Currently, candidate selection is made from us hand picking what we believe to be an artist with potential and considerable talent. While this system currently relies on us browsing many online art databases or personal websites, if the fund is met with success and gains a decent amount of recognition we will be willing to start an application process which will be designed if the need for it arises.
Also, we are currently only providing funding to artists who draw or paint. While we regret only supporting a limited selection of artists at this time, once we gain experience in our first couple years we hope to expand the scope of the project to include many other forms of art.
There is currently only one requirement for those offered a grant and that is the submission of a portfolio containing all of their work (sketches, experimental drawings, completed B&W/Color work, adult works, paintings, digital work, ect.) from the past two years. While this does not at the moment apply to one year grant candidates as they are currently selected from online works they have posted, the portfolio is a necessary component of the four year grant. An artist receiving a four year grant must submit an initial portfolio like the one described above as it will be used as a foundation to compare to annual portfolios the artist must submit containing all the work they had done that year. This is done to judge the progress the artist has made during that year and to assure us the artist is still actively pursuing their art and thus a good investment for continued sponsorship. Also, while a cover letter explaining plans for the grant that year is beneficial to us it is not necessary.
Though we are hoping this is a rare occurrence, we will be inclined to pull funding from an artist if performance is considerably sub par compared to previous years (low number of new creations in particular even when accounting in how busy college and art school are). Funding may also be pulled if the grant money is not used for its intended purposes. If either of these two are the case, the artist will be contacted and a suitable explanation must be given to assure that funding continues.
The portfolio can be given to us either through e-mail (see Contact Information) as an attachment or through the mail. Currently, Charles Bunce is accepting all portfolios so if you are to send us your portfolio, please send them through his e-mail address or to his mailing address (which he will send to you if you desire your portfolio to be sent by mail). If you do mail your portfolio, printed media is fine as well as disc media such as CDs or DVDs, we aren't picky. All art work sent by either method is under copyright by their respective artists and will be treated with utmost care to assure their security after they have left the artist's hands.
