Criteria & eligibility
Wherewithal Recovery Grants
Who Should Apply?
Wherewithal Recovery Grants will be awarded on a bi-weekly basis to DC-area artists whose income or opportunities have been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. These grants are intended to support people with immediate financial needs (rent, food, childcare, healthcare, etc.).
You're Eligible if...
- You must live within the I-495 Beltway
- You are a professional visual artists, or an artist with a history of presenting your work in visual arts contexts/venues—performance, film, text, and/or sound artists are eligible if their work explicitly engages visual arts discourses
- You are not a full-time student, are not currently working full-time, and are not an organization
- You have experienced a loss of income or opportunity as a result of the COVID-19 crisis
Evaluative Criteria
Successful applications will:
- Demonstrate how the COVID-19 crisis has resulted in a loss of income or opportunity for the applicant (i.e. Need)
- Provide evidence that the applicant is a professional artist. Preference will be given to artists whose practices are in alignment with one or more of WPA's values: collaboration, experimentation, and inclusivity (i.e. Practice)
Wherewithal Research Grants
You're Eligible if...
- You must live within the I-495 Beltway
- You are a professional visual artists, or an artist with a history of presenting your work in visual arts contexts/venues—performance, film, text, and/or sound artists are eligible if their work explicitly engages visual arts discourses
- You are not a full-time undergraduate or graduate student
- You are not a 501(c)(3) or for-profit organization (LLC, corporations, partnerships, etc.)
- 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
- Applicants with ongoing projects may apply, but the request must be for specific research, not for general support
Evaluative Criteria
Successful applications will...
- Be experimental, imaginative, innovative, or unconventional, and advance the practices of the applicant (Artistic Strength/Impact)
- Present projects that are considerate of their contexts; connecting thoughtfully to potential audiences or discourses (Context/Relevancy)
- Demonstrate the applicant's ability to carry out the proposed project within the grant period (Feasibility)
Key dates and contact
Recovery Grants
Application Portal Opens: April 7, 2020 (awarded on a bi-weekly basis)
Research Grants
Information Sessions: May-June 2020 (online)
Application Portal Opens: late May 2020
Application Portal Closes: July 1, 2020
Adjudication Panel Meets: July 2020
Award Notifications: August 2020
Awardee Reception: September 2020
Awardee Orientation & Funds Dispersed: September 2020
QUESTIONS?
Contact Nathalie von Veh at nvonveh@wpadc.org or follow @wherewithalgrants on Instagram
Apply now
The application portal for Wherewithal Recovery Grants is now closed. Check out the "Key Dates & Contact" page for information about upcoming grant opportunities.
Contact Nathalie von Veh at nvonveh@wpadc.org with any questions.
Wherewithal Grants
Wherewithal Grants are a new funding source for visual artists inside the DC-area Beltway. 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. The $1,000 grants are available to professional visual artists, as well as moving-image/performance/sound artists with a history of presenting or performing in visual arts contexts (galleries, museums, etc.). We are starting the fund with a seed amount of $60,000 and will award grants on a bi-weekly basis until the funds run out. The application portal opens April 7, 2020.
Research grants
Wherewithal Research Grants provide project-based support for research, presentation, or critical reflection. The grants are competitive and awarded by a panel consisting of arts professionals from around the country. We anticipate awarding between ten to twenty grants in 2020, ranging from $2,500 to $5,000. The application portal opens May 15, 2020.
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.