website. Proof of 501(c)3 status is required. Our current call for proposals is for curators in the U.S. and territories only.All of our funding opportunities can support curator-led projects at non-profit art organizations such as museums, public art initiatives, art centers, biennials, or similar platforms that are professionally curated and non-commercial. Eligible costs for research proposals include: Those related to travel, convenings of colleagues, scholars, practitioners and community members, and/or collaborative investigations around critical cultural, social, and political issuesResearch applications can also include research assistance or institutional support for curators to take leave to conduct their research, comprising up to 60% of the requested awardWe will only be giving one grant per cycle per institution.Fiscally sponsored organizations are allowed to apply but the organization must have a minimum of two years of sponsorship.

Ineligibility

We do not fund Projects unaffiliated with an established non-profit exhibition space,Projects proposed by individual artists, Endowments or capital campaigns, or Projects that do not involve contemporary art.