GRANTS FOR ART HISTORY

To further our mission to advance the study and practice of art history, the Association for Art History offer grants of up to £1,000 which provide support to aid scholarly research, to develop professional practice and to further the teaching and learning of art history at all education levels.

What we fund:

Grants to aid scholarly research include support for:

– Symposia, conferences and workshops
– Travel to libraries, archives and collections
– Delivery of research findings at conferences
– Catalogues and public engagement programmes for exhibitions
– Access to images controlled by third party rights holders

Grants to develop professional practice within art history include:

– Participation in museum and gallery training programmes in curatorial and public engagement areas

Grants to support the teaching and learning of art history in schools include:

– Teachers’ continuing professional development
– Formal and informal learning opportunities for students

Grants applicants must be members of the Association for Art History.  Applicants may include academics, independent researchers, curators and other museum/gallery professionals, students, teachers, and artists.

Please complete the relevant application form and equality & diversity monitoring form, available to download and return to grants@forarthistory.org.uk.

We hold two rounds of applications a year, deadlines are in September and March.

Applicants will be notified of the results of their applications two months after the date of application deadline for the September round, and one month after the application deadline for the March round. As such, the grant period for this September round of grants will effectively begin on 1st December 2026.

Next application deadline Wednesday, 31 March 2027, 5pm.

For further information see our Funding FAQs and Terms and Conditions for Grants.

• Scholarly research form
• Professional practice form
• Teaching and learning form
• EDI-Monitoring-Form_Applications

Conference ticket grant 

Association for Art History Annual Conference 2027

Our Conference Ticket Grant provides financial support to help members facing financial barriers to attend the Annual Conference. It aims to ensure cost is not an unnecessary barrier to accessing the learning, networking, and professional development opportunities the conference offers.

Grants cover the conference registration fee and will be awarded based on demonstrated financial need.

Funding for the scheme is limited, and we anticipate that the Association will not be able to support all applicants. Meeting the eligibility criteria does not guarantee an award.

Applicants who demonstrate exceptional financial need may also be considered for a contribution towards travel and/or accommodation costs, up to a maximum amount determined by the Association. This is typically £100-£200 in addition to the registration fee. Any such support is discretionary and cannot be guaranteed.

Applicants who are unsuccessful in securing a grant will still be eligible to purchase tickets at the early-bird rate until 7 February.

Eligibility Criteria

Applicants must:

• Be current members of the Association for Art History.
• Confirm that they do not have access to sufficient institutional, employer or other funding to cover the conference registration fee.
• Submit their grant application before registering for the conference. Retrospective grant applications will not be considered.

Please complete our application form

Deadline: 8 January 2027

UNDERGRADUATE AND POSTGRADUATE DISSERTATION PRIZES

This prize is for dissertations in art history or visual culture.

The Association for Art History Dissertation Prize is awarded each year. There are two awards: one for undergraduate dissertations and one for postgraduate (Master’s-level) dissertations. 

The authors of the winning entry will receive:
• £50 worth of book tokens
• Association for Art History student membership for one year
• Complimentary ticket to the Annual Conference
• Publication of a 300-word abstract of the winning entry online and in e-newsletter
• Your prize will be formally awarded and announced at the annual conference

Nomination and submission deadlines for the undergraduate dissertation prize are usually in August, and for the postgraduate dissertation prize, they are usually early December. 

Calls for submissions are announced on social media and in our Latest News.

Dissertation Prizes are assessed and shortlisted by our Doctoral and Early Career Research Committee.

Undergraduate Dissertation Prize application deadline: Sunday 13 September 2026, 5pm, now closed.

Postgraduate Dissertation Prize application deadline: Monday 4 January 2027, 5pm  

To apply, please follow the Dissertation Prize guidelines and complete the relevant form, available to download and return to info@forarthistory.org.uk

• Dissertation Prize guidelines
• Dissertation Prize entry form
• Dissertation Prize nomination form

UNDERGRADUATE VIDEO PRIZE

This prize is open to UK undergraduate students studying art history or visual culture.

We invite students to create short videos (up to 90 seconds) reflecting on their experience of studying art history. Videos can cover any aspect of their studies.

The aim of the prize is to highlight the value of studying art history and to share real student experiences with prospective students.

