YVRART Foundation: Bill McLennan Masterpiece Study Program

Deadline: September 27, 2026

Program Summary:

YVR Art Foundation offers travel grants to BC or Yukon First Nation visual artists and community researchers who wish 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 of up to $4,000 are available to support the grant recipient’s travel from their home community to a specific YVRAF museum partner for an in-person collections visit.

For applicants who would like to conduct a virtual or one-day collections visit at a participating museum partner, please visit the Microgrant program page.

YVR Art Foundation is also pleased to offer a Community Researcher grant again this year! The Community Researcher travel grant will be awarded to a First Nation artist or community member of BC or Yukon First Nation ancestry to support their art, archival and/or other cultural heritage research and/or the assembly and sharing of community archives.

YVRAF Museum Partners

Bill McLennan Masterpiece Study Program travel grants will be awarded through a formal application and selection process to BC and Yukon First Nation artists or small groups of artists to travel to one of the following museum partners:

Confirmed 2026-2027 Partners:

• American Museum of Natural History in New York, USA
• McCord Museum in Montréal, Québec
• Field Museum in Chicago, USA

Past Museum Partners:

• Bill Holm Center for the Study of Northwest Native Art at the Burke Museum in Seattle, USA
• Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, Québec
• Museum of Vancouver in Vancouver, BC
• Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford, UK
• UBC Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver, BC
• Ethnologisches Museum Berlin, Germany

Grant applicants propose a research/study project on specific categories or pieces in the collection they wish to see. The grants awarded are for the purpose of covering the travel costs to the museum from the applicant’s home community (e.g. flights, ferry etc.), accommodations and meals during the visit. Grant recipients are responsible for making their own travel and accommodation arrangements.

If your application is successful and you are approved for a travel grant, recipients will:

• Be able to travel to the proposed museum for the collection visit no earlier than January 2027 and no later than June 2027.
• Identify a category or specific pieces in the museum collection that they wish to view and will confirm this with the museum’s contact person (collections visits should be arranged at least six weeks in advance of their proposed collections visit date).
• Provide YVRAF with a confirmation letter/email from the museum confirming their collections visit has been booked.
• Organize and book their own travel arrangements to the museum (transportation, accommodations etc.) from the recipient’s home community.
• Provide proof of travel insurance within one month of travel (if applicable e.g. international travel).
• Hold a valid Canadian passport at time of travel if travelling outside of Canada.
• Be able to provide proof of full Covid-19 vaccination, and any testing or other requirements, as required when travelling and by the destination country and/or museum and follow any Covid-19 related policies in the country the museum partner is located in, as well as any general policies the museum partner may have in place.
• Submit a written report within one month of concluding their travel/research project.

Grant Amount:

7 awards up to $4000

Eligible Applicants:

To be eligible for a YVR Art Foundation Bill McLennan Masterpiece Study Program travel grant applicants must:

• Be a practicing artist of BC or Yukon First Nations ancestry (or for the Community Researcher grant, be a community member of BC or Yukon First Nations ancestry).
• Be a group of practicing artists or a collective of BC or Yukon First Nation ancestry.
  • If you choose to apply as a group or collective, a maximum of two representatives are eligible for funding (pending partner museum’s approval).
  • Live in BC or the Yukon.
• For visual artists: Wish to further their art practice through the study/research of BC or Yukon Indigenous artwork currently held in the collection of one of YVRAF’s museum partners.
• For Community Researchers: wish to further their art, archival and/or other cultural heritage research and/or the assembly and sharing of community archives through the study/research of a collection held at one of YVRAF’s international museum partners.