Undergraduate Grants

At VCUarts, we believe in a future of boundless possibility. We invest in collaborative projects—shaped by artists, designers and performers—that reach across the university. But most of all, we invest in you. VCUarts offers a range of grant programs designed to help you bring your ideas to fruition, put your education into context through an internship, or explore the arts and culture around the world.

These grants encourage cross-disciplinary collaboration and promote faculty-student mentorship. They are open to applicants seeking funding to complete research or creative work that is interdisciplinary, involves student collaboration and draws on the expertise of a faculty mentor.

Funding: Receive up to $2,500 in grant funding to develop an interdisciplinary project.

Eligibility: VCUarts full-time undergraduate students graduating after December 2024. VCUarts students may submit a proposal to collaborate on a project with a student from any other major attending VCU full-time.

Apply by: Thursday, October 31, 2024 (11:59 p.m.)

Notification of awards: Notifications will be sent prior to November 22, 2024.

Apply

Grant awards are $700, and you must be a continuing student in good standing to be eligible. Preference is given to students who have earned an internship in a city, state or country away from home or campus. Grants may be distributed through a scholarship, travel reimbursement, or other means.

Grant Opens: January 23 
Apply by: March 6, 11:59 pm 

The Internship Grant Program supports current VCUarts students who are in need of financial assistance to participate in an internship that will expand a student’s professional experience and network. If you would like to find an internship, VCU Career Services is a great place to start.

Grants will provide a stipend of up to $700. Students must be continuing and in good standing at the time of the internship and award.

Grants are contingent on multiple factors, including the student’s potential ability to succeed, linkage between the internship and real world professional goals, and need.

The Internship Support Grant Application will open on January 23, 2025. Reviews begin on March 6 and are rolling . Recipients will be announced beginning in April 2025 and will continue to be selected until the grant funding is exhausted.

Created in 2006, the Dean’s International Research Grant program was started by the VCUarts Dean’s Office to fund students’ international exploration. That first year, six $1,000 grants were awarded to students. Today, up to ten $2,500 grants are awarded each year as the Dean’s Office continues to strive to support international travel and enforce the importance of a global perspective on creative and scholarly endeavors.

The mission of the Grant is to help fund international travel that is not in conjunction with any credit bearing coursework or faculty led programs affiliated with the University. Although proposals for support of non-VCU faculty led programs will be considered, they are not encouraged. The Dean’s Office seeks proposals for independent travel that inform a student’s research and will provide an experience in relation to their creative or intellectual trajectory.

Approved grant recipients will need to go through the  ITAC petition process if you are planning on traveling to a Level 3 or Level 4 travel advisory country upon award. Additionally, all recipients will also need to complete a general travel registry through the Education Abroad office.

Application deadline 11:59pm, January 23, 2025

Apply for Dean’s International Research Grants

VCU offers a wide range of undergraduate research grants through many university partners.

Graduate Research Grants

Each year VCUarts awards several Graduate Research Grants to support students’ creative practice, research and scholarly activities relevant to their academic programs and professional goals.

Students who have achieved candidacy in a VCUarts graduate program are eligible to apply for awards up to $2,500. Grant recipients must be enrolled during the Spring 2025 semester in order to remain eligible for funds. Each student may receive no more than one award per student during degree completion. Expenses incurred prior to the date of the award are not allowable.

Expenses can include supplies and consumable materials, printing and shipping, and equipment (see allowable expenses in application guidelines for details). Graduate research grant funds can be used to hire actors or other participants in a live or recorded actualization of the work (not for studio assistance/labor). Include a budget justification for why collaborators are necessary and the rationale for the requested pay rate. All payments to individuals must be processed by VCU; you will not be reimbursed for payments made to individuals.

Deadline to apply for Spring 2025 grants is 11:59pm on Thursday, November 14, 2024.

Grant awards will be announced on Friday, December 6, 2024.

Grant funds awarded need to be used prior to May 31, 2025.

To apply, complete the online application in the VCU Scholarship HUB HERE, which includes a prompt to upload a single PDF according to the specifications and content categories listed below:

Format specifications: 12-point font, single spaced, no more than 9 pages total; your name in the header at the top of each page; page numbers on the lower right corner of each page.

Save all documents and submit as one PDF:

  • pages 1-2: project narrative including timeline
  • page 3: budget (using provided template)
  • page 4-5: abbreviated cv (professional activities and awards)
  • pages 6-9: work samples

Project narrative, approximately 750 words: Describe the proposed project, including an explanation of your conceptual approach or research theory and methodology, as well as an account of how the proposed project advances your studio practice or research trajectory. Explain how your proposed work contributes to your field—keeping in mind that your proposal will be reviewed by the Graduate Studies Committee (consisting of the graduate program directors from all VCUarts graduate programs). Delineate how the grant award will be used and the timeline to project completion.
Note: A project narrative is not the same as an artist statement!

