YVR Art Foundation

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS: YVRAF is pleased to announce that our annual travel grant program is now open for applications. Apply by September 27, 2024 and travel in the new year! Check out the program page on our website for more information on eligibility requirements, travel locations, and application forms.

Thank you Tourism Richmond for your support of our programs!

So proud of our founding donor and exhibition partner for achieving this! The YVR Art Foundation is privileged to work closely with Vancouver International Airport to support our art and research programs. Special thanks to the scholarship recipients who make the airport a more beautiful space through the exhibition of their artworks.

YVRAF offers scholarships of $5000 each for Emerging (age 17-29) and Mid-Career (age 30+) BC and Yukon First Nations artists. Scholarships are awarded on an annual basis to Emerging and Mid-Career Artists who create visual art that reflects BC or Yukon First Nations culture and who wish to further their artistic career by expanding their work or practice into a new area. Scholarship awards may go towards studying or working with a Mentor or Master Artist, attending a school of art, or creating an art project of cultural significance for the artist’s community. Visual Art can include (but is not limited to) drawing, painting, digital art + design, illustration, carving, sculpture, printmaking, textiles, animation, photography, video and film. Scholarship recipients will also get to exhibit their artwork at the YVR Vancouver International Airport in 2025. (Optional for Mid-Career Scholarship recipients) Check out the program pages for more information on eligibility and specific application guidelines for either Emerging or Mid-Career Scholarship Awards. Please contact the YVR Art Foundation Program Coordinator if you require accommodations or assistance when completing the application. - Photo by Kim Bellavance Photography

Made possible by the renewed sponsorship of Whelan Construction, our 2024 Scholarship Awards will once again include a dedicated $5,000 scholarship for a Musqueam artist whose project has a strong mentorship component. We acknowledge and thank Whelan Construction for sponsoring this award! Our Call for Applications to BC and Yukon First Nations artists for the 2024 Emerging Artist and the Mid-Career Artist Scholarship Programs CLOSES on Friday, February 23, 2024, at 4 pm PST.

We gratefully recognize the various donors and partners who contributed to the 2023 Bill McLennan Masterpiece Study Program! These individuals and institutions are vital to the success of the program and allow us to send incredibly talented First Nations artists around the world this spring to study Indigenous belongings in museum collections. For more information about the Bill McLennan Masterpiece Study Program, visit the link in bio.

YVR Art Foundation is pleased to announce Tourism Richmond as the Official Travel Partner of the 2023 Bill McLennan Masterpiece Study Program! Tourism Richmond is a non-profit, stakeholder-driven destination marketing organization (DMO) promoting Richmond to residents, leisure travellers, meeting planners, travel media, and organizations that influence travel. They also work closely with travel and tourism industry stakeholders and municipal officials to enhance and position Richmond as a can’t-miss part of Metro Vancouver. Bill McLennan Masterpiece Study Program travel grants are for BC and Yukon First Nations visual artists to study/research Indigenous art collections at YVRAF museum partners around the world. Thank you to Tourism Richmond for making a difference for the 2023 cohort of travel grant recipients who will be travelling far and wide in spring 2024. For more information on our travel grants visit our website.

We would like to congratulate the 2023 Bill McLennan Masterpiece Study Program Recipients! These recipients are visual artists who are going to further their art or community research practice through the research/study of BC and Yukon Indigenous art collections at a YVRAF museum partner. Travel grants are awarded to support the grant recipient’s travel from their home community to a specific YVRAF museum partner for an in-person collections visit. Agnes Seaweed Wisden - ‘Na̱mg̱is - American Museum of Natural History, NYC Reggie Harrold - Slavey, Shuswap - McCord Stewart Museum, Montreal Eliot White-Hill, Kwulasultun - Snuneymuxw - Field Museum, Chicago Kimberly Ronning - Shuswap - Burke Museum, Seattle Northwest Coast Creatives Artist Collective (Veronica Waechter Danes - Gitxsan and Angelo Cavagnarro - Nisga'a) - Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford, UK Harrison Martin - Nisga'a, Tsimshian - Canadian Museum of History, Gatineau Kwiis Hamilton - Hupač̓asatḥ/Stó꞉lō - Canadian Museum of History, Gatineau

Applications are NOW OPEN for the 2024 Mid-Career and Emerging Artist Scholarship Awards YVRAF offers scholarships of $5000 each for Emerging (age 17-29) and Mid-Career (age 30+) BC and Yukon First Nations artists. Scholarships are awarded on an annual basis to Emerging and Mid-Career artists who create visual art that reflects BC or Yukon First Nations culture and who wish to further their artistic career by expanding their work or practice into a new area. Visit our website at yvraf.com/programs or the link in bio for more info. Please contact the YVR Art Foundation Program Coordinator if you require accommodations or assistance when completing the application.

The YVR Art Foundation office will be closed for the festive season from December 23, 2023 to January 2, 2024. We will reopen on January 3, 2024. Thank you to our board, committee members, donors, and most importantly: THE ARTISTS! Without each and every one of you, we wouldn't be able to do what we do. We wish you and your loved ones a warm and wonderful holiday season, and we will see you again in 2024!