Exhibition Publication Grants

Exhibition Publication Grants are intended to make possible exhibition publications on the subject of British art and architecture which would otherwise not appear, or which would appear in a reduced specification.

A maximum grant of £6,000 is available to support costs associated with the production of exhibition catalogues in print. The following costs may be claimed:

• printing and binding
• design and layout
• licensing of images, reproduction and copyright costs
• graphics
• indexing
• production
• commission of new photography
• marketing/publicity
• editing

A maximum of £6,000 will be paid as a lump sum. Only one grant application can be made per publication.

Our funding programme supports research, educational activities and the dissemination of knowledge in the fields of British art and architectural history, from the medieval period to the present day and across the spectrum of relevant geographical and cultural contexts. Our remit is broadly defined and adapts as the interests of those working in our field change. It encompasses art made in Britain or by British artists, but is not solely limited to art made, or artists from, within the geographical boundaries of the British Isles. Rather we understand the field of British art studies to encompass a broad range of subjects and topics related to the artistic and cultural histories of Britain, past and present.

We do not offer grants and fellowships in field archaeology, the current practice of architecture or the performing arts. Applications in the fields of photography, performance and film and digital media will need to demonstrate their relevance to British art studies.

Only applications from organisations or publishers concerning publications intended to be published for, or after, an exhibition will be considered for this award. Applicants looking for support for author costs of publishing any printed work of British art history can apply for the Author Grant (Large).

Publication projects should be ready to go to press within two years from January 2026. The PMC does not make any retrospective awards for books already published nor will it accept applications for funding for books due to be published before the end of 2025.

The Exhibition Publication Grants are intended to support organisational and publisher production costs as listed in the Scope section of this guidance. New or revised editions, translations of works already published and costs relating to open access publications are not eligible under this programme of funding.

For further questions on eligibility please contact the Grants & Fellowships Manager at [email protected].

Exhibition Publication Grants are awarded in our autumn round of funding.

The next round of Exhibition Publication Grants will open for applications on Monday 4 August and close Tuesday 30 September.

To apply for an Exhibition Publication Grant, you must use our online system at grants.paul-mellon-centre.ac.uk. Once registered you will be able to fill out the online application form (an example of which can be downloaded below) and provide the details of one referee. The option to provide the referee details will be available once the application is submitted. We will contact the nominated referee with details on how they can submit their reference which must be completed through our online system and must be no more than five hundred words.

The referee should have first-hand knowledge of the subject area for which funding is being sought, or the author or editor’s academic career. The Advisory Council would like to be informed of the originality of the subject matter and the applicant’s suitability to pursue such research.

Applications and nominated referee details must be received by the application deadline; the referee will have until Friday 10th October to complete their reference.

• A copy of the published work must be sent to the PMC on completion.
• The PMC must be acknowledged within the published work and guidelines on this will be provided to all successful applicants.
• The full terms and conditions of grant awards can be read here.