Grants are offered to American painters aged 45 or older who demonstrate financial need. The primary emphasis is to promote public awareness and a commitment to American art, as well as encouraging interest in artists who lack adequate recognition.

• Applicants must be American painters aged 45 years or older at the time of application.
  
  
• For the purposes of this grant, painting is considered the application of various media (acrylic, gouache, ink, oil, pastel, tempera, watercolor) on paper, canvas, fabric, or wood. This excludes mixed media, encaustic, collage, digital paintings, prints, and work in graphite or drawings. Do not submit images in ANY of these excluded mediums. Only paintings will be considered.
  
  
• A need for financial support must be clear and demonstrated.
  
  
• Applications must be submitted by an individual working artist or collaborators in an artist group; organizations cannot apply.
  
  
• Only one application may be submitted per individual during each round of funding.
  
  
• Artist groups or duos may apply. Multiple artists applying together must have an established history of collaboration. Artist groups should complete the application form together, but submit individual financial disclosure section.
  
  
• Applicants must be either citizens of the United States or have permanent residency in the United States, though they can be presently living abroad.

• Application postmark deadline: April 1, 2014. Incomplete or late applications will not be reviewed.

• Applicants receive an official notification letter via email or mail (if no email address is supplied) by July 1, 2014. There is no personal feedback given by jurors.

• Grants range from $5,000 to $30,000. Generally, there are three or four grants awarded annually. There are no reporting requirements nor stipulations about the use of grant funds.
  

• Complete and on-time applications are reviewed by the Grant Review Committee. The jurors of the Committee are at least three nationally renowned artists, art historians, or curators. Incomplete or late applications are not reviewed.

• The review criteria for the grant are artistic quality, creative ability as evidenced by images of work submitted, and financial need.

• Applications will be judged anonymously. Each applicant will be assigned a number and will not be identified by name. Information in the Personal Information section is viewed only by PAAM staff processing the application.

• If you have a question, please refer to the Frequently Asked Questions in the Grant Application Instructions. Further inquiries can be emailed to Grace Ryder-O’Malley at gryderomalley@paam.org.
  
  
• We strongly encourage applicants to contact us as far ahead of the deadline as possible. During the week prior to the deadline, we are extremely busy and may not have a chance to answer last minute queries.