Call for Applications: The 2025 Étant donnés Program
Apply by February 8, 2025, for Étant donnés’ creative grants and curatorial fellowships, fostering international collaboration and supporting artistic exchange in the field of visual arts between France and the United States.
Étant donnés aims to foster, promote, and support artistic creations through cultural institutions and artistic exchanges.
Étant donnés is organized by Villa Albertine and Albertine Foundation with the exclusive sponsorship of AXA, in partnership with Institut Français, French Ministry of Culture and Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, and ADAGP. For 30 years, Étant donnés has aimed to strengthen ties between France and the United States in the field of visual arts by fostering active collaboration and encouraging long-lasting partnerships between French artists, curators, and collectives, and American curators and cultural institutions. Since its inception, the program has supported over 700 artists, 50 curators, and over 350 projects in more than 200 institutions across 87 cities in both countries.
The program fosters the discovery of emerging talent while maintaining engagement with established artists, prioritizing solo exhibitions, productions, and new commissions.
In 2025, the following grants are available:
1) Creative grants for museums and nonprofit institutions for projects in the United States and France
2) Curatorial fellowships for American curators wishing to conduct research in France
1) Creative Grants for Projects in the United States and France
Guidelines
These grants provide financial support to American and French nonprofit institutions (museums, art centers, etc.) wishing to organize exhibitions featuring living French or France-based artists and American artists, respectively.
The aim is to encourage the international development of American and French contemporary art institutions, to support the French art scene, to introduce American artists to French audiences, and to renew and diversify the possibilities for artistic exchange between France and the United States.
Priority is given to exhibitions, new commissions, or any projects creating new connections or partnerships between institutions, living artists, and curators from both countries.
Eligibility
Artistic field: Visual Arts
The project must fall within the field of visual arts in its broadest sense (including painting, sculpture, drawing, photography, performance, video, installation, etc.).
Funding areas include solo and collective exhibitions, as well as works commissioned for festivals, biennials, triennials, and permanent installations. In the case of group exhibitions, the jury will pay attention to the importance given to the work and number of pieces of the artist(s) involved in the application.
For American institutions: Artists involved must be French nationals OR have lived in France for more than five years.
For French institutions: Artists involved must be American citizens living AND working in the United States.
The committee will favor creations commissioned for the exhibition, including the presence of the artist, rather than supporting the shipping of previous artworks.
Pre-show travel by the curator to France or to the United States may be included in the project budget, as long as the main part of the grant is allocated to the implementation of the project in the exhibition’s country. Grants may not exceed 50% of the expenses related to the production of the project, with a limit of $30,000 for a solo exhibition or for a commission for a festival, biennial, or triennial, as well as for collective exhibitions including several French or French-based artists, and a limit of $15,000 for a French or French-based artist participating in a collective exhibition.
Etant donnés DOES NOT cover the operating and front of the house expenses of the presenting organization.
Applicants must provide:
– The SIRET code (France) or the W-9 form (United States) of the institution.
– A completed application form with the required information (including a detailed estimated budget – template attached to the application form).
– A clear description of the project for which the grant is being requested.
– A PDF with a short resume of the artist(s) + portfolio with exhibition stills, video/sound links.
– One image of an artwork or exhibition visual with caption and photo credits, to be used for communication purposes.
(Size of the file: 5MB max – No “Wetransfer”, “Dropbox”, etc. files are permitted)
Application Timeline
THE 2025 CALL FOR APPLICATIONS IS NOW OPEN.
- Application Deadline: February 8, 2025, at 11.59pm (ET)
- Announcement of Results: April 2025
- Grants apply to projects taking place between: September 1, 2025 and August 31, 2027
The final decision will be made by an independent committee composed of French and American curators and directors of art institutions.
2) Curatorial Fellowships
Guidelines
These fellowships offer funding to American curators wishing to conduct research on the French visual arts scene. They are intended to expand the opportunities of American curators; to encourage in-depth explorations of French cultural resources; and to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas and knowledge among artists, professionals, researchers, and institutions.
Villa Albertine partners for the third time with ICI | Independent Curators International to offer grants of $3,000 each to US-based curators from within ICI’s network and beyond. The grants are intended to contribute to covering the costs of transportation, lodging, per diems, insurance, and any expenses related to the research trip.
Candidates are encouraged to connect with art professionals and other researchers as well as with institutions, universities, art schools, or private and public archives in preparation for future exhibitions or collaborations.
In collaboration with professionals in France, Villa Albertine’s team will also provide its assistance to the selected curators to enhance their networks and direct them towards venues, artists, and directors of institutions that could be of interest for their research.
Eligibility
Artistic field: Visual Arts
The project must fall within the field of visual arts in the broadest sense (painting, sculpture, drawing, video, photography, performance, installations, etc.).
The candidates must:
- Be US citizens or legal residents of the United States for at least five years.
