annual and multi-year grants

We support a wide variety of visual arts projects, including but not limited to exhibitions, artist commissions, public collection enhancement, collection care, artists’ residencies and educational projects. If you have a particular project in mind or are unsure whether we can fund a specific area of your project, we encourage you to reach out to us. We are always happy to explore new ideas and answer any questions you may have.

We allocate funding once a year through our Annual Grants programme, and we are unable to approve grant applications at any other time of year. Our 2025 Annual Grants are now open for applications. They support visual arts projects that begin no earlier than 1 January 2026. It is a requirement that all exhibitions and projects supported by The Ampersand Foundation should be free to the public at least one whole day per week.

Please note that we do not support capital projects or core costs. You can read our Annual Grant FAQ sheet here.

In addition to our Annual Grants programme, we actively foster relationships and develop projects to provide unsolicited Multi-Year Grants to institutions for initiatives that create a transformative impact on the organisations themselves, their public, and the towns they serve. We strive to be closely involved in the development of these projects, so please don’t hesitate to reach out to discuss ideas with us.