The Inquiry Form for the Graham Grant For Individuals is available online. It is an inquiry to apply for a grant to be awarded next June 15th, The deadline for the inquiry is September 15th and the application is due in December-January.
Much of the writing I have been doing has been processing my thoughts for applying for this grant so if you read this newsletter, you understand what my concept is about.
The grant allows for collaborators. Collaborators would make the application stronger. This is a community project so it needs a community to participate in developing it. Getting people to collaborate is not my strong point so I am looking for that skill set among others. I don’t want to define the skill sets further to keep the initial stage inclusive. That can happen later if some skill sets are lacking. This is a people project for the people who are not being heard by the current leadership.
Inquiry Text:
Provide details below for the Primary Contact. If the application includes a collaborative of individuals, one person must be designated as the Primary Contact for the project.
A collaborator is defined as a coauthor of the project; if a grant is awarded, each collaborator is considered a grantee and is asked to sign a grant agreement. Given this, a collaborator is not a participant who is providing contracted services for the project.
I am applying in the category of research and development category as it is the first stage.
This grant is very different than most. It specifically targets individuals where as other foundations specifically exclude individuals from applying. It also prioritizes those who have never received a grant before, indicating that it is looking for the voices that haven’t been participating.
For individuals, Graham Foundation grant priorities are to:
- Provide opportunities to create, develop, and communicate challenging ideas about architecture and the designed environment
- Support efforts to take positions, develop new forms of expression, engage debate around architecture and related fields, and reach new and broader audiences
- Contribute to an applicant’s creative, intellectual, and professional growth at a
crucial or potentially transformative career stage - Amplify emerging and underrecognized perspectives in architecture and design by giving priority to first-time applicants
Criteria for Evaluation
Projects with the greatest potential for funding directly connect to the Graham Foundation’s mission to explore ideas in architecture and fulfill the following criteria:
- Originality: the project demonstrates an innovative and challenging idea; critical, independent thinking; advanced scholarship; a new or experimental approach
- Potential for impact: the project makes a meaningful contribution to discourse and/or to the field; expands knowledge; is a catalyst for future inquiry; raises awareness of an understudied issue; promotes diversity in subject matter, participants, and audience
- Feasibility: the project has clear and realistic goals, timeframe, work plan, and budget
- Capacity: The applicant possesses strong qualifications and/or knowledge; demonstrates ability to carry out the project successfully; has access to necessary resources outside of the grant request
If you are interested in a possible collaboration, drop me a note, here or elsewhere. One of the goals of the project will be to develop methods to gather people together around the project as a collective.