Timeline of activities: Provide a rationale for the proposed timeline. List specific dates for activities described in the project narrative. If your research involves live human subjects, you must submit your proposal for review to the Institutional Review Board (IRB) prior to submitting your proposal to the Graduate Studies Committee. Please indicate when the approval process was or will be completed.  Grants awarded need to be used prior to expiration on May 31st of next year.

Budget: After reviewing the Allowable/Unallowable Expenses on page 2 of the application guidelines linked in the Scholarship HUB, provide a detailed budget using the provided template for how grant funds would be spent. Please do not list expenses for which grant funds will not be used. Before including research travel funds in the budget, refer to U.S. Department of State Travel Advisories for your intended destination.

If payments to individuals are included in your budget, please provide detailed justification of their role and significance to your proposal, and the rationale for the requested pay rate in the “notes” section of your budget spreadsheet.

Grant funds cannot be used to purchase equipment or software that is already available to students in the department or school. Equipment purchased with grant funds will be property of VCUarts.
If selected to receive this grant, expenses incurred prior to the date of the award are not allowable.

List of professional activities and awards, up to two pages: e.g., exhibitions, performances, publications, conference presentations

Work samples: Studio and design students may include up to eight work samples. Images may be pasted into the pdf; sound or moving image files (each of which is no longer than 2 minutes) may be provided via a link to Vimeo or SoundCloud. Students submitting proposals to support written research may provide a three-page writing sample as well as images illustrating the subject of their research.

All applications are reviewed by a committee consisting of faculty from each of the VCUarts graduate programs. Reviewers rank the applications based on the following:

  • clarity of the proposal narrative and timeline
  • clarity of budget
  • how the proposed project advances the student’s studio practice or research trajectory
  • significance of the proposed project to the student’s area of study, as described in the project narrative
  • quality of work samples

Awards are competitive; students are encouraged to work with their advisors as they prepare their applications.

Browse previous Graduate Research Grant project awards.

Graduate Travel Grants

Each year, VCUarts awards Graduate Student Travel Grants to support invited/adjudicated presentations or performances and juried exhibitions occurring at professional conferences and/or in professional venues, within the US or internationally, both in-person and virtual. These endeavors must be distinct from coursework, faculty-led initiatives, or travel associated with candidacy, thesis, or dissertation research.

Each year, VCUarts awards Graduate Student Travel Grants to support invited/adjudicated presentations or performances and juried exhibitions occurring at professional conferences and/or in professional venues, within the US or internationally, both in-person and virtual.

These endeavors must be distinct from coursework, faculty-led initiatives, or travel associated with candidacy, thesis, or dissertation research. Travel grant funds are not available for the making of work or the development of skills. Nor can travel grant funds be used to support class trips, individual research activities, workshops, online courses or residencies (including those that feature an exhibition or performance as part of the residency).

Graduate Students are eligible to apply for multiple travel grants each academic year up to a $1500 total during the academic year.

Funding availability is as follows:

  • virtual conference presentation, virtual performance or virtual exhibit (request should include invitation or acceptance): up to $150
  • domestic travel costs associated with in-person conference presentation, in-person performance or in-person exhibit (request should include invitation or acceptance): up to $500
  • international travel costs associated with in-person conference presentation, in-person performance or in-person exhibit (request should include invitation or acceptance): up to $1,000
  • domestic shipping costs associated with in-person exhibit* (request should include invitation or acceptance): up to $250
  • international shipping costs associated with in-person exhibit* (request should include invitation or acceptance): up to $500

*A request for shipping funds may be combined with a travel grant request.

Rolling deadline: applications accepted during the fall and spring semesters, until all available funds have been awarded.

Please submit your request at least two weeks prior to the event date. If awarded, air and rail travel must be booked through VCU’s travel agency and can not be reimbursed. Additional instructions will be provided at the time of award notification.

Before applying for travel funds, refer to University-sponsored travel and the U.S. Department of State Travel Advisories for your intended destination.

Students may also apply for funds to attend two professional conferences within an academic year, without the requirement of exhibition, performance or presentation.

  • virtual conference attendance: up to $150
  • in-person conference attendance: up to $300

Graduate Travel Grant

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Graduate students may also apply for travel grants funded by the VCU Graduate School.