2023 Craft Research Fund Project Grant - Eligibility

Proposals are welcome from academic researchers and independent scholars.  

• This grant is intended to support scholarly research and is not for the creation of artwork. ‍
• This grant is not for the dissemination of already completed research

Applicants must be: 

• Applicants must be able to receive taxable income in the U.S. for the duration of the grant and report this grant as income
• Applicants must be 18 years of age or older

Applicants cannot be: 

• Applicants cannot be disqualified persons, such as substantial contributors to the Center for Craft as well as current employees, consultants, or board members of the Center for Craft, or immediate family members of such a person.

If an applicant has been previously awarded a Center for Craft grant but did not complete the project or is still in the progress of completing the project they are not eligible to apply. 

Applicants may either apply for the Craft Research Fund Project Grant or the Craft Research Fund Exhibition Grant, but may not apply for both grants in the same year. 

The Center for Craft prohibits discrimination, harassment, and retaliation based on sex, sexual orientation, race, color, religion, national origin, disability or perceived disability, age, marital status, gender identity, veteran status, or any other protected category. The Center encourages applications from historically underrepresented populations. Applying does not constitute a promise or guarantee of being awarded a grant.

Examples of scholarly craft research might include:

• Research providing new insight into work by historical or contemporary craft artists in the U.S. or U.S. territories
• Projects presenting a new understanding of the relationship between hand-made production and digital technologies
• Contributions to the history of craft in the United States
• Projects placing American craft in a global context
• Or other topics that offer fresh perspectives within the field

USE OF FUNDS 

• Grant funds may be used for research-related expenses including travel and living expenses, subcontracted research assistance, support documentation such as images or rights to use images or text, photocopies or other reproductions, purchase of primary source materials, and other incidental research expenses. 
• For museums, galleries, universities, and organizations who are applying to the grant, please limit staffing and overhead costs to 15% of your total budget ask, i.e. if applying for $15,000 in support, total personnel and overhead costs should be a maximum of $2,250.
• For individuals who are applying to the grant, please provide your rationale for your stipend or honorarium in the budget narrative.
• Up to one course buyout
• No capital equipment purchases are eligible for support. Examples of capital equipment may include:  laptops, recorders, printers, or other items not listed. 
• This award does not cover publication printing costs or dissemination  
• For the purpose of this grant, the Center for Craft requires that all grant recipients provide financial remuneration to working artists for their time, labor, and services rendered towards the awarded project scope and goals. For remuneration estimates, we recommend consulting the floor wages listed on the Working Artists and the Greater Economy (W.A.G.E.) fee calculator website at https://wageforwork.com/feecalculator#top‍
• When working with community members, the Center for Craft requires that all grant recipients provide financial remuneration for their time, labor, and services rendered towards the awarded project scope and goals
• For travel purposes, the Center for Craft recommends recipients follow the Federal Travel Regulation and Reimbursement Rates.

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2023 Craft Research Fund Project Grant - Requirements

• Seventy percent of the grant will be awarded upon execution of the grant agreement and receipt of the awardee’s W9. 
• Recipients will provide a status report on the project halfway through the grant period (September 30, 2023). 
• Recipients must provide content for at least one blog post.
• The final thirty percent of the grant will be awarded upon receipt of a final report to include a project narrative, a budget report, and two copies of any publication produced as a result of the research grant. Project and final report must be completed in 18 months, with a deadline of June 30, 2024. If there is no publication, then provide a copy of the completed research in full.
• The Center for Craft recognizes that some projects that include publications may take longer than the designated timeframe of the grant award to publish finalized research. The Center will work with the grant recipient to disburse funds at the date of the Center’s receipt of final, published material, even as that date furthers from the original timeline of the grant period.
• Recipients will acknowledge support from the “Center for Craft Craft Research Fund” in any publications or presentations resulting from the grant.
• The Center for Craft reserves the right to limit support of a project to a particular portion(s) or cost(s).

