Criteria & eligibility
Wherewithal Recovery Grants
Who Should Apply?
Wherewithal Recovery grants are awarded to DC-area artists whose income or opportunities have been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. As this crisis magnifies racial disparities, WPA is aware of the financial challenges facing Black artists in the DC community. Understanding the long-reaching effects of systemic racism and injustice, WPA will prioritize Black applicants during this round of funding. The $1,000 grants will be awarded on a bi-weekly basis until funds run out. The first deadline for applications is Friday, July 10, 2020 at 11:59 pm.
You're Eligible if...
- Applicants must live within the greater Washington area either in DC, Arlington, Alexandria, Fairfax, Montgomery, or Prince George’s counties (this is a change from previous rounds)
- Applicants must be visual artists, or artists with a history of presenting their work in visual arts contexts/venues (Performance, film, text, and/or sound artists are eligible if their work explicitly engages visual arts discourses)
- Applicants must have experienced a loss of income or opportunity as a result of the COVID-19 crisis
- Applicants who have already received a Wherewithal Recovery Grant are eligible to reapply this round
- 501(c)(3) organizations and for-profit organizations (LLC, corporations, partnerships, etc.) are ineligible to apply
Evaluative Criteria
Successful applicants will have demonstrated how the COVID-19 crisis has resulted in a loss of income or opportunity for them. Priority will be given to Black visual artists who live in the DC area.
Wherewithal Research Grants
Who Should Apply?
This program enables DC-area visual artists to further their practices through research and idea development. The $5,000 grants can be used to compensate applicants for their intellectual labor, for costs associated with gaining access to specific resources, and/or to pay other artists and thinkers for their time and contributions. Applications will be reviewed by an independent panel of artists and arts professionals. We anticipate awarding 12 grants. The grant period is from November 2020–June 2021. Deadline to apply is Sunday, August 23, 2020 at 11:59 pm ET.
You're Eligible if...
- Applicants must live within the greater Washington area either in DC, Arlington, Alexandria, Fairfax, Montgomery, or Prince George’s counties
- Applicants must be visual artists, or artists with a history of presenting their work in visual arts contexts/venues (Performance, film, text, and/or sound artists are eligible if their work explicitly engages visual arts discourses)
- For collaborative projects, one person must serve as the applicant, be responsible for the receipt, management and distribution of the funds, handle all communications with WPA, and be responsible for grant reporting
- Minimum of $3,500 of grant should be set aside as compensation for the time you will spend on research and development (reading, writing, communicating with other artists and/or scholars)
- Remaining $1,500 can be used to access specific archives, pay collaborators, and purchase materials
- WPA asks that grantees prepare a public-facing presentation of their research to be given in 2021
Ineligible:
- Full-time undergraduate or graduate students
- 501(c)(3) organizations and for-profit organizations (LLC, corporations, partnerships, etc.)
Evaluative Criteria
Successful applicants will excel in one or more of the following:
- Artistic Impact: The inquiry is experimental, imaginative, innovative, or unconventional, and furthers the applicant's practice in meaningful ways
- Context/Relevance: The research is considerate of its context; it engages with other artists/thinkers in relevant discourses
- Feasibility: The applicant demonstrates the ability to carry out the proposed research within the grant period
Key dates and contact
Recovery Grants
Application Portal Re-Opens: Tuesday, June 23, 2020 (awarded on a bi-weekly basis)
First deadline for Applications: Friday, July 10, 2020 at 11:59 pm EST
Research Grants
Application Portal Opens: Tuesday, June 23, 2020
Information Session: Thursday, July 16, 2020 at 5:00 pm EST (watch the recording here)
Application Portal Closes: Sunday, August 23, 2020 at 11:59 pm EST
Adjudication Panel Meets: September 2020
Award Notifications: October 1, 2020
Awardee Reception: October 2020
Grant Period: November 2020 – June 2021
QUESTIONS?
Contact Nathalie von Veh at nvonveh@wpadc.org or follow @wherewithalgrants on Instagram
Apply now
Recovery Grants
The application portal is currently closed. Since March 2020, 100 artists in the DC-area have been awarded unrestricted grants in the amount of $1,000 each.
RESEARCH GRANTS
The application portal is now open. This program enables DC-area visual artists to further their practices through research and idea development. The $5,000 grants can be used to compensate applicants for their intellectual labor, for costs associated with gaining access to specific resources, and/or to pay other artists and thinkers for their time and contributions. Applications will be reviewed by an independent panel of artists and arts professionals. We anticipate awarding 12 grants. The grant period is from November 2020–June 2021. Deadline to apply was Sunday, August 23, 2020 at 11:59 pm ET. The application portal is now closed. Grantees will be announced in October.
