Applications are accepted through artistfound.org ONLY.
No FAX, e-mail, courier, mail, or other delivery methods.
E-mail info@artistfound.org if electronic submission is not possible.

Eligibility & Guidlines

Individual, professional artists may apply for an award of $5,000 to help underwrite the costs of creating new works of exceptional quality. Awards are granted for the creation of new, original work. The Foundation makes awards for a specific project to originators/ creators of art and artistic production. The Foundation does not normally make awards to artists solely for performance (singer, dancer, musician, actor, etc.) unless it is in the context of an original project. This distinction should be carefully noted before undertaking the work entailed in applying for an award.

Who May Apply:

• Foundation awards are open to individual artists who create original work
• All artists must be United States citizens or Resident Aliens
• All applicants must be residents of Bexar County, Texas for:
  • 12 consecutive months, as of the date of application
  • and at least 18 yrs old
• Artists proposing a project must demonstrate one or more of the following characteristics:
  • a potential for artistic growth
  • a significant shift in their work
  • or a challenging exploration with new materials, concepts or artistic practices
  • only professional artists demonstrating high artistic quality should apply
• The Foundation will confirm applicant eligibility

Definition of Professional Artists

Individuals are considered to be professional artists if they:

• earn at least part of their annual income in their artistic disciplines
• consider their artistic endeavors as a career
• make a significant time investment in their artistic disciplines through practice, performance and production

Who May Not Apply:

• Applicants may not be, nor related to current panelists.
• Applicants who received a previous Foundation award are not eligible to apply for 5 years from the award date.
• Groups of artists are not eligible only individual artists may apply.
• You may not apply if you are a student:
  • enrolled in an art or art-related college
  • planning to attend an art or art-related college
• Awards may not be used to support academic research or to study toward an academic professional degree.
• Artist Foundation awards are not awarded to commercial artists or crafts-makers or any artist whose work primarily falls into commercial, advertising art, crafts and decorative art categories.
• Previous Foundation award recipients may not reapply for 5 years.

What is Not funded:

The Foundation does not make grants to pay for:

• past debts or legal fees
• the purchase of real estate
• moves to other cities
• the costs of installations, commissions or projects ordered by others

Normally, the Foundation will not support travel grants.

Robert L.B. Tobin Grand Prize for Artistic Excellence:

All winners from all categories will be considered for the Robert L.B. Tobin Grand Prize for Artistic Excellence in the amount of $7,500. The Foundation Board of Directors will select the recipient.

Selection Process and Review Criteria

The Artist Foundation invites professional artists, curators, and representatives from the various disciplines to serve on the Awards Committee.  The Awards and Grants Committee nominates the judging panel and strives to find panelists who reflect the diverse population of Bexar County and San Antonio, Texas. 

Each judging panel will be comprised of 3 (three) to 5 (five) panel members.  All decisions of the panels will be submitted to the Artist Foundation Board and the Board will make the final awards decisions. 

Applicants are evaluated primarily on the artistic excellence of the submitted samples.
Artistic excellence refers to:

• The originality and vision of your work
• Technical skill/mastery of the artistic discipline as evidenced by the artist's work samples
• The technique or process used to create the work
• Professional background of the artist and evidence of continuing commitment to their artistic process, as evidenced in their resume.

Conflict of Interest Policy: The Foundation requires panelists to disclose any potential conflicts of interests. If a personal relationship exists between a panelist and an applicant that may compromise the ability of the panelist to act as a neutral evaluator, the panelist is required to leave the room during jury evaluations and abstain from voting for that applicant.