2023 Craft Research Fund Project Grant - Review Process

Proposals will be reviewed by staff of the Center for Craft for completeness and evaluated by a Selection Panel of jurors through the SlideRoom online application review portal. The Selection Panel consists of recognized craft scholars, faculty and/or curators, free of any conflict of interest, based on the following criteria:

• If completed properly, the proposal will advance scholarship and knowledge on craft in the United States
• The plan for dissemination identifies the audience, is reasonable, and has supporting documentation as appropriate
• The project is feasible based on the timeline, expertise, and budget reflected in the application
• The project addresses the goals of the Craft Research Fund
• The project is consistent with and furthers the mission of the Center for Craft

Considerations in final selection:

The Center for Craft respects, values, and celebrates the unique attributes, characteristics and perspectives that make each person who they are. We foster open communication of diverse perspectives and bring a broad range of individuals together to enrich and support programming. Ultimately we will ask the Selection Panel to compose a set of recipients deserving of further recognition while prioritizing diversity, both in and outside of academia, and representing a range of geographies, materials, and communities served.

The Center for Craft reserves the right to limit support of a project to a particular portion(s) or cost(s).

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2023 Craft Research Fund Project Grant - How to Apply

GRANT ORIENTATION: A virtual application information session will be held on Thursday, September 8, from 3 - 4 pm ET. The information session recording will be made available on the Center for Craft website.

DEADLINE: Applications for the 2023 Craft Research Fund Project Grant must be submitted via SlideRoom no later than 11:59 pm ET on October 21, 2022.

NOTIFICATION: Notification of the results will be sent via email in December 2022 for a start date of January 1, 2023. The email address listed on the application form will be used to send out notifications. Please be sure that it is a valid account that you check regularly.

HOW TO APPLY: Applicants must apply using the online application program SlideRoom at http://www.centerforcraft.slideroom.com. Please review the sample application below before beginning your application. Please note there is a separate application for each Craft Research Fund category.

All applicants should create a login to be able to partially complete the form and return to finish it at a later date. Before submitting your application, you will be directed to a confirmation page where you will be able to review your form and return to edit or delete your uploaded files as needed. Once you submit your application, you will not be able to access your form again. Applicants will receive a confirmation email once the application form has been successfully submitted.

SAMPLE APPLICATION

2023 Craft Research Fund – Project Grant

This is only a sample application, all applications must be completed in SlideRoom.

Demographic Survey

Please note that the data from the demographics section will only be used anonymously for grant writing and reporting to provide an overall understanding of who the Center for Craft serves. Center for Craft has and upholds an organizational nondiscrimination policy. Completion of this survey will in no way affect your application. You must complete the form, however, you may answer each question with the "prefer not to answer" option. Thank you.

1. What is your age?
2. What is your gender identity?
3. Do you identify as LGBTQ?
4. Do you identify as Latinx/Hispanic?
5. What category best describes your race?
6. What is your current household income in US dollars?
7. If you are applying as an Organization or Institution, what is your annual operating budget? Organizations or institutions can provide annual operating budgets based on an average or for the current fiscal year.
8. If you are applying as an Organization or Institution, how many full-time staff members do you currently employ? Please only provide a numerical answer
9. What is the highest level of school you have completed? If currently enrolled, mark the highest degree/level already achieved.
10. Would you like to receive the Center for Craft newsletters?
11. How did you learn about this opportunity?
12. Have you previously applied for a Center for Craft grant/fellowship? 

Cover Sheet 

1. Name (applicant(s) and/or organization)
2. Your title
3. Your personal or project-specific website
4. Grant amount requested (up to $15,000)
5. Are you over the age of 18? (yes or no)
6. Are you able to receive income in the United States or U.S. territories that is taxable by the United States or U.S. territories for the duration of the project period?
7. Please provide a project title (up to 15 words, 85 character limit)
8. Please provide a summary of your research proposal (no more than 50 words, 300 character limit).

Application

1. Please provide a one-page summary of your proposal In 500 words or less (3,000 character limit) please address the following:

• Research question and relevance to the advancement of craft in the United States
• Project goals and objectives 
• Research methodology
• Outcome - Proposals must clearly identify the intended outcome of the research that will be completed within the 18 month grant period, including audiences and/or publishing opportunities. These may include stand-alone publications, peer-reviewed journals, papers presented at a scholarly conference, university colloquium or a public forum, or online publications.
• Dissemination plan - If the project includes an online or ongoing component please describe your sustainability maintenance plan.

2. Identify three other scholars who have written significant works on/around your topic and describe how your work parallels and pushes the topic forward (3,000 character limit: 430 words and 750 words).

3. Timeline (form provided in SlideRoom). Please provide a timeline for completing the project. Grant period begins on January 1, 2022. Projects must be completed by June 30, 2024 (18 months from start date).