Watch the recorded Virtual Information Session from July 16, 2020 here.
Application questions (each 250 words max):
1. Statement of Inquiry (What question will drive your research and what do you hope to accomplish during the grant period from November 2020–June 2021?)
2. Tell us about your artistic practice (If you are applying as a collective or group, tell us a little about each of your practices and how you are connected)
3. Why is it important for you to do this research now, and how will it expand your artistic practice?
4. Who do you need to connect with to do this research? (For example: knowledge partners, institutions, other artists, etc.)
5. How will you allocate the funds? (each Research Grant is $5,000)
Attachments:
Upload your CV or Resume
Provide a link to your professional website (Optional)
Provide links for three art events (exhibitions, performances, other) that you participated in as an artist in the past three years (Optional)
Contact Nathalie at nvonveh@wpadc.org with any questions.
Wherewithal Grants
Wherewithal Grants are a new funding source for visual artists in the DC-area. Generously funded by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts as part of its regional regranting program and managed by Washington Project for the Arts, these grants are intended to both sustain and stimulate artist-organized culture.
Note: In March 2020, The Warhol Foundation authorized its re-granting partners to re-allocate their $100,000 grants to create and administer COVID-19 emergency relief funds in their communities. WPA has responded to this by providing two separate opportunities: Recovery Grants and Research Grants.
RECOVERY GRANTS
Wherewithal Recovery Grants are intended to help offset lost income from cancelled exhibitions, performances, or lectures, and from canceled or furloughed employment, that are the direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since announcing the Wherewithal Recovery Grant program on April 7, WPA has awarded $100,000 in unrestricted grants to 100 DC-area artists whose income or opportunities have been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. The $1,000 grants are for immediate needs such as rent, food, childcare, and healthcare. WPA launched this program with the generous support of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. Additional contributions brought the fund to over $100,000 allowing WPA to announce a third round of Recovery Grants on June 23, 2020. The application portal is currently closed.
Research grants
This program enables DC-area visual artists to further their practices through research and idea development. The $5,000 grants can be used to compensate applicants for their intellectual labor, for costs associated with gaining access to specific resources, and/or to pay other artists and thinkers for their time and contributions. Applications will be reviewed by an independent panel of artists and arts professionals. We anticipate awarding 12 grants. The grant period is from November 2020–June 2021. Deadline to apply is Sunday, August 23, 2020 at 11:59 pm ET.
Watch the recorded Virtual Information Session from Thursday, July 16 here.
For updates, follow @wherewithalgrants on Instagram and sign up for WPA's newsletter here
Washington Project for the Arts (WPA)
WPA supports artist-driven projects, advocacy, and dialogue so that artists can live, work, and flourish. Since 1975, we have supported experimental art and artists in the nation’s capital. In 2016, we became the first arts organization between New York and Miami to receive W.A.G.E. certification, meaning that WPA has a history and a commitment to voluntarily paying artist fees that meet W.A.G.E.’s minimum payment standards.
Wherewithal Grants furthers WPA’s commitment to supporting artist-organized projects. WPA holds intentional space for artists to convene, collaborate, and create projects that elevate their visions and voices as critical thinkers, idea generators, and organizers, providing artists with funding and administrative support along the way. WPA’s program model addresses the complex challenges faced by artists and cultural producers in the DC region today—rising rents, widespread displacement, and wholesale demographic change—and is focused on helping artists remain in the DC area as WPA believes that a thriving arts community is essential to the enduring health of our society.
The Andy Warhol Foundation
Established in 1987 in accordance with Andy Warhol’s will, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts’ mission is the advancement of the visual arts. The primary focus of its grant making activity is to support the creation, presentation, and documentation of contemporary visual art, particularly work that is experimental, under-recognized, or challenging in nature.
The foundation’s Regional Regranting Program, launched in 2007, aims to support vibrant, under-the-radar artistic activity by partnering with leading cultural institutions in communities across the country. The program allows the Warhol Foundation to reach the sizable population of informal, non-incorporated artist collectives and to support their alternative gathering spaces, publications, websites, events and other projects.
The regranting programs are facilitated by 516 Arts in Albuquerque; Baltimore Arts Realty Corporation in Baltimore; Gallery 400 and Three Walls in Chicago; DiverseWorks, Aurora Picture Show, and Project Row Houses in Houston; Charlotte Street Foundation and Spencer Museum in Kansas City; Locust Projects in Miami; Midway Contemporary Art in Minneapolis; Antenna and Ashe’ Cultural Fund in New Orleans; Portland Institute of Contemporary Art in Portland (OR); Spaces Gallery in Portland (ME), Southern Exposure in San Francisco, and Washington Project for the Arts in Washington, DC.