2020 Museum Grants and Funding Opportunities

Grants Guides for Museums Located in the United States, Canada, Europe, Latin America, Spain, and the United Kingdom

Looking for the updated edition? Head over to the 2021 Grants Guides article.

This New Year brings not only the start of a nominal decade, the twenty-twenties, but also an extra day to move your museum’s projects forward. Along with these events, is the publication of our 2020 Museum Grants Guides, updated annually to help you find the right funding and to successfully realize your institution’s objectives.

Annual Grants Guides and a New Version for Canada and Conservators

This year’s editions include grants and funding opportunities for museums based in the U.S., Europe and the UK, Spain and Latin America. We are also pleased to inform you we have created a new guide for Canada, to help our many Canadian clients secure funding in 2020, and another for Conservation projects and professional training. We welcome your feedback on these museum grants guides; we create them for you, so don’t hesitate to send us your comments.

Conservation Grants – Preserve Classic Works

Conservation and restoration of artworks are crucial aspects of the work required by all institutions holding objects in various mediums–paintings, sculptures, works on paper and manuscripts, archaeological or architectural pieces.

Grants play an important role in the preservation of works of art as the input of conservators, scholars, and curators is often required. Moreover, the costs associated with the technology necessary to properly study the damage caused to artworks over the years can be prohibitive.

Gallery Systems’ Clients Awarded Conservation Grants

We are proud to mention that 9 of the twenty-two awardees selected by Bank of America to receive art conservation grants in 2019, are Gallery Systems clients. Below are three of these projects.

• The National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. received funding to support in situ conservation of six 18^th-century French marble sculptures.
• In London, Tate Modern’s Marilyn Diptych, created by Andy Warhol in 1962, was restored to its former glory by removing abrasions and dirt accumulation from the diptych’s surface.
• New York’s Museum of Modern Art selected 3 different paintings to treat and/or repair: Paul Cézanne’s The Bather (c. 1885), Paula Modersohn-Becker’s Self-Portrait with Two Flowers in Her Raised Left Hand (1907) and, last but not least, Vincent van Gogh’s The Starry Night (June 1889).

Disaster Preparedness Grants – Implement Your Emergency Strategy

Preservation also means being prepared for the worst. Natural disasters can destroy or damage collections within minutes. Reducing risks for the objects your museum preserves therefore becomes a necessity. Being prepared can make a significant difference. Creating a disaster preparedness plan is the first step to ensuring your collections are safe. Our guides list the funding opportunities available to help you create and implement your disaster preparedness and emergency response plan.

Digital Grants – Digitize and Manage Your Collection

Digitizing collections is a time-consuming project. New tools and technology can help, but can be costly. Search for museum grants to ensure you have everything you need to digitize and make your objects publicly visible even when they are in storage. You can then manage your digital assets with digital asset management software such as TMS Media Studio.

Digital Grants – Share Your Collection Online

Now, more than ever, museums are expected to display their collection online. Having an online gallery provides researchers, students, and your own staff, valuable information to empower their work. Implementing web publishing tools such as the eMuseum digital publishing software is also covered by a number of grants. eMuseum integrates seamlessly with TMS Collections and helps simplify the process of preparing media for the web.

A Look at the 2020 Grants and Funding Opportunities

Gallery Systems’ experts understand that managing and caring for the collections and digital assets your institution holds can be challenging at times. This rigorous labor of love requires input from all your colleagues, from registrars to curators, collections managers to conservators. Another key component is funding. While we can’t really contribute to the former, we can certainly lend a hand with the latter. To help you receive the financial boost required to achieve your collections goals, we’ve curated a few museum grants and funding opportunities for institutions located in the U.S., Canada, Europe and the UK, as well as in Spain and Latin America, and for Conservation projects and professional training.

Museum Grants in the U.S.

The right grant at the right time can have a significant impact on a conservation or digitization project, to name but a few. If this is the year you want to better manage your collections and broaden your audience, these grants could help you achieve your goals. Below are three museum grants and funding opportunities for museums in the USA. For the full list, download our U.S. Grants Guide.

Kress Foundation

Digital Art History
This grant program supports efforts to integrate new technologies into the practice of art history and the creation of important online resources in art history, including both textual and visual resources. Grants are awarded to non-profit institutions with 501(c) 3 status, based in the United States.

National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)

Digital Projects for the Public
The Digital Projects for the Public program supports projects that interpret and analyze humanities content in primarily digital platforms and formats, such as websites, mobile applications and tours, interactive touch screens and kiosks, games, and virtual environments. The projects must be designed to attract broad public audiences.

National Park Service

Tribal Heritage Grant
The Tribal Heritage Grant with the National Parks Service seeks to preserve collections and objects cared for by Tribal organizations. The funding is particularly focused on promoting unique cultural heritage with Indian Tribes, Alaskan Natives, and Native Hawaiian organizations.

Museum Grants in Canada

We’re pleased to introduce the very first edition of the Canadian version of our annual grants guides. From the Government of Canada to the Canada Council for the Arts, provincial governments and the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, we’ve compiled a list of grant-giving bodies to help Canadian museums launch projects that:

• Support the knowledge and sharing of First Nations, Inuit and Métis arts and cultures
• Increase the quality and range of art available in the digital space
• Preserve and present heritage collections in Canada

Download our Canadian Grants Guide for a list of major funding opportunities available at the federal and provincial levels.