4. Budget Income Form (provided in SlideRoom). The budget income form is to note if you have additional sources of secured or anticipated (prospected) income. In addition, please list the total amount requested from the Craft Research Fund here. Please list no more than 10 items.

Examples for Income: 

• Other grants secured/prospected
• Support from institutions (school or university support)
• In-kind support (for example: percentages of salaries or hourly rates for time commitments)

5.Budget Expense Form for your proposal (provided in SlideRoom).  Please list no more than 20 items. The minimum budget request should be $5,000; the maximum budget request should be $15,000. Projects may exceed $15,000 if other support is listed in the budget. 

Expense examples: 

• Support Stipends/Honoraria (List research assistants with names)
• Travel/Expenses (include lodging and meals, itemized per destination)
• Contracted Services (such as photography)
• Support documentation such as images or rights to use images or text, photocopies or other reproductions, purchase of primary source materials, and other incidental research expenses

6. Budget Narrative. Please provide a narrative for any budget items that require further explanation. (3,000 character limit: between 430 words and 750 words)

7. Attachment: Resume or CV of relevant education and experience (no more than 2 pages).

8. Attachment: Please provide the project description (no more than 5 pages, in no less than 12-point type). 

9. Please provide a bibliography with at least ten sources. (3,000 character limit: 430 words and 750 words)

10. Requested through SlideRoom - please provide two letters of support. 

• One letter of support from a scholar in the field who has expertise pertinent to the project and is not affiliated with this project
• One letter of support from an institution, publication, organization, and/or participant, other than the applicant, who is affiliated with the project. References should be requested via SlideRoom and are due at the same time as the application, October 21, 2022 at 11:59 pm ET.

11. Optional Media Attachment: Image(s), articles, PDF or other supporting documents that compliment or add clarity to the proposal.

Allowed Media Types: 

• Images (up to 5MB each) 
• Video (up to 250MB each) 
• Audio (up to 30MB each) 
• PDFs (up to 10MB each)
• 3D Models via Sketchfab 
• External media from YouTube, Vimeo, and SoundCloud Only

You have the option of uploading any combination of images or video links (from hosting sites such as Vimeo, Flickr, or YouTube.) During the review process, only the first 2 minutes of each video sample, so please edit your materials accordingly. Images should be in a JPEG format no larger than 1600 pixels on any side @ 300 dpi. Name each jpeg file with “Last NameImageTitleNumber.jpg,” i.e., “SmithUntitled1.jpg”, “SmithUnititled2.jpg” etc. Each uploaded image or video link must be accompanied by a corresponding image description (up to 50 words). Please include title, date, medium, size, and a short description of each uploaded image or media file.

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2023 Craft Research Fund Project Grant - FAQ

Can my graduate advisor write a supporting letter of reference for me?

Yes, and we recommend that graduate advisors write letters of support for applicants.

Where can I find information about previous recipients of the Craft Research Fund Project Grant?‍

Check out our online Grant Recipient Archive here. You can sort by grant opportunity by clicking on “Grant” or search “Project” in the search Filter. ‍

What is the final deadline for submitting my online application form?‍

The application for 2023 Craft Research Fund - Project grants must be submitted via SlideRoom no later than 11:59 pm EST on October 21, 2021.

‍May I mail a hard copy of my application materials to the Center for Craft’s office?‍

No, hard copy submissions will not be accepted. The application must be completed and submitted through SlideRoom.

‍Can I work on my application and return to complete it at a later date?‍

Yes, creating a login account will enable you to complete the form in several online sessions.

‍I just submitted my application but I want to return to it and make an edit. Is this possible?‍

No, once your application is submitted, you will not be able to return to the form or change any submitted information. The application fee must also be paid at the time of submitting your application as you will not be able to log-in again to access the payment page again.

I have previously received a Center for Craft grant. Am I eligible to apply? 

Yes 

I have previously received a Center for Craft grant but did not complete the project or am still in the progress of completing the project I was funded for. Am I eligible to apply? 

No

Are applicants responsible for obtaining copyrights to documents, images, and manuscripts included in their research? 

Yes

Are collaboratives allowed to apply?

Collaboratives are welcome to apply. There must be one fiduciary agent for the group or one person who will receive the award funds as this person will be responsible for paying taxes on the award amount funded.

I have a question that wasn’t answered. How can I reach the Center for Craft?

If you have any further questions, please contact grants@centerforcraft.org.

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