- Be affiliated with institutions or be freelance curators working in the field of contemporary art. Please note that applications are open to ICI’s network of curatorial alumni, and to any other curators, if their research would significantly benefit from the opportunity.
- Have a minimum of three years of research experience or provide evidence of significant professional practice.
- Have a clearly defined curatorial research project with a French artist, partner organization, or individuals.
- Commit to making the curatorial trip between September 1, 2025 and August 31, 2026.
There is no age limit to participate.
Priority will be given to curatorial fellows planning to present the results of the research in one way or another in the US via an exhibition, publication, talk, lecture, screening, performance, etc.
Applicants affiliated with institutions must obtain authorization from their institution to travel for the proposed research.
Grant amount for each curatorial fellowship: $3,000
The selection criteria considers:
- The strength of the research objectives and its relevance to the field
- An established need for support
- The feasibility of the proposed research.
Applicants must provide:
- A PDF document containing a short resume and a letter clearly detailing the research project for which the grant is requested, including specific objectives of the curatorial fellowship, subject, methods, timeline, research goals, and an overview of pre-existing contacts.
- A completed application form including a detailed estimated budget.
Calendar and Application
THE 2025 CALL FOR APPLICATIONS IS NOW OPEN.
- Application Deadline: February 8, 2025, at 11:59pm (ET)
- Announcement of Results: April 2025
This program supports projects taking place between September 1, 2025 and August 31, 2026.
The final decision is made by an independent committee comprised of French and American curators and directors of art institutions.
Learn more
- Explore the 2024 grantees here and the 2023 grantees here.
- Discover Julia Halperin’s study on 30 years of the Étant donnés program here.
Contacts
For any questions regarding the program or the application process, please contact:
Olivier Le Falher
Program Officer, Visual Arts, Design, Architecture
olivier.lefalher@villa-albertine.org
In partnership with
AXA
The AXA Group is a worldwide leader in insurance and asset management, with 145,000 employees serving 93 million clients in 51 countries. In 2022, IFRS revenues amounted to Euro 102.3 billion and underlying earnings to Euro 7.3 billion. AXA had Euro 933 billion in assets under management, including assets managed on behalf of third parties, as of December 31, 2022.
The AXA ordinary share is listed on compartment A of Euronext Paris under the ticker symbol CS (ISN FR 0000120628 – Bloomberg: CS FP – Reuters: AXAF.PA). AXA’s American Depository Share is also quoted on the OTC QX platform under the ticker symbol AXAHY.
The AXA Group is included in the main international SRI indexes, such as Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) and FTSE4GOOD.
It is a founding member of the UN Environment Programme’s Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) Principles for Sustainable Insurance and a signatory of the UN Principles for Responsible Investment.
This press release and the regulated information made public by AXA pursuant to article L. 451-1-2 of the French Monetary and Financial Code and articles 222-1 et seq. of the Autorité des marchés financiers’ General Regulation are available on the AXA Group website (axa.com).
Albertine Foundation
Previously known as FACE Foundation, Albertine Foundation is an American nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting French-American relations through innovative cultural and educational projects. In close partnership with the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the United States and its arts institution Villa Albertine, Albertine Foundation promotes artistic, literary, and educational exchange and collaboration between creative professionals from both countries thanks to corporate, foundation, and individual support.
Follow Albertine Foundation on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
Institut français
The Institut français is responsible for France’s international cultural program. Supervised by both the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs and by the Ministry of Culture, it promotes French culture abroad through cultural exchange initiatives. Operating in a space where the arts, intellectual exchange, cultural and social innovation, and linguistic partnerships interact and intersect, it is also responsible for promoting the French language and the sharing of works, artists, and ideas all over the world. The Institut français is one of Villa Albertine’s main French partners.
Ministry of Culture
The French Ministry of Culture aims to make the major works of humanity— and especially those of France— accessible to the largest number of people possible. As such, it maintains a policy of conservation, of protection, and of development of all components of French cultural heritage. It promotes the creation of works of art and of the mind, and the development of art practices and education. It further contributes to cultural initiatives outside of France, and to initiatives relating to the establishment of French cultural programs throughout the world.
French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs
The Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs works to represent, defend and promote the interests of France and French nationals in all areas in foreign countries and international organizations.
ADAGP
Founded by artists in 1953, the ADAGP represents 170,000 authors worldwide, in all disciplines of visual art, including painting, sculpture, photography, design, graphic novels, street art, video art, digital art, architecture and more… At the heart of an international network of 50 partner organisations, the ADAGP collects and distributes royalties, protects artists and fights to improve authors’ rights. Today, it is the world’s top society of authors in the visual arts. Eager to place creativity at the heart of the world, the ADAGP encourages the creative scene by initiating and/or financially supporting projects to highlight visual arts and promote them on a national and international scale.