National Art Collections Fund (art Fund)

Charity Number: 209174

Annual Expenditure: £4.0M

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Quick Stats

  • Annual Giving: £3-4 million (acquisition grants), plus additional £1m+ through special programmes
  • Decision Time: 1-10 weeks (depending on grant type)
  • Grant Range: £100s - £100,000+
  • Geographic Focus: UK-wide
  • Founded: 1903
  • Membership: 142,000+ members

Contact Details

Address: 2 Granary Square, King's Cross, London N1C 4BH

Phone: 020 7225 4800

Email: info@artfund.org

Grant enquiries: programmes@artfund.org

Website: www.artfund.org

Overview

Art Fund, formerly the National Art Collections Fund, is the UK's national fundraising charity for art, founded in 1903. As an independent, membership-based charity with over 142,000 members, Art Fund enriches museums and galleries throughout the UK with works of art of all kinds, campaigns for the widest possible access to art, and promotes enjoyment through its National Art Pass scheme. The charity distributes between £3-4 million annually through acquisition grants and provides additional millions through special programmes including Reimagine grants (supporting institutional resilience and innovation) and partnership programmes with Jerwood Foundation and Freelands Foundation. In the past five years alone, Art Fund has given £34 million to help museums and galleries acquire works of art for their collections. Art Fund also administers the prestigious Museum of the Year award, a £120,000 prize. Under Director Jenny Waldman, Art Fund has increasingly focused on supporting young people's access to museums and early childhood development through cultural engagement.

Funding Priorities

Grant Programs

Acquisition Grants - Main Grants (requests above £7,500 and/or total cost exceeds £15,000)

  • Amount: Typically hundreds to hundreds of thousands of pounds
  • Frequency: Five trustees' meetings per year (February, May, July, October, December)
  • Decision: Within one week after trustees' meeting
  • Application: Submit via My Art Fund online account

Acquisition Grants - Small Grants (requests £7,500 or less where total cost is £15,000 or less)

  • Amount: Up to £7,500
  • Frequency: Rolling basis
  • Decision: 6-8 weeks from submission
  • Application: Submit via My Art Fund online account

Acquisition Grants - Auction Grants (time-critical applications for works at auction)

  • Amount: Any size
  • Frequency: Rolling basis
  • Decision: 7-10 working days (7 days for London auctions, 10 days for auctions outside London)
  • Application: Submit via My Art Fund online account

Reimagine Grants

  • Amount: Up to £50,000
  • Purpose: Projects helping organisations reimagine their work with collections, build resilience, and partner with non-cultural sector organizations
  • Application deadline: 12 August 2025
  • Eligibility: Organizations with permanent collections; past Reimagine recipients cannot lead new applications

Jerwood Art Fund Commissions (partnership with Jerwood Foundation)

  • Amount: £70,000-£100,000 per commission
  • Purpose: Support museums/galleries to commission early to mid-career UK-based artists
  • Grant period: 2024-2027
  • Frequency: Two commissions per year

Freelands Art Fund Acquisition (partnership with Freelands Foundation)

  • Amount: Up to £60,000
  • Purpose: Acquire contemporary art by women artists
  • Requirement: Must be fully Accredited (not just provisionally) through Arts Council Accreditation Scheme
  • Deadline: Expressions of interest due 19 December 2025

Priority Areas

Art Fund supports the acquisition and commissioning of:

  • Works of national and international importance (including items subject to export licence deferral or tax remission)
  • Works of significant regional interest of good museum quality
  • Works that will artistically enrich collections
  • Art and objects of artistic interest from antiquity to the present day
  • Commissions of important new work

Art Fund particularly values:

  • Projects with significant public impact
  • Collections development that serves diverse communities
  • Partnerships with education providers, mental health services, and community organizations
  • Projects supporting early childhood development and young people's access to museums
  • Work addressing museums in areas facing local authority funding pressures

What They Don't Fund

Commission Grants:

  • Commissions that do not result in permanent acquisition of a work (or archive/collection relating to temporary/ephemeral work)
  • Commissions not intended to be accessible to the public for minimum three years
  • Retrospective activity (projects already started before decision date)

Reimagine Grants:

  • Retrospective activity
  • Previous Reimagine/Respond and Reimagine grant recipients as lead applicants
  • Organizations without collections leading applications (though they can be partners)

Student Opportunities Programme:

  • Organizations focused on music, drama, dance, and art forms outside visual arts

General Exclusions:

  • Organizations not provisionally accredited under Arts Council Accreditation Scheme (or national equivalent)
  • Organizations not open at least half the week for at least six months of the year
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Governance and Leadership

Chair: Sandy Nairne CBE FSA (appointed autumn 2024), former Director of National Portrait Gallery (2002-2015), succeeded Lord Smith of Finsbury who served from July 2014

Director: Jenny Waldman, previously directed 14-18 NOW

Treasurer: Jeremy Palmer, leads Finance and General Purposes Committee

Recent Trustee Appointments:

  • Clare Gough, Founding Director of Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery
  • Abadesi Osunsade, founder and CEO of Hustle Crew
  • Desmond Shawe-Taylor, former Director of Dulwich Picture Gallery

The board of trustees oversees Art Fund's direction and considers all gifts, bequests of art, and major grant applications at five meetings per year.

Leadership Quotes

Jenny Waldman on young people's access: "There is an almost perfect storm brewing. During lockdown, school trips to museums and galleries were not possible – and it's not clear that these will resume at previous levels. Meanwhile, cash-strapped cultural institutions have had to make difficult decisions that have often had an impact on learning teams. We cannot allow cultural poverty for kids and must act now to help young people, those with least access to experiencing the arts, have opportunities to enjoy all that the UK's museums can offer."

