2024 - 2025 research +
development grants

The Snapdragon Fund is a partnership between VAE Raleigh and The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. To meet the continued needs of our creative community, the Snapdragon Fund has allocated funds in this cycle for the new Research + Development grant. As opposed to the previous One-Year Research Grant, the new R+D Grant represents a two-year commitment: the first year to the research component with the latter committed to a public culmination of the prior year’s work. Grantees will be awarded $2,000 in the first year (2025) to support research and $5,000 in the second year (2026) to support the practical application of that research for a total grant amount of $7,000.

We encourage self-identifying visual artists living in Cumberland, Durham, Edgecombe, Franklin, Harnett, Johnston, Lee, Nash, Orange, Wake, Wayne, and Wilson counties to apply.

Snapdragon Fund will prioritize the most vulnerable artists among us: BIPOC artists, gender-non conforming and transgender artists, artists with disabilities, immigrant and/or non-documented artists, and artists experiencing housing insecurity.

ABOUT R+D GRANTS
While the award can be used to pay for a wide range of resources as before (including but not limited to classes, books, academic journal databases, workshops, seminars, and consultations), the relationship between these expenses, associated work, and the future project must be made clear. As a two-year grant, this importantly entails a shift in VAE’s relationship to Snapdragon Fund grantees in this category, as we seek to provide greater support and guidance as part of this process. Likewise, we seek to cultivate greater community and collaboration among each cohort (via gatherings, meetings, etc.). The Research + Development Grant is intended to more clearly delineate this opportunity from professional development and instead assure a clarity of purpose and intent, as well as a sharper sense of material outcome at the root.

The Fund recognizes that one year of research may not yield the same results as Project grantees who are often backed by additional years of research and experience. With that in mind, we do not expect R+D grantees to present projects at the same scale as full Project grantees. We expect these R+D projects to be more rough around the edges and reflect a more DIY approach, but still demonstrate a strong, obvious impact on the communities they center/serve.

WHAT WE WANT TO FUND

The primary goal of the Snapdragon Fund is to support community-centered, artist-organized projects of high artistic merit. The Fund seeks proposals with visual arts at the root which engage and explore a wide variety of media including, but not limited to; performance, new + digital media (photo, film, sound, games), publishing, craft work, archives, and installations. Additionally, Snapdragon will be pushing for an increase in proposals from collaborative teams.

APPLICATION GUIDELINES

Once you begin your application, you will have the option to save and return to the form.

Are there any accessibility accommodations that would allow you to better complete this application (including submitting in other formats), please contact Ava Procknow, ava@vaeraleigh.org or call 919.828.7834 and leave a voicemail.

1) Contact Info

Artists must live in Cumberland, Durham, Edgecombe, Franklin, Harnett, Johnston, Lee, Nash, Orange, Wake, Wayne, or Wilson county.
Please provide the following information: Name, Email, Phone Number, Mailing Address, County, Website/Social Media Handle (Optional), and Demographic Information.

2) Bio + Artist Information

Please provide a short bio (max 100 words) as well as your artist resume/CV and artist statement. Focus on experience relevant to your research proposal.

3) Research Information

The more you provide, the better VAE and the panelists will get to know you and your practice.

  • Please describe the area of interest on which you will be performing research.

  • Please explain how your proposal connects with visual arts. If your proposal engages visual arts with and/or through other mediums or disciplines, please explain.

  • Please describe the impact of this research, be sure to include the demographics and communities this research will reach and impact.

  • Please describe the timeline of your research. This should reflect your research activities for the first year of this grant. If awarded, you will be required to submit a timeline for year two activities.

  • Please describe how your research will materialize in year two. You do not need to have anything finalized, but do need to provide a loose outline for your ideal proposal outcome. If awarded, you will be required to submit a revised year two proposal following completion of the research phase.

4) Budget
Please attach a budget that lists all anticipated expenses for the research phase of your proposal. If awarded, you will not be required to submit a full budget for the second year or funding until after the research phase has been completed.

You are not expected to have additional income for your proposal outside of the Snapdragon Fund grant, but please include any additional funding that has been secured and detail any additional fundraising that is planned. Your budget must show a zero balance between your Expenses and Income.

5) Artistic Proof
Your artistic proof should help the review panel understand your proposal, its goals, and your ability to realize them. For each item submitted, please include a description and relevant explanatory notes (max 50 words per entry). Please provide up to 9 examples, including:

  • Images (up to 5 total, max 2MB each - .jpeg, .jpg., .gif and .png are accepted)

  • Website URL (up to 2 total - must reflect visual art events you have participated in within the past two years (e.g. an exhibition, market, or other public showing of your art)

  • Audio/Video (up to 2 total, max 2 min each - video files must be hosted on a video platform such as YouTube or Vimeo; include a password in the description section if your account is private)

APPLICATION REVIEW

All applications will be reviewed by a panel of five community members who represent the creative communities from the twelve eligible counties. The application, detailed above, is designed to give applicants the opportunity to fully explain complex and layered ideas. Panelists will review applications based on innovation, community engagement, artistic excellence, connection to the visual arts, community commitment, and feasibility.

PANELISTS

Panelist announcement coming soon!

HAVE ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS? CONTACT US:
ava@vaeraleigh.org