Frequently asked questions.

  • $2,000 Solo Exhibition or project

  • $1,000 2-Person Exhibition or project, each

  • $500 Group project, 3-5 Artists each

  • $300 Group project, 6+ Artists each

  • $600 Performance of Existing Work 

  • $200 Solo Screening with In-Person Appearance,  Event with Presentations or Performances by 2 or More Participants, a Talk, Discussion, or Workshop with 2 or More Participants, Presentation or Reading 

  • $300 Commissioned Talk or Presentation 

  • $0.040 per word. Existing Text for Publication, Commissioned Text for Publication

  • $25 per hour or $125 per day, whichever is higher as a Day Rate 

HOW MANY PROJECTS GET SELECTED EACH YEAR? 

A panel of professionals will select between 9-14 projects submitted by individual artists, curators, performers, collectives, or collaboratives that must be completed by November 31, 2024. Ideally we fund at the full amount of each application, which only allows us a maximum of 9 awards. Occasionally the panel elects to give a reduced amount to include more projects. 

WHAT IF MY PROJECT LASTS MORE THAN A YEAR? 

That’s okay, you can apply for a year’s worth of activity, so long as some “public facing’ component happens in that year. 

IF I’M FUNDED, CAN I APPLY AGAIN NEXT YEAR? 

No. If you have a multi-year project make sure to apply at the critical year. Awardees are asked to sit out the application for at least one year, and we don’t fund the same project twice. 

IF I’M NOT FUNDED, CAN I APPLY AGAIN NEXT YEAR? 

YES! We turn down projects that are great every year due to the limit of grants we can award. Talk to an administrator and get feedback on your proposal to find out if you need to make adjustments or improve areas of the project proposal. It’s a new slate of panelists every year.  

WHAT IF MY PROJECT WILL COST MORE THAN THE $7,000 GRANT AMOUNT? 

That’s fine but make sure to articulate a clear plan for the rest of the funding. If you have other grants or sources, list them in the budget. The strength of your ‘Feasibility’ grade will be affected if the project seems out of your reach. 

*IF* you are making something sellable or including a  ticketed event in the proposal to cover costs that is perfectly okay, so long as another event or aspect of the project meets the “Public Facing” requirement below. We won’t fund projects that only exist behind a paywall, where the general community doesn’t have access. 


WHAT IF MY PROJECT WILL COST LESS THAN THE $7,000 GRANT AMOUNT? 

That’s great too, apply for what you need! 


CAN I PAY MYSELF IN THE APPLICATION BUDGET? 

Yes, Absolutely! We want you to! We expect an ‘artist honorarium’ to be set for every artist involved in the project. The whole goal is to pay artists. If you are unsure of what to set you’re honorariums at we recommend:

Also be aware, because the goal is to make real career impact for artists, projects that don’t pay all artists involved will be less competitive. 


WHAT DOES PUBLIC-FACING MEAN?

This is the term we use as a catch all. Not all projects need a formal event like a party or an opening reception. We do want to ensure the community has free access to your work though. The ‘public facing’ component could be fulfilled by your work being sited in public space, or it could be an online meet-up, a workshop or community engaged activity, a podcast, a zine distribution in public libraries, an on-line publication. So long as at some point a broader audience is invited into the project without financial restrictions. The key word here is access. How will the community access your work? 

WHAT DOES NON-TRADITIONAL MEAN?

This means the weirder, the better. It could be you are working in a traditional medium but using it for a new context or purpose. It could also mean you are using brand new materials or methods to do something traditional. One of the key questions panelists are asked in the review process is “how likely is this to happen anyway, or be supported by another opportunity that already exists?” A straight exhibition of paintings or sculpture will get booted immediately on that premise.  Our goal is to catch and fund the projects no one is supporting. 

HOW DO I KNOW IF MY PROJECT WILL APPLY?

Come to an info session and pitch your idea! We hold in-person and virtual info sessions specifically to give artists a chance to troubleshoot their ideas and make sure they are putting together a competitive application. 


ARE THERE REPORTING REQUIREMENTS FOR THE GRANT?

Yes, but we keep it to a minimum. We ask that awardees keep us in the loop for their activities so we can help promote or support the project in other ways. After your project is finished we ask for image documentation and a short narrative on what was accomplished. 

Got More Questions?

email us at info@verdantfund.org

SUBMISSION LINK: https://verdantfund.submittable.com/submit

WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE APPLICATION?

Attend an information session, download a [SAMPLE APPLICATION] and a [BUDGET TEMPLATE].