Adolph & Esther Gottlieb Foundation: Dual Grants for Artists in Need

The Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation operates two distinct grant programs that serve visual artists at critical moments in their careers and lives. The Individual Support Grant provides awards up to $25,000 to established artists who have dedicated their lives to painting, sculpture, or printmaking. The Emergency Grant provides up to $15,000 to artists facing unexpected financial crises—medical emergencies, natural disasters, studio losses, or other catastrophic events that threaten their ability to continue working.

Established in 1976 by Adolph Gottlieb, one of the founding members of the Abstract Expressionist movement, and his wife Esther, the foundation reflects the couple's understanding that even accomplished artists face financial vulnerability throughout their careers. The dual grant structure addresses both the chronic underfunding of artistic practice and the acute crises that can devastate an artist's livelihood.

Individual Support Grants

For Established Artists

The Individual Support Grant is designed for artists who have worked in painting, sculpture, or printmaking for at least 20 years and who can demonstrate financial need. This career-length requirement means the program specifically serves artists who have made a sustained commitment to their practice—not emerging artists or hobbyists, but dedicated creators who have persisted through decades of often-inadequate financial support.

Awards of up to $25,000 provide meaningful support for materials, studio costs, and living expenses. The application deadline is December 15 each year, with awards announced the following spring.

Emergency Grants

Crisis Support When It Matters Most

The Emergency Grant program accepts applications on a rolling basis throughout the year, providing rapid financial assistance to artists facing genuine emergencies. Eligible crises include medical emergencies, fire or natural disaster damage to studios, theft of equipment, and other catastrophic events.

Awards of up to $15,000 are processed as quickly as possible, reflecting the foundation's understanding that emergency funding is only useful if it arrives while the emergency is still acute. This rapid-response capability makes the Gottlieb Emergency Grant one of the most important safety net programs available to visual artists.

The Foundation's Legacy

The Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation was established in 1976 by the abstract expressionist painter Adolph Gottlieb and his wife Esther to support individual artists working in painting, sculpture, and printmaking. The foundation's commitment to these specific media reflects Gottlieb's own dedication to studio-based visual art practice—a focus that has remained consistent for nearly five decades.

Adolph Gottlieb understood from personal experience the financial challenges of sustaining a dedicated art practice. Before achieving recognition as a leading abstract expressionist alongside Rothko, de Kooning, and Pollock, Gottlieb spent decades working with limited financial resources. The foundation he established ensures that other artists committed to their practice receive the financial support that sustained artistic production requires.

Eligibility and Requirements

Individual Support Grant Eligibility

Applicants must demonstrate a minimum of 20 years of mature, committed practice in painting, sculpture, or printmaking. This does not mean 20 years since art school graduation—it means 20 years of active, sustained artistic production. The foundation evaluates commitment through exhibition history, body of work documentation, and evidence of ongoing creative development.

Applicants must also demonstrate financial need—the foundation specifically serves artists whose dedication to their practice has not been matched by financial reward. Artists with significant commercial success or substantial income from other sources are not the intended beneficiaries. This need-based criterion ensures that funding reaches artists who will benefit most meaningfully from the support.

Emergency Grant Eligibility

Emergency grants are available to artists who have worked in painting, sculpture, or printmaking for at least 10 years and who face a genuine, acute emergency. The shorter career requirement reflects the foundation's recognition that emergencies do not wait for artists to accumulate decades of practice. The rolling application process means artists can apply immediately when crises occur rather than waiting for annual deadlines.

The Importance of Emergency Funding

The Gottlieb Emergency Grant addresses a critical gap in the artist support ecosystem. Most grant programs operate on annual cycles with fixed deadlines—a timeline that is irrelevant when a studio fire destroys years of work, a medical emergency creates overwhelming expenses, or a natural disaster displaces an artist from their workspace. The Gottlieb Foundation's ability to provide rapid financial response to genuine emergencies has prevented countless artists from abandoning their practices in the aftermath of catastrophic events.

Emergency situations that have been funded include medical crises requiring expensive treatment, studio disasters including fire, flood, and structural collapse, equipment theft that renders artistic production impossible, and natural disaster displacement that forces artists from their homes and workspaces. In each case, the foundation's rapid response provides the financial bridge that allows artists to recover and resume their practice rather than being permanently derailed.

Application Tips

For Individual Support Grants

Applicants should prepare comprehensive documentation of their artistic career: a portfolio of recent work that demonstrates the quality and direction of current practice, a CV or resume documenting exhibition history and professional activity, and a clear statement of financial need that explains how the grant would support continued artistic production.

The 20-year requirement should be documented through exhibition records, professional activity, and evidence of sustained creative output. Artists who have maintained dedicated practices outside the commercial gallery system—through alternative spaces, community engagement, or purely studio-based work—should document their commitment through whatever means best represents their career trajectory.

For Emergency Grants

Emergency grant applications should clearly document the nature and severity of the emergency, the financial impact on the artist's practice and livelihood, and how the requested funds would address the crisis. Supporting documentation—medical bills, insurance claims, police reports, damage assessments—strengthens applications by providing objective evidence of need.

The Bottom Line

The Gottlieb Foundation serves a crucial role in the artist support ecosystem by addressing both the long-term financial challenges of sustained artistic practice through Individual Support Grants and the acute crises that can end careers through Emergency Grants. For established visual artists working in painting, sculpture, or printmaking who demonstrate financial need, these grants represent meaningful, accessible support from a foundation that understands the realities of dedicated artistic life because its founder lived them.