Thoma Foundation: Conservation Grant

Thoma Foundation: Conservation Grant

Status: ACTIVE
Funder: Carl And Marilynn Thoma Foundation
Last Updated: October 28, 2025

Summary

The Thoma Foundation Conservation Grant supports projects aimed at preserving South American viceregal art. Annually, up to $50,000 is awarded to selected proposals focusing on preventive conservation, restoration, and research initiatives. The grant encourages international applicants, particularly from Latin America, to enhance leadership and education in art conservation. Projects must include a preservation professional and can range from early planning to advanced implementation, contributing to the safeguarding of historical artworks.

Overview

Our Mission The Carl & Marilynn Thoma Foundation recognizes that the arts and education enhance lives and communities. We make art collection-related grants, as well as lending and exhibiting our own collection. We focus our education funding on the rural Southwest, primarily offering scholarships to students in the greater Texas panhandle. Through these giving programs, we strive to foster leadership, innovation, and equal opportunity. Our History Inspired to make contributions with a wide-ranging yet personal impact, Carl and Marilynn Thoma founded the Carl & Marilynn Thoma Art Foundation in 2014 to distinguish their initiatives in and support of the visual arts. In 2021, the Foundation was renamed the Carl & Marilynn Thoma Foundation to more broadly reflect its expanded philanthropic efforts and initiatives, including the Thoma Scholars Program, which aims to strengthen community, leadership, and education initiatives in under-resourced and rural areas. Thoma Foundation: Conservation Grant The Carl & Marilynn Thoma Foundation is excited to announce a new grant aimed at promoting and supporting conservation projects and research initiatives focused on South American viceregal art. The Thoma Foundation Art of the Spanish Americas Conservation Grant will annually award and distribute up to $50,000 among selected proposals chosen by an international jury of experts in the field. This funding is intended for conservators, curators, or other stakeholders working in museums or academic institutions and will be awarded to projects with the potential to make significant contributions to the preservation and conservation of South American viceregal art. We strongly encourage international applicants, particularly those from Latin America, to apply. Applicants are required to propose projects that focus on preventive conservation, the restoration of artworks in need of care, the acquisition of laboratory equipment, or the organization of preservation/conservation workshops or symposia. The Thoma Foundation Art of the Spanish Americas Conservation Grant offers support for projects at various stages of development, from early planning and individual studies to advanced implementation, all with the goal of preserving historical artworks and safeguarding viceregal South American heritage. The proposed project must include a preservation/conservation professional who would either work individually or lead an interdisciplinary team that could include academic institution/museum staff, conservation scientists, curators, art historians, and other relevant experts. Grants range in duration from one to two years, with the expectation that, upon completion, the grantee will choose appropriate channels to disseminate their research outcomes throughout the conservation and art history fields.

Eligibility

You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website. This funding is intended for conservators, curators, or other stakeholders working in museums or academic institutions and will be awarded to projects with the potential to make significant contributions to the preservation and conservation of South American viceregal art.