Wyeth Publication Grant
Wyeth Grant Guidelines
CAA is pleased to announce the establishment of the Wyeth Foundation for American Art Publication Grant, a generous three-year program from the Wyeth Foundation for American Art to support the publication of books on American art.
In winter 2008, 2009, and 2010, CAA will award a publication grant or grants (totaling $30,000 each year) to support one or more book-length scholarly manuscripts in the history of American art, visual studies, and related subjects that have been accepted by a publisher on their merits but cannot be published in the most desirable form without a subsidy. Awards are to publishers, not authors. An average of one to three awards is anticipated each year.
Definition
For purposes of this grant program, “American art” is defined as art created in the territory of North America now comprising the United States.
Eligible Applicants
Application is by the publisher, not the author. Applications are considered only for book-length scholarly manuscripts in the history of American art that are under contract for publication.
Awards are open to publishers of all nations; authors need not live or work in the United States. Commercial, university, and museum presses are all eligible. Applicant authors and presses must be institutional CAA members, although on a case-by-case basis CAA may waive that requirement upon request for non-US-based independent presses.
Eligible Books
Excluded from consideration are excavation or other technical reports, articles, previously published works (including collections of previously published essays), and congress proceedings. Museum exhibition or collection catalogues containing substantial scholarship are eligible.
High scholarly and intellectual merit is the sine qua non for an award; however, the jury is also attentive to the following criteria:
- Topics on art before 1960
- Topics with a naturally small market or unusually high expenses
- Works by disadvantaged scholars, including those at the earlier stages of a career, or by younger scholars or curators; or issued by smaller museums; or by or about underserved constituencies
- Books that break new ground, contribute new scholarship, or publish important primary-source material
- Beautiful books that increase the audience for American art
A project that has been rejected for grant may not be resubmitted to the same grant, except in a rare case where substantial revision has been made to the material, and the publisher has so noted in the application. At its discretion, the jury may decline to review the resubmitted application.
Schedule
Grant applications must be received from publishers at the CAA office no later than October 1 each year. Awards are made in November or December, and publishers are notified by the end of the year.
Application Process and Materials
Distribution of Funds
Award is usually disbursed to the publisher when the book is in a late stage of production, upon submission of final galley proofs or the equivalent.
Acknowledgment
The copyright page or other appropriate location in the front matter of the book must bear the following credit line: Publication of this book has been aided by a Wyeth Foundation for American Art Publication Grant of the College Art Association.
Wyeth Grant Application Checklist
Please submit all components as follows:
- On 8½ x 11 inch paper
- Printed on one side only
- Do not staple or bind paper
Prepared by the author, and forwarded to the publisher:
- Form A
- Author’s curriculum vitae
- Narrative description or abstract of the book (two pages maximum)
- Author’s response to (anonymous) peer reviews
Prepared by the publisher, who submits the completed application package:
- Form B
- Publisher’s cover letter, describing the importance of the work and detailing for what purpose the grant is needed
- Partial manuscript, including:
- Table of contents
- Introduction
- Sample chapter or partial chapters
- Picture list (complete or representative)
- Sample photocopies of images
- Sample bibliography (no more than five pages)
- Two or more peer reviews of the manuscript that have been submitted to the publisher. Reader’s reports should be anonymous to the author but (if possible) signed and dated for the benefit of the jury (to be kept confidential); they should not be more than three years old. Reports must be substantive, analytical evaluations of the complete manuscript. Mere endorsements are not acceptable. The author’s response to the reports should be included with the application so that the current state of the manuscript is made clear. These should be dated, with state-of-progress report if older than one year. The jury does not admit reports written by the author’s dissertation adviser or other interested parties, such as a series editor. Note that reader’s reports are a significant and influential element of the grant application
- All materials prepared by author, as listed above
The CAA logo must appear with this notice and is supplied to the publisher upon request.
Questions
Please contact: Eve Sinaiko, Director of Publications, CAA, 275 Seventh Ave., 18th Floor, New York, NY 10001; 212-691-1051, ext. 208.
