Our new funding programme reflects our values and expansive approach to British art and its histories. This means that:
For each funding opportunity we provide full details on funding, assessment and eligibility:
You may also find answers to specific questions about our processes and your application on our Frequently Asked Questions webpage.
On this page we provide a deeper dive into questions relating to the kind of research we can - and can't - support.
We support original, rigorous and timely research that will contribute to the study and interpretation of British art, architecture and visual culture.
We maintain an expansive understanding of British art. We can support projects relating to the medieval period up to the present day, including topics which may involve global histories and contexts. However, all proposed projects or activities should have a clear historical and critical dimension, including those that explore recent or contemporary artistic practice, and they should express a relationship to the broader field of British art, architecture or visual culture.
Each funding opportunity has its own criteria, which may be quite specific. You are advised to look at these closely as you prepare your application.
Each of our funding opportunities has its own eligibility criteria. Please ensure you read these carefully and adhere to the eligibility criteria described.
Organisations
Our organisational grants support organisations, institutions, nonprofits, publishers or other entities which holds a dedicated business account.
All organisations must provide proof of legal registration, a governing document or equivalent proof, with their application. If an organisation is awarded a grant, then the funding must be paid into an account held by the organisation named in the application.
Individuals
Our Scholarships, Fellowships and individual grants can support academics, scholars, authors, curators and museum professionals, postgraduate students and independent researchers. Eligibility for each award category is detailed on the specific remit webpage.
All applicants must demonstrate they are undertaking research-led projects. If an individual is awarded a grant, then the funding must be paid into an account held by the individual named in the application or, if required, directly to the individual’s place of employment if it is to be taken as staff replacement costs.
All of our funding opportunities are open to international applicants.
We were founded in 1970 by Paul Mellon, an American philanthropist who had a deep love of English literature and British history and art. You can find out more about Paul Mellon and his collection of British art here. Paul Mellon believed it was important to promote the study of British art history and he founded the Paul Mellon Centre (PMC) in London to support this mission.
We understand that the definition of what is meant by “British art” is open to interpretation and over the past decade have actively expanded the boundaries of what we engage with and support.
The field of British art studies encompasses a broad range of media, themes and topics relating to the artistic and cultural histories of Britain, past and present.
All applicants should demonstrate the impact and/or relevance to the field of British art in their application form.
We recognise that research can take many different forms, ranging from the documentary to the theoretical, the established and the emerging. However, our funding is directed at research-led projects and activities that are rigorous in their critical and analytical methods and will yield original insights. We advise that whatever form your project or practice takes, you should put research at the forefront of your applications and demonstrate clearly what original contribution this work would make to the wider field.
All applications should set out clear research questions and justify their proposed methodology. Applicants should also demonstrate how the project relates to our wider mission to support the generation of ideas and promote the sharing of knowledge about British art to create better understandings of the past, present, and potential futures.
Applications for projects involving practice-based research are eligible for our funding schemes. It is generally expected that practice-based research would be one element of a project characterised by standard research methodologies, and that all elements of the project would demonstrate rigorous critical and analytical methods.
Applications are decided upon by our Advisory Council, the list of current members can be found here. The number of good applications is likely to exceed the funding available, so the Advisory Council are advised to use some or all of the following criteria to help them in making decisions on how best to allocate funding:
- originality and distinctness in the context of current scholarship
- contribution to scholarship in the longer term
- timeliness, where a project is connected with a particular moment or opportunity
- where a grant would support work in a geographical or cultural context which has not hitherto been supported by the PMC
- need, where the research would be unlikely to go ahead without this support
- impact and inclusion, where the research would include voices or reach a broader range of people than have hitherto been represented in the field of British art studies
- feasibility and quality of application; the information provided is thorough, clear and demonstrates that the project can be undertaken in the time and manner proposed
- value for money and environmental impact; the research has a realistic and appropriate budget, and environmental impacts have been given consideration (e.g. alternative forms of transport)
As an institution, we pledge ourselves to ensuring that the histories of British art are enriched and made more relevant to a broader range of people in the future. The inclusion of voices, narratives and experiences that have been marginalised or excluded in the past will have a transformational impact on the future of PMC and upon British art studies. Although such inclusion is not an assessment category in and of itself, the demonstration of the potential impact of research projects on thefield of British art studies should be factored into the application form.
We cannot support projects in which the main focus is:
- Archaeology, unless the research focuses on the visual characteristics of material culture
- Classical or pre-Medieval visual culture, we can only support projects with a focus from the Medieval period to the present day
- Current architectural practice
- Performing arts, projects concerned with performance art are permitted
- Contemporary artistic practice or art production, unless it meets our criteria for practice-based research
- Screenwriting, literature, or fiction writing
Each award category has specific requirements and restrictions, please note these when preparing to apply.
Please always contact us prior to submitting your application if you have a query about whether your project is eligible.
Whilst we don’t provide examples of previously successful applications, we have put together a document to help you write your application, this can be found at the bottom of each remit webpage.