Videos can be simple and creative—professional production values are not required, and filming on a phone is fine. One winner and two highly commended entries will be selected.

The Winning and Highly Commended videos will be showcased on the Association’s social media during the Art History Festival (5–11 October 2026) and screened at a Festival event in London, to which the winner may attend to receive their prize. Travel costs to London will be reimbursed for students attending from outside the city.

Calls for submissions are announced in June on social media and in our Jobs and Opportunities.

How to enter: Please send submissions to info@forarthistory.org.uk

Submission Deadline: Sunday, 27 September 2026, at 23:59 (BST), now closed.

CURATORIAL PRIZES

The Association for Art History seeks to acknowledge the achievements and contributions of curators in public museums and galleries in the UK by awarding annual prizes in the following key areas: exhibitions, collections display, and publications. The prizes recognise the essential work of curators in creating knowledge and sharing research with varied audiences, as well as in providing expertise about collections and the history of art more generally.

Prizes will be awarded annually to curators or teams of curators whose work in museums and galleries has best demonstrated excellence, originality, contemporary relevance and public value. The prize-winners will be selected by a panel of leading figures in the field. 

Details of the 2026 prize winners can be found in our Latest News.

2026 Curatorial Prize Judging Panel

Exhibitions and Displays:

• Caroline Campbell – Director, National Gallery of Ireland
• Tristram Hunt – Director, V&A Museum
• Sarah Munro – Artistic Director/CEO, Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art
• Sook-Kyung Lee – Director, Whitworth Art Gallery and Professor of Curatorial Practice, The University of Manchester

Curatorial Writing and Publications:

• Gillian Malpas – CEO, Modern Art Press 
• Christine Riding – Director of Collections and Research, National Gallery
• Fatoş Üstek – Independent Curator and Writer 
• Kamini Vellodi – Head of Painting, Royal College of Art

The application deadline for the 2027 awards, for projects which debuted in 2026, is Spring 2027, date to be announced.

Details of the 2027 Curatorial Prize will be shared in our Latest News.

ART HISTORY RESIDENCY

The Art History Residency supports a researcher in art history or visual culture by providing dedicated time and space to further their work.

The Association for Art History and the Ampersand Foundation award the Art History Residency annually. The residency offers a researcher the opportunity for concentrated time at Wigwell Lodge in the Derbyshire countryside.

The Association is happy to announce we have added a second Art History Residency. The 2027-2028 Art History Residencies will run from October 2027 to January 2028. We are offering one residency from 1 October to 31 December, 2027 and a second one directly following for the month of January 2028.

The residents will receive:
•  A funded research residency at Wigwell Lodge
• Dedicated time for concentrated research
• Support from the Association for Art History and the Ampersand Foundation
• An invitation to deliver an Association for Art History lecture on completion of the residency

Calls for applications for the Art History Residency are announced on social media and in our Latest News.

Deadline for applications: 4 November 2026 at 5:00pm.

UK Curators in Venice with art fund and AAH

Association for Art History in a brand new partnership with Art Fund  is delighted to offer up to 8 fully funded places for UK museum and gallery curators who are at an early-to-mid-stage in their career to attend a four-day professional development programme focused on the Venice Art Biennale in September 2026.

This programme will bring together a group of early-to-mid-career curators to participate in a carefully designed schedule of visits, tours, behind-the-scenes access and networking opportunities.

The programme will be hosted by Art Fund and the Association for Art History and will include:

• online pre-programme session
• tour of Giardini Biennale Pavilions (including the British Pavilion) and Arsenale exhibitions
• visits to Wales in Venice and Scotland + Venice presentations
• private collection and artist studio visits

The UK Curators in Venice 2026 with Art Fund and the Association for Art History takes place in Venice from Tuesday 15 – Friday 18 September.

“The Association is very pleased to offer, along with the Art Fund, this great opportunity to early- and mid-career curators who would not otherwise be able to visit the biennale.  It is an important element in our effort to support UK curators’ professional development and community building in addition to the resources we produce for curators, the events we stage, and the curatorial prizes that we award. We are happy to be working with the Art Fund on the programme and are grateful to members of our Curatorial Committee for supporting it.” Gregory Perry, CEO Association for Art HIstory

More info

The next deadline for applications is to be announced..

Calls for applications are announced on social media and in our Latest News