We offer support for artists in three particular ways:

Jerwood Visual Arts

Jerwood Visual Arts (JVA) is a year round contemporary gallery programme of awards, exhibitions, and events at Jerwood Space, London, which then tours the UK. JVA is developed and run by the Jerwood Charitable Foundation; as a major initiative it represents about a third of our work and resources. The programme currently comprises the Jerwood Drawing Prize, Jerwood Makers Open, Jerwood Painting Fellowships and the Jerwood Encounters series. We also run a talks and events programme, host a writer in residence placement and support a rolling Traineeship in gallery management. Across all elements of the programme we showcase and commission emerging artists and engage debate around their work.

All of our major programmes are open submission and details of how to apply can be found at www.jerwoodvisualarts.org.

Our commitment to visual artists and makers through Jerwood Visual Arts means that we are rarely able to support visual arts projects outside of the programme. Please call our office on 020 7261 0279 to discuss the suitability of your project before spending time on an application.

Large Grants

Large grants refer to recurring relationships over a period of years, or to awards of more than £10,000. These partnerships tend to be developed proactively or through ongoing conversation with potential applicants, responding to key needs and issues within arts sectors. This fund allows us to develop strategic approaches to supporting artists through nurturing or professional development programmes founded and run by established arts organisations (for example through the Jerwood Opera Writing Programme at Aldeburgh Music or the Jerwood/Arvon Mentoring Scheme with the Arvon Foundation). Through this fund we also support research and development initiatives supporting experimentation or to generate new work or new collaborations (the Jerwood Studio at Sadler's Wells, The Opera Group's Incubator), investigation into sectoral or policy provision (Dance UK's Dancer's Health), and commissioning initiatives (Aurora Orchestra’s Jerwood Commissions, the Jerwood/Artangel Open). Due to the limitations of our funding, we do not offer general support for production costs, touring or staging exhibitions.

Information on the above projects and programmes can be found within our Current Projects.

Small Grants

We also support a broader number of small grants for one-off projects, generally under £10,000. This fund allows us to explore new relationships, work directly with individual artists, take risks and support research or development of future ideas. At the heart of every small grant is a targeted or particular professional or sectoral development opportunity to be explored. Due to the limitations of our funding, we do not offer general support for production costs, touring or staging exhibitions. Please see Small Grants for examples of projects we have supported.

Further Information

Where we are able, and it is appropriate, we may wish to be sole funder of a project, but we also provide partnership funding and run co-commissioned projects with other funders (such as Take Five in conjunction with Serious Music and the PRS for Music Foundation). We aim to monitor chosen projects closely and sympathetically, and are keen to seek visible recognition of our support.

For more information on How We Work visit our Current Projects or view our Annual Reports. 

For details on making an application see How to Apply.