Arts Writers Grant

Overview

The Andy Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant supports emerging and established writers who write about contemporary visual art. Grants range from $15,000 to $50,000 in four categories: articles, books, short-form writing, and translation. The program supports projects addressing both general and specialized art audiences, from short reviews to in-depth scholarly studies, including art writing that engages criticism through interdisciplinary methods and experiments with literary styles.

Key Dates

• April 1, 2026: Application opens
• May 6, 2026: Application closes (11:59pm ET)
• December 2, 2026: Grantees announced

Eligibility

Applicants must be individuals who are US citizens, permanent residents, or O-1 visa holders; at least 25 years old; published authors writing about contemporary visual art. Eligible applicants include art historians, artists, critics, curators, journalists, or writers in other fields strongly engaged with contemporary visual arts.

Ineligibility

Not eligible: those applying on behalf of an organization; those whose primary role will be as editor; full-time degree-seeking students (except those maintaining professional writing careers); artists/writers/curators writing interpretive essays on their own practice; projects that are primarily fiction, poetry, memoir, or screenwriting; projects based on PhD dissertations or MA theses; Q&A interviews; projects about Andy Warhol; archives or databases; projects published by commercial galleries; those simultaneously applying for Creative Capital Award; those applying with the same project for which they received Creative Capital Award; former Arts Writers Grant grantees; current employees, consultants, board members, funders of Creative Capital or Andy Warhol Foundation, or their immediate family members.

Project Types

Applicants must choose one project type per grant cycle: Article (single longform text), Book, Short-Form Writing (multiple texts such as essays, reviews, or features), or Translation (book-length projects about contemporary visual art translated from other languages into English).

Application Requirements

Submit online at artswritersgrant.slideroom.com. The application includes questions about publication history/bibliography, potential publishers, and project proposal. Writing samples should demonstrate your strength as a writer and connect to your project proposal. Recent writing is encouraged; unpublished chapters or excerpts are acceptable. Writing samples do not need to be previously published.

About Contemporary Visual Art

By "contemporary visual art," the grant means visual art made since World War II. Projects on post-WWII work in adjacent fields—architecture, dance, film, media, music, performance, sound—will only be considered if they directly and significantly engage the discourses and concerns of contemporary visual art.

Review Process

All proposals are evaluated on the strength of the writing and project proposal, as well as the applicant's capacity to realize the project based on samples and publication history. The review process has two steps: first, each application is reviewed by two outside evaluators; second, applications with the highest scores advance to a final round where a panel of outside jurors selects grantees.

Publisher Requirements

You do not need a confirmed publisher to apply. The application includes a question about "potential publishers" where you can address imagined publishers or publications, or discuss more experimental strategies for publication or distribution.