On her appointment as Director: "It's a great honour and very exciting to join Art Fund at this point in its 117-year history. Art Fund plays a crucial role in supporting museums and galleries across the UK and the opportunity to build on the impressive work that Stephen Deuchar and his team have done over the past decade is inspiring."

Application Process and Timeline

How to Apply

Register: Create or log in to My Art Fund account at www.artfund.org and register as a professional user

Pre-application consultation: Art Fund strongly recommends contacting them after reading the Guidance for applicants to discuss potential acquisitions before submitting, ensuring eligibility and sufficient processing time

Download guidance: Review the detailed “Guidance for applicants” document for your specific grant programme

Prepare application: Complete online application form through My Art Fund portal

Other funding sources: Art Fund expects applicants to explore all appropriate public funding sources for which they are eligible; there is no fixed percentage contribution

Decision Timeline

Main Acquisition Grants:

  • Trustees' meetings: February, May, July, October, December
  • Decision: Within one week after trustees' meeting

Small Acquisition Grants:

  • Rolling basis
  • Decision: 6-8 weeks from submission

Auction Grants:

  • Rolling basis (time-critical)
  • Decision: 7 working days (London auctions), 10 working days (non-London auctions)

Reimagine Grants:

  • Deadline: 12 August 2025
  • Decision: Within 8 weeks of deadline

Notification: All applicants are informed by email as soon as a decision is made. Successful applicants receive offer paperwork with grant claiming details.

Success Rates

Specific success rate data is not publicly disclosed by Art Fund. However, the charity distributes £3-4 million annually in acquisition grants across numerous institutions, suggesting they fund a substantial number of applications. In 2024, 20 museums received Reimagine grants totalling £800,000.

Reapplication Policy

Art Fund provides feedback to unsuccessful applicants by email. While there is no publicly stated waiting period for acquisition grant reapplications, certain programmes have specific restrictions:

Reimagine Grants: Previous recipients cannot lead new applications, though they can participate as partners

General practice: Unsuccessful applicants are welcome to reapply with improved proposals or new projects

Application Success Factors

Project robustness: “A perfectly crafted proposal is worthless if the project it presents is not robust, convincing and achievable. Spend as much time as necessary on project development before beginning to make any approaches. Avoid the temptation to piece together a project in order to meet funding deadlines, as grant-givers will usually see straight through a project created to capitalise on available pots of funding.” (Art Fund guidance)

Strategic targeting: “Spend time wisely by identifying a smaller number of key prospects for whom the project is an excellent fit, based on their funding criteria, charitable interests, history of grant giving and level of donations.” (Art Fund guidance)

Financial rigor: “Make sure you have a good grip on the figures and can read a budget and balance sheet. Be prepared to justify project costs or explain reserves policies, ensuring project budgets are as accurate as possible with as many related costs as possible, including overheads where appropriate. It is better to have a high but realistic budget than to underestimate.” (Art Fund guidance)

Monitoring and evaluation: “It is important to consider monitoring and evaluation as a fundamental part of any project, and to include this in any funding application (including the budget).” (Art Fund guidance)

Excellence and quality: Art Fund's criteria emphasize museum quality, artistic enrichment, and exceptional innovation. Applications should clearly articulate how acquisitions or commissions will enhance collections and benefit public audiences.

Public impact: Demonstrate significant public benefit, particularly for communities with limited cultural access. Recent successful projects include Manchester Art Gallery's work in deprived areas and Fermanagh County Museum's programming for rurally isolated groups.

Partnership approach: Reimagine grants particularly value partnerships beyond the cultural sector (education, health services, community organizations). Show cross-sector collaboration.

Accreditation: Ensure your organization meets eligibility requirements including Arts Council Accreditation (provisional or full, depending on programme) and public access requirements (open at least half the week, six months per year).

Relevance to priorities: Align with Art Fund's current strategic emphasis on young people's access, early childhood development, and supporting institutions facing funding pressures.

Recent Successful Examples (2024 Reimagine Grants)

  • Turner Contemporary, Margate (£50,000): Young Environmental Leaders programme
  • The Bowes Museum, County Durham (£49,989): Re-imagining the museum's story with local communities
  • Birmingham Museums Trust (£49,728): Collections in the Community, opening access to national collections
  • Manchester Art Gallery (£45,000): Rutherston Loan Scheme for 21st century, removing barriers for children in deprived areas
  • Fermanagh County Museum (£42,000): Art In Our Hands, participatory activities for rurally isolated groups and people experiencing trauma

Key Takeaways for Grant Writers

  • Contact them early: Art Fund explicitly encourages pre-application discussions; use this to strengthen your proposal and confirm eligibility
  • Match grant type to timeline: Use small grants for faster decisions (6-8 weeks), plan main grants around trustees' meetings, and utilize auction grants for time-sensitive opportunities
  • Focus on substance over polish: Art Fund emphasizes project robustness over presentation—invest time in developing a convincing, achievable project before writing
  • Budget conservatively high: Better to present realistic full costs with justification than underestimate; include overheads and evaluation costs
  • Demonstrate quality and impact: Acquisitions should be museum-quality and offer significant public benefit; commissions should show exceptional innovation
  • Leverage partnerships: Particularly for Reimagine grants, show collaboration with education, health, or community sectors beyond traditional cultural partnerships
  • Address strategic priorities: Applications addressing young people's access, community engagement, and institutional resilience align with current leadership emphasis
  • Ensure eligibility basics: Confirm accreditation status and public access requirements before investing time in application development

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References