Canada Council for the Arts

Public Access to the Arts and Citizen Engagement
The Public Access to the Arts and Citizen Engagement grant increases digital public engagement with the arts. Multi-phase and single phase projects may apply, and should enhance artistic experiences for the public, encourage participation, and increase the accessibility to Canadian artists.

Government of Canada

Documentary Heritage Communities Program

Library and Archives Canada (LAC) provides $1.5 million each year to documentary heritage organizations across the country. This funding helps to ensure that Canada’s continuing memory is documented, preserved and accessible. Organizations may apply for funding through the Documentary Heritage Communities Program’s annual call for proposals.

Royal Bank of Canada

RBC Indigenous Internship Program
The Indigenous Internship Program offers professional and technical training for First Nations, Métis and Inuit participants. It is the only program of its kind in Canada. The goal of the Program is to develop ways for Indigenous nations across Canada to represent their own history and culture in concert with cultural institutions.

Museum Grants in Europe and the UK

Using every resource possible can help institutions preserve and share their collections, as well as fulfill their cultural missions and better serve their audiences. As funding can be challenging for cultural heritage organizations, museum grants and funding opportunities can mean a successfully completed project instead of an unfinished one, or one that is left behind. Below are three of the opportunities you will find in the Europe and UK Grants Guide.

Creative Europe

European Heritage Awards
Non-profit organizations looking to conserve their museum or working on conservation projects are eligible to apply for conservation related funding through the Europa Nostra Award. Specialist juries made up of independent experts assess the nominated projects and select the winners.

Heritage Lottery Fund

UK Museums, Libraries and Archives
The Heritage Lottery Fund awards grants to all kinds of museums and institutions in the UK, giving over £2 billion to more than 3,500 museum projects since 1994. Grants can be used to update the museum’s physical plant, protect collections, support acquisitions, and more.

Open Society Foundation

International Grants
Open Society Foundation awards grants internationally, mostly to organizations. These grants can vary in allocation, sometimes supporting specific projects and sometimes supporting operating budgets. Applications should focus on social issues, and preserving local cultural heritage. Visit their grants page to see the list of available funding opportunities.

Museum Grants in Spain and Latin America

Securing funding for projects that promote collections’ growth and preservation can be an important hurdle to overcome for Latin American museums. Updating and improving the technology required to create a greater awareness of the rich cultural heritage present in both Latin America and Spain requires government agencies and independent organizations to commit to investing in their cultural and heritage organizations. We’ve selected three museum grants available for Spanish and Latin American institutions. To access the full list, please download our Spanish language guide.

Iberoamerican Cooperation

Iberarchivos – ADAI Program
The Iberarchivos-ADAI Program (Support for the Development of Iberoamerican Archives) is a cooperation initiative and cultural integration between Latin American countries that promotes improved access, organization, description, conservation and dissemination of documentary heritage of Latin America. Grants have been available for 16 years and have annual calls.

MAEC-AECID Programmes

Art, Education, Science and Culture Grants
AECID, together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Spain (MAEC), has offered grants and assistance programs for the past 75 years. Each program provides a wide variety of trainings and internships in areas related to art, education and culture. The motivation behind these grants is to strengthen cultural, educational and scientific ties with Latin America.

Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports

Grants for the modernization and innovation of the cultural and creative industries through digital and technological projects
The Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports of Spain offers grants to cultural entities that work on innovative technological and digital projects that improve the general public’s access to digital cultural content. The grants focus on the creation, distribution and access to digital cultural content on the Internet.

Museum Grants for Conservation Projects and Training

Prioritize the conservation of your objects by securing external funding for your conservation projects. Across the globe, grant programs are currently accepting applications for projects dedicated to the preservation of art and heritage objects. Funding opportunities are also available to support the professional development of conservators. Access our full Grants for Museum Conservation guide below.

Canadian Association of Professional Conservators

Programming Grant
Canadian conservators looking to enhance their existing skillset can apply to CAPC’s Programming Grant. Applicants may request up to $1,000 to cover their participation in professional training and advancement opportunities, such as workshops, lectures, and collaborative projects.

The EEA and Norway Grants

Conservation and Revitalization of Cultural and Natural Heritage
Preserving Europe’s invaluable cultural heritage is the driving force behind this EEA and Norway grant. Open to cultural institutions in fourteen European countries—including Spain, Hungary, and Poland—the program supports the conservation and revitalization of cultural and natural heritage, along with related efforts to improve public accessibility to these sites.

Institute of Museum and Library Services

Save America’s Treasures
Save America’s Treasures funds projects that support the conservation of important historic sites, collections, and archives in the United States. This grant program is a collaborative effort between the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. In 2019, $12.6 million in funds were distributed to 41 preservation projects.

Partnering with Gallery Systems

To help make better collections management a reality and strengthen public engagement with your collections, Gallery Systems offers software applications and services to help you manage collections of any type, and allow you to dynamically publish information to your website. We have assisted many institutions with their successful grant applications and we would be happy to guide you through the process. Contact us